Dear A.G.

December 1995

Silica gel packets won't harm your guitar, but I wonder if there is any practical way to really keep your guitar's wood at a moisture content lower than the average humidity conditions in Florida allow. It is much easier to keep a guitar humidified than dehumidified. There are room dehumidifiers available, but the worst thing for the instrument would be constant cycling from such a climate-controlled environment to the humid ambient atmosphere and back. Such changes are harder on the wood than a relatively constant condition, even if it is at high humidity. You may just have to get used to living with a relatively soggy guitar. Have you considered a nickel-plated, brass-bodied National?
--Rick Turner

I found that picking my arm up off the top of my guitar and putting it down again creates an effect almost as dramatic as a wahwah pedal, and much of my guitar's brightness is lost when my arm comes into contact with the guitar. Do luthiers and manufacturers take this into account when building guitars? Is there any kind of arm rest that keeps the arm from touching the top of the guitar?
Greg Garland
Long Beach, California

Few luthiers take any specific steps to counteract the effects of a player resting his or her arm on the top of the guitar; most are simply trying to build as lightly and as sensitively as possible. However, there are a few people who have experimented with the concept, such as Manuel Contreras, who designed a wooden casing that holds the guitar away from the player's body so that it can vibrate more freely. And in the 1800s Dionisio Aguado developed a guitar stand (the Tripodison) that supported the guitar while it was being played and minimized contact between player and instrument. Several players used the device, but the Tripodison never gained wide support. Grit Laskin also builds a beveled arm rest into some of his guitars, but primarily for comfort and ergonomic reasons.
Many players, including Bruce Cockburn and Pierre Bensusan, actually use their arm in the manner you describe to intentionally produce tonal variations or wahwah-like effects. Classical guitarists, on the other hand, generally rest their arms on only the edge of the guitar, avoiding any contact with the guitar's top.
Breezy Ridge Instruments (PO Box 295, Center Valley, PA 18034) manufactures the John Pearse plastic arm rest, which attaches to the top of the guitar along the upper bout (see photo, below*). According to players who use the arm rest, it allows the guitar's top to vibrate more freely, offering increased volume and improved tone. Some players use it simply because they find its smooth, rounded edge more comfortable than the sharp edge of the guitar, or to prevent discoloration of the top from perspiration. If you're interested in trying one out, I'd recommend attaching it temporarily with masking tape at first (do not leave the tape on the guitar for an extended length of time to avoid damaging the finish), because once the arm rest has been attached, it is very difficult to remove.
--Dylan Schorer

I recently acquired a 1962 Martin 0-18T tenor guitar. The instrument has been improperly stored for several years and is quite dried out. The finish is checked, and even flaking off. The instrument is playable, but I'd like to preserve or even improve the appearance if possible. Should the wood be humidified slowly? What type of polish can I use on this? I'm afraid I'll rub off the finish.
Ed Jankiewicz
Flemington, New Jersey

You have two problems to deal with: over-dehumidification of the wood, and drying and crystallizing of the nitrocellulose lacquer finish. Each problem has its own solution.
To solve the first problem, yes, you should humidify the guitar, and slowly is better than quickly. Some luthiers will humidify an overly dry instrument by bringing it into the bathroom when they take a shower, but that can be a bit drastic. You can buy a guitar humidifier at a music store or make one at home by dampening several layers of paper towel, putting them in a Ziploc bag, and punching a dozen or so holes in the bag.
It sounds like the finish on your Martin has lost the plasticizers that keep the lacquer flexible. This loss has caused the lacquer to become brittle, shrink, lose its adhesion to the wood, and probably become somewhat chalky on the surface. Unless the finish is totally wrecked, do not refinish the instrument; that will devalue the guitar and change its sound. Take the guitar to a professional to have its finished restored. He or she will probably start by treating the existing lacquer with Behlen's Quali-renu, a very slow-acting lacquer thinner/amalgamator that can make many of the checks disappear and replasticize the original finish. In many cases, just treating the finish with Quali-renu, allowing it to recure, and then buffing out the guitar will be enough. If your repairperson needs to do more than that, Quali-renu also prepares the surface to bond better with either a lacquer overspray or French polish. I personally prefer French polish to a lacquer overspray, because it's easy to add too much finish to the instrument when spraying. French polish is compatible with just about any finish, goes on very thin, and has little effect on tone.
--Rick Turner

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