Accidentally left an acoustic in a hot car… am I doing this right?

[Clifdawg]

Okay. Rookie mistake. Left my acoustic (in a hard case) in the back of my wife’s SUV for three consecutive 95+ degree sunny days here in warm, balmy Alabama.

So I pulled it out today and took it downstairs where the AC is set to 76 degrees. I opened it and it definitely smelled like glue. So I gently reduced the tension on the strings and removed them individually. I placed it back in the case and close it but left it just barely cracked. Everything on the guitar looks intact, even the neck appeared to be fine when I first opened it.

My plan is to leave it exactly where it is for a couple of days, then place a new set of strings on it and gently increase the tension to E-standard over a full day.

Anything else I should be doing? This is my favorite acoustic and I do NOT want anything to happen to it. I know this was a stupid mistake, but hopefully someone knows of ways to minimize or prevent damage.

 

[TheKman76]

High temperature is obviously not great for glues and finishes, you've done the right thing taking the strings off. The smell may well be the case, not the guitar.

If the glues have held up ok then I'd be more concerned about equalising the humidity slowly. Leave it in it's case in the environment it usually lives it for a few days before taking it out and restringing it. I don't think there's much else you can do.

Things to avoid? Very high humidity and exposure to solvent fumes.

Good luck.

 

[JohnH]

I did worse ...

...I drove my hatchback from London to southern Italy, in mid-summer, with the acoustic guitar in a thin case, on the back shelf, right under the rear windows, directly in the burning sun.

When I got it out, the bridge had melted right off, and it was dangling on the strings!

But I found an Italian Luther (actually a violin maker) who fixed it up nicely and also made the action a whole lot better. It was a cheap guitar, but it played well after that and I still have it 40 years later. In fact I played last weekend.

 

[paul-e-mann]

I would think none of this would matter. Guitars are shipped all the time, from the factory from the other side of the world, do you think its in an air conditioned container when it passes through the Panama Canal at 155 degrees? Or in the back of an 18 wheeler when its heading to the music store in Albuquerque NM in mid summer? Or in the belly of a plane traveling with a gigging musician? If a guitar were left out in direct sunlight on a hot day that may be a different story, I did see this happen once where a friend left an electric guitar in a closed case in the direct sunlight outside for an hour and the guitar was soaked in sweat but no damage.

 

[Wildeman]

If it was gonna implode, it would've done it under tension at its hottest. You should be fine.

 

[StrummerJoe]

Yes, leave it in the case, closed, for a couple of days.

If the finish was going to be shocked into cracking it would likely already happened. Sounds like you lucked out structurally.

Good luck.

 

[jeffp]

good luck with that and let us know

 

[DirtySteve]

Since this happened almost a year ago I suspect it's ok.

 

[Tatzmann]

Just crack the passengerseat window open half an inch...she'll be fine.

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

Since this happened almost a year ago I suspect it's ok.

 

[jeffp]

it was some good weed?

 

[knulp]

Worst thing can happen is that now the glue is more prone to give up.
If the bridge sometimes come loose after 40 years it may happen earlier,and the same applies to everything glued.
But this really depends on the quality of the glue used
But I’ve seen cheap Yamaha left under the sun regularly and no problem after 20 years of hard playing busking in the night on every street

 

[PelliX]

The anecdotal waffling seems to be raging again. "I once saw a guitar fall down three flights of stairs in a snowstorm and it was A-OK". Reverse the question; would you be worried if this happened to a guitar of your own?

But I’ve seen cheap Yamaha left under the sun regularly and no problem after 20 years of hard playing busking in the night on every street

A lot of Yamahas use laminated wood, not what you find on 'higher end' guitars. I have a Yamaha and I appreciate for what it is; a cheap student level instrument that has (by the looks of it) taken more blows than Mike Tyson. They're designed to withstand a bit of abuse. Just because you can drive a Land Rover through a river doesn't mean your Aston Martin will do the same without a hitch.

 

[knulp]

The anecdotal waffling seems to be raging again. "I once saw a guitar fall down three flights of stairs in a snowstorm and it was A-OK". Reverse the question; would you be worried if this happened to a guitar of your own?



A lot of Yamahas use laminated wood, not what you find on 'higher end' guitars. I have a Yamaha and I appreciate for what it is; a cheap student level instrument that has (by the looks of it) taken more blows than Mike Tyson. They're designed to withstand a bit of abuse. Just because you can drive a Land Rover through a river doesn't mean your Aston Martin will do the same without a hitch.

Its not unusual to see cheap Yamaha acoustics going strong.
It’s not anecdotal as I’m aware of plenty of Yamaha and I’m not the only one to say this
It’s a well know fact

And here we are talking about the glue not about the wood

It was clear

 

[knulp]

Also don’t assume that laminated can’t be expensive or high end
And good laminated,both because of quality of materials but expecially because of how it’s made,costs more than solid

Yairi guitars offer an example of this but I know a luthier (who told of a tradition in lutherie about this also)and more than one professional guitarists that prefer laminated back and side

 

[knulp]

And let me add this

In the other thread you are referring to I mentioned an anecdotal case without implying that anything was to be inferred from

That is,a fact to be aware

If you want you can think wrong and assume you have to infer something.
But that’s your choice

The alternative is to ignore all the evidence that are not statistically significant

it’s better to have a proper view of the anecdotal evidence as in science in general

 

[knulp]

And since we’re at it note that a statistical relevant fact can led to wrong statements

Example:a lot of laminated guitars are cheap
So laminated is a cheap material

Reasoning with these things requires a very specific training

 

[StrummerJoe]

Saucy.

 

[PelliX]

And good laminated,both because of quality of materials but expecially because of how it’s made,costs more than solid

Uhm, I can't say much about the economics, but it would appear it's always the 'cheaper choice'. My Hummingbird is laminated, too.

In the other thread you are referring to I mentioned an anecdotal case without implying that anything was to be inferred from

That is,a fact to be aware

I really don't want to "make a point" about language because know English is not your native tongue, and that would very unfair. My Italian is way worse. Still, that reads like a Chinenglish manual. I have no clue what you mean.

If you want you can think wrong and assume you have to infer something.
But that’s your choice

More Chinenglish manual here to me...

The alternative is to ignore all the evidence that are not statistically significant

it’s better to have a proper view of the anecdotal evidence as in science in general

Science is about knowledge. Knowledge is gained through observations, experiments and the evaluation of data. The more data you have, the better you can calculate an average. A sample set of one is absolutely, entirely and utterly meaningless in the larger picture. If I recall correctly, you claimed to have worked in scientific areas, so this should be clear as day to you.

 

[Wildeman]