Do I need to acclimatize these instruments before an outdoor gig?

July 19, 2019 6:14 PM

Should I? Outdoor show tomorrow, record temps expected, although humidity shouldn't be terrible. The cello and hollow body guitar have been in a fairly cool, climate-controlled space for months. Does it make sense to expose these acoustic instruments to some extra heat overnight, so as to avoid "shocking" them?

Every guitar I've ever owned has been pretty sensitive to this sort of heat change, especially if humidity's involved. My banjos don't seem to be affected much. Strings, though? I definitely want to avoid the sort of situation where I've got condensation forming on the cello or something, and if possible I'd like to avoid having to tune more than once or twice tomorrow.

I've always had a humidifier in the case, so it's used to around 50% ambient humidity. The outside air shouldn't be much more humid than that tomorrow for once, but it's quite likely to hit 100 F while we're playing (thankfully under a shaded pavilion, so it shouldn't ever be in direct sun).

I have a secure area that isn't exposed to the elements, but isn't very air-conditioned, either. Is it a bad idea to stick the instruments out there overnight, just so they have a chance to adjust before tuning in the morning?

posted by aspersioncast to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (4 answers total)

I think it's probably a good idea, yeah. And then once you're at the gig if you can leave them for a bit under the pavilion with the cases open so they can finish getting to the ambient temperature.

(I mean, I doubt you're in serious danger of damaging the instruments if you didn't, but you'd definitely have to tune more than a couple of times.)
posted by soundguy99 at 6:39 PM on July 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

If you don’t want to tune more than a couple times I’d let them adjust overnight in a safe place. You might end up doing that anyway if the cello hasn’t been brought to pitch.

Signed, an orchestra teacher with 100+ school instruments who really dreads the first couple days of playing in August for this reason.
posted by charmedimsure at 7:18 PM on July 19, 2019 [4 favorites]

I would definitely let them acclimate, for the potential tuning issues, rather than any potential damage (which seems REALLY unlikely to occur — I've only hear of that happening with extreme cold).

I wouldn't worry about condensation unless the temperature drops a lot quickly.
posted by jonathanhughes at 7:29 PM on July 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: All done! I did as suggested regarding leaving the cases open before the gig as well. The guitar ended up being more sensitive than the cello, which only had to be tuned up once. But everything went fine, and there were no real heat-related problems (although we did manage to melt the knobs on a tascam DP-008).
posted by aspersioncast at 11:42 AM on July 20, 2019 [5 favorites]