this post was submitted on 15 May 2025
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Woodworking
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Yeah I'm familiar with guitar humidors and things like that which are used to protect valuable guitars. And they make perfect sense.
But I'm thinking about just regular parlor guitars, instruments that sit out in relatively uncontrolled environments and are played regularly, and instruments that are used on tours. Those instruments are subject to all kinds of chaos, and it seems like they should all be self destructing. And yeah, some do. But most don't. And I think that's really weird
Well-cured wood can help. Guitars built with green wood will crack easily.
Plywood guitars are tough - my resonator guitars are impervious to dryness, and they're made of plywood basically.
The other thing that might explain it is survivor's bias - the guitars on the wall at the pub or in a mountain cabin either survive, or they crack and die. We see the ones that made it. Same thing with 200 year old parlor guitars - they are survivors.
I hadn't considered survivorship bias or that my original assertion was wrong. Solid point.