Do you think electric guitars "break in"?

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cardinal

cardinal

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The idea seems far fetched to me, except that my anecedotal experience says it happens. All but one of my guitars I purchased when the guitar was over 5 or six years old. I have real seat time only with one guitar purchased brand new (a custom order). When I first got it, I was pretty upset because no matter how i set it up, it was plinky sounding with a zingy top end and some dead spots. It just sat in its case for a while and then I said to hell with it and started to play it even though I didn't really like it.

That was about 3 years ago. It's now my #1, dead spots are gone and it's warm and full sounding. I've been tinkering around with some of my othe guitars the last few days and pulled out this custom order again last night. It's a monster-sounding guitar that puts everything else to shame. I've noticed for a while that it seems to be sounding better and better, but the head-to-head comparison with my other guitars (which I hadn't done in a while because it use to just depress me) was remarkable.

How did that happen? It has a floating Floyd. Could it just be that the springs loosened up? Or did the guitar actually "break in" somehow? Or just my ears playing tricks?
 
Yes, sort of. As I understand it a lot of newer (cheaper) guitars are produced with "wet" wood, not properly dried. As they age they "can" improve. YMMV
Mark
 
Yes.

Fret wear, controls, neck, etc.

Some well known players are said to have placed their newer guitars on stage with them while touring to let the vibrations work their way through the new wood/guitar. Snake oil for some, at the molecular level there is something happening - existential and trippy or not.
 
Thanks. It seems accepted that acoustic guitars break in with vibrations over time, but I'm not so sure it would work with electrics.
 
My classical guitars, definitely, have become louder & matured over time. They're acoustic though, of course, so may produce a more noticeable change in timbre.
 
Yes the break-in. Takes a couple years for me. One of the first guitars I bought years ago was a flying V. It was a rough couple of years at first. Then one day I picked it up and it was killer from then on.

My Blue Anderson Cobra is starting to settle in now. My other Cobra I've had it long enough to regret it three times. It's been great for quite awhile.
 
just like most things. woods, wire-oxidation, chemical changes, etc. For what it's worth, I think _we_ change the most, though; we adjust to our instruments and it takes longer than most people think. playing the same instrument over time, we grow accustomed to it, then we try something new, and adjust to that.
 
Like that ol' (true) story of Fender sending Keef a mess of new butterscotch Teles to tour with. He got back to them and said "don't like, they feel too new, is there anyway you can bash 'em around a bit and make them feel used"? They did, he got them back, and alas was born the "relic" treatment.
 
Ventura":13w96gno said:
Yes.

Fret wear, controls, neck, etc.

Some well known players are said to have placed their newer guitars on stage with them while touring to let the vibrations work their way through the new wood/guitar. Snake oil for some, at the molecular level there is something happening - existential and trippy or not.
Click to expand...


Absolutely true. Especially with acoustics. If you put your acoustic near a speaker or your surround sound sub, it ages it similar to playing.
 
cardinal":1prlne6l said:
The idea seems far fetched to me, except that my anecedotal experience says it happens. All but one of my guitars I purchased when the guitar was over 5 or six years old. I have real seat time only with one guitar purchased brand new (a custom order). When I first got it, I was pretty upset because no matter how i set it up, it was plinky sounding with a zingy top end and some dead spots. It just sat in its case for a while and then I said to hell with it and started to play it even though I didn't really like it.

That was about 3 years ago. It's now my #1, dead spots are gone and it's warm and full sounding. I've been tinkering around with some of my othe guitars the last few days and pulled out this custom order again last night. It's a monster-sounding guitar that puts everything else to shame. I've noticed for a while that it seems to be sounding better and better, but the head-to-head comparison with my other guitars (which I hadn't done in a while because it use to just depress me) was remarkable.

How did that happen? It has a floating Floyd. Could it just be that the springs loosened up? Or did the guitar actually "break in" somehow? Or just my ears playing tricks?
Click to expand...

Obvious reasons for why an acoustic can sound different (note, I didn't writer "better") over time, as the wood ages.

A solid body electric's sound comes mainly from the strings, pup's, electronics, and a bit from the wood and it's density.
Seriously doubt that time will make a bad sounding electric a wonderful go-to #1 guitar just by sitting in the case for an extended amount of time.

You'll hear the change in the age of the strings or even the difference of new strings more so than what age can do.
Your tonal expectations have likely changes. Maybe your mindset is now different than when you first go it so you're hearing perception could be different.
Are you using the same amp, same strings, same environment, etc...?
Those are some things that change tone.

I've used strings where I actually liked the tone more once the strings were a few weeks old.
On some guitars, certain strings sound better after they've aged and their brightness has lessened.

A painted solid body isn't going to change the tone that much as the wood ain't breathing with all that paint and clearcoat covering the wood.

Still, it's great that you're digging the guitar again. It's like Christmas, but you already own it and it didn't cost you anymore. :)
 
no, they acclimate to their new environment (i.e. humid Houston to arid Phoenix) but there is no breaking in per se.
 
Yes. My maple necked and basswood body 1989 LNG sounds totally different than any other ibanez with the same specs I've owned.
 
Thanks for the responses. It's definitely not just aging strings, because it sounds very consistent from string change to string change. And it didn't suddenly sound better and erase dead spots after sitting in a case for years. I was playing it out of stubbornness: I wasn't that fond of it but I payed so much for it I was going to use the damn thing. Because I'm a masochist, I even harped on the areas with the dead spots. Over time, I noticed the dead spots weren't so dead at all.

Who knows. I've flips a ton of amps over that time, but my guitars have stayed the same. With the amps I have now, it's easily the biggest and thickest sounding guitar I have. That was not true with the amp I had when I first got it.
 
My homemade took a few summers/winters before if would fit in a standard case. :-)
 
Yes, my LP std that I've had for 30+ years (Original owner), I would consider broken in. Played the paint nearly completely off the neck. Edges of the neck are worn in, as well as the fretboard a bit. Magnets in pu's age, and as mentioned-- over time the wood dries out for the better, imo.

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