How damaging is water to your guitar?

[tirtha2shredder]

So I was going through my facebook when this post popped up. It's a video that sort of went viral on the site that shows a man "cleaning" his guitar buy repeatedly pouring water down its body and neck through the electronics and what not.

Although the whole video and the thought of pouring so much water on the guitar seemed horrifying, to say the least, I was curious as to how the sound/feel/playability of the guitar would be affected if the guitar was to take in so much water.

Also, could someone tell me how your guitar would react to situations as when you accidentaly drop a glass of water over it, or chuck it in the pool?

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

I highly suggest it. I mean, if you like guitars warping and delaminating. If you like playable guitars i wouldn't suggest doing it.

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

Dropping a glass of water? Not so bad, dry it off as well as possible and blowdry it may work. Active pickups may be ruined. Throwing it in a pool? Hope you didnt spend a lot on it...

 

[AlterBlackbird]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

Yeah, this is Facebook you're talking about, so you can't put much stock in that.

What does common sense tell you about this? Go with that.

 

[uOpt]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

Obviously you need to manually dry the electronics and the hardware so that it doesn't rust, which would normally happen pretty quickly, quickly enough that the water could stay in there to cause a lot of rust.

A properly finished neck and body probably does care much about being submerged for an hour or even a day, and even a worn nitro finish or tru oil I would expect to not draw any water if the wood is old enough.

Again, the main problem would be secondary effects, such as algae or other water based plants or fungus and the like.

I always wanted to store a body blank submerged for a couple years before making a Strat body from it.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

&&&&Chris reas's famous red strat spent a few days underwater in his parents basement. He claims it made it sound better haha

 

[uOpt]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

&&&&Chris reas's famous red strat spent a few days underwater in his parents basement. He claims it made it sound better haha

I can absolutely believe that. Just your own skin gets more dry if you have repeated hand washing or other water contact going on.

/dumps his Strat into the pool

 

[blueman335]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

Water warps wood, so does drying out. Gonna be tough on necks in particular. Doesn't seem like a particularly good idea, but then there's idiots born every day.

 

[uOpt]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

Sigh. Now I have to do it.

 

[dominus]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

Dropping a glass of water? Not so bad, dry it off as well as possible and blowdry it may work. Active pickups may be ruined. Throwing it in a pool? Hope you didnt spend a lot on it...

I'd think that active pickups being sealed would probably be the part that survives the best.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

Some guitars just beg for being submerged.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

 

[tirtha2shredder]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

Haha would love to play this and know how it sounds like. :33::33:

 

[Archer250]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

Haha would love to play this and know how it sounds like. :33::33:

Sounds fishy.

 

[Diminished Triad]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

One of the most enjoyable posts here in a while!

 

[NecroPolo]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

The idiot on that Facebook video probably overkilled that poor Stratty thing.

As far my experience goes, you don't even have to pour water to destroy (warp) a guitar neck beyond repair. Too much air humidity can do it.

On the other hand, wood is a natural material. If it dries out too much it will start changing shape. For their thinner layer, it is more obvious for acoustic guitars but it can cause nasty changes on electric guitar necks too.

 

[uOpt]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

Never ask what water does to your guitar. Ask what your guitar does to the water.

 

[Jocelyn]

Re: How damaging is water to your guitar?

I dont care if that guitar in the video is even a cheap strat copy. But I want to assassinate that guy, after submerging him in water for a day.