View Single Post
Old 09-26-2007, 03:43 PM   #67
J Kennedy
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: ocean mists
Posts: 860
Default freeze drying

Out,

This seems to work for guitars without pre processing and was discovered by an individual with an ancient Martin acoustic that had been deep freezed by accident. I've done this on several acoustics and there "seems" to be an increase in the full bodied sound. Downside is the cracking of the finish, which looks neat, but the finish will crack. I haven't noticed any structural damage which might be there if the guitar was humidified (just a guess). The excess moisture could expand on freezing and damage the grain.

There are theories afloat about why acoustic instruments age and sound better. There's the idea that sound vibrations play across a bunch of micro domains where the wave will resonate in a small pocket but be blocked a few molecules later down the wood. The vibration friendly areas supposedly break down resistance in neighboring domains and resonate more of the wood overtime and with use.

Problem with the dry ice model is that disruption doesn't send soundwaves thru the wood. Maybe it does micro fragment areas that can then pick up new resonances when the instrument is played. Dry icing would definitely be best first tried on a guitar you can live without, so you can see if the look or change in sound is something you want to risk on a more valuable instrument. Cautionary note again to release all tension on the strings before you try this or things can get permanently warped.

Regards,
John

(edit) New discovery. Beer spilled onto the computer keyboard will severely shorten the working life of the keyboard.

Last edited by J Kennedy; 09-27-2007 at 01:18 AM.
J Kennedy is offline   Reply With Quote