Storing necks and celluloid pickguards

[umcoo]

Hi folks,

I have a couple of questions, and hopefully I don't come across as sounding too stupid!  Firstly, are there any problems with storing a Warmoth neck for a length of time (let's say a few months) without being attached to a body or under any string tension?  I assume it's sensible to store it in a place with no extremes of tempertaure or humidity, but anything else?

Secondly, with Warmoth tort celluloid pickguards, I've read that celluloid can shrink over time.  What kind of timescale is this?  Similar to the neck, can it be stored for a few months with no shrinkage?

Thanks in advance.

   

 

[Rickgrxbass]

Hi folks,

I have a couple of questions, and hopefully I don't come across as sounding too stupid!  Firstly, are there any problems with storing a Warmoth neck for a length of time (let's say a few months) without being attached to a body or under any string tension?  I assume it's sensible to store it in a place with no extremes of tempertaure or humidity, but anything else?

Secondly, with Warmoth tort celluloid pickguards, I've read that celluloid can shrink over time.  What kind of timescale is this?  Similar to the neck, can it be stored for a few months with no shrinkage?

Thanks in advance.

     

Shouldn't be a problem in either case.  I've stored necks not attached to anything without any ill effects.  I'm sure someone would say it's worse to store them at full string tension, and others who would say it's bad to hang them on the wall by the headstock or leaning against the neck in a floor stand, etc.

As far as the pickguards, the timeline is on the order of decades, ie if you had a 1974 strat with a tortoise celluloid pickguard, it may have shrunk by now.  I'd be more worried that it would warp if not stored flat, but that seems unlikely as well.

 

[Nightclub Dwight]

If you are worried about the pickguard shrinking or warping, you could always screw it to a piece of scrap plywood to store it.  That would hold it in shape and prevent anything from happening.

 

[Disco Scottie]

The real question here is, why do you need to store them? I'm gonna guess you're a high-level CIA operative and they're sending you on a top-secret mission.

 

[umcoo]

If I told you why, I would have to kill you.

 

[Mor Paul]

Real celluloid hasn't been used for quite a long time. It's acrylic now.

 

[umcoo]

Ahh interesting.  Cheers Max.  Warmoth tort has to be the best looking I've seen.

 

[bigguspickus]

An easy way to tell if it's real celluloid is to apply extreme heat (with a lighter or gas torch), if it burns quickly then it was real celluloid.

 

[Mor Paul]

I believe it's really hard to ship Celluloid across the ocean/out of country, because of how volatile it is. Not sure, though.

 

[Rickgrxbass]

Real celluloid hasn't been used for quite a long time. It's acrylic now.

That's what I thought, but then I thought W uses "vintage" celluloid for one type of pickguard, I could've sworn I read it on the site somewhere, but now it's gone.  :dontknow:

 

[back2thefutre]

i have a neck and body and celluloid  pickguard sitting in my garage for about 6 months now. my only worry is that 6 months is going to turn into 6 years.  :sad: :laughing11: :headbang: :binkybaby: :binkybaby: :binkybaby: :binkybaby: :binkybaby: :redflag: :guitarplayer2: :guitarplayer2: :guitarplayer2: :headbang1: :headbang1: :headbang1: :guitaristgif: :guitaristgif: :guitaristgif: :guitaristgif: :guitaristgif: :guitaristgif: :guitaristgif: :evil4: :evil4: :dontknow: :dontknow: :dontknow: ccasion14: :laughing8: :laughing8: :icon_tongue: :hello2: :toothy12: :toothy11: :toothy10: :tard: :tard: :tard: :sad: :sad1: :sad1: :-\ :laughing7: :laughing3: :laughing3: :laughing3: :laughing3: :laughing11: :laughing11: :laughing11: :icon_scratch: ??? :icon_jokercolor: :icon_jokercolor: :icon_jokercolor: :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin: :headbang: :headbang: :glasses9: :glasses9: :glasses9: :blob7: :blob7: :blob7: :blob7:

 

[Jusatele]

I have a question, a serious one

let me set it up

a neck on a guitar when strung has some seriously unbalanced stress on it
not only is the truss rod pulling one way
but the strings, all tunes to different notes, and all different gauges, are pulling very unevenly on the front.
I think you could argue they were pulling in a manner that could twist the neck

so why do we believe you need to have a neck strung and tensioned to avoid warpage?

 

[Cagey]

...so why do we believe you need to have a neck strung and tensioned to avoid warpage?

Because shut up! That's why!​

Seriously, though, I don't know if it makes any difference one way or another. You would think that no tension means it may relax funny, while under tension it would warp or twist. But, think of it this way. If you play the thing every day, or at least frequently, it's always under tension. So, that can't be bad. If you just store the neck without even being attached to a guitar like Warmoth, Fender, Gibson et al do by the thousands, it's still ok. So, anyone who's worried about it is probably just looking for things to worry about. Life's too short for all that.

 

[mgaut051]

i have a neck and body and celluloid  pickguard sitting in my garage for about 6 months now. my only worry is that 6 months is going to turn into 6 years.  :sad: :laughing11: :headbang: :binkybaby: :binkybaby: :binkybaby: :binkybaby: :binkybaby: :redflag: :guitarplayer2: :guitarplayer2: :guitarplayer2: :headbang1: :headbang1: :headbang1: :guitaristgif: :guitaristgif: :guitaristgif: :guitaristgif: :guitaristgif: :guitaristgif: :guitaristgif: :evil4: :evil4: :dontknow: :dontknow: :dontknow: ccasion14: :laughing8: :laughing8: :icon_tongue: :hello2: :toothy12: :toothy11: :toothy10: :tard: :tard: :tard: :sad: :sad1: :sad1: :-\ :laughing7: :laughing3: :laughing3: :laughing3: :laughing3: :laughing11: :laughing11: :laughing11: :icon_scratch: ??? :icon_jokercolor: :icon_jokercolor: :icon_jokercolor: :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin: :headbang: :headbang: :glasses9: :glasses9: :glasses9: :blob7: :blob7: :blob7: :blob7:

Tourette's?

 

[Alfang]

This is an educated guess based on my experience.

A neck installled on a body and truss rod adjusted and tuned to pitch should remain that way and be fine.

If the strings are removed or the neck not installed, relax the trussrod and it should last a long time.

If you foresee storing the guitar for YEARS? I'd relax both the strings and trussrod.

And in all cases, store them indoors, where theres no extremes of heat/cold or humidity.

I had a buddy that wanted me to work on his guitar, at the end of the day, and it was in the 90's, he said he'd drop the guitar off on his way home.  My response: " Your axe has been sitting in your car all day?"  It took 2 days for the heat induced bow/ action to subside. no real damage was done

 

[-CB-]

Real celluloid hasn't been used for quite a long time. It's acrylic now.

Is that acrylic?  It SMELLS like celluloid.  ALL celluloid will eventually go to dust.  In the process, it will shrink, and crack, but the stuff is not a forever item.  Guitars in the 30's-50's I've seen will have differing degrees of celluloid issues.  I'm not worried, I'll be dead by the time mine go bad.

 

[Mor Paul]

:doh: Scratch that. While a lot of tortoiseshell is acrylic/vinyl now, Warmoth uses real Celluloid.

Shame on me.  :tard:

 

[erogenousjones17]

An easy way to tell if it's real celluloid is to apply extreme heat (with a lighter or gas torch), if it burns quickly then it was real celluloid.

I love the past tense in this post.

 

[-CB-]

Hint:  Start a fire with wet tinder... and shavings from a celluloid guitar pick.  Just a few small shavings will get your wet tinder fire going (with a match).