Brr – it’s certainly cold out there at the moment.

We know we’ve said this before but, with the last couple of nights dropping to below zero, we thought it was worth a #WednesdayWisdom to remind you to not only wrap up warm yourself but also wrap your instruments.

The standard advice is not to leave your instrument in the car when it’s cold. However, being a company by musicians for musicians, we know there are times when you simply cannot avoid leaving your instrument in a cold vehicle. In these situations we recommend the following:
– ensure it is kept in a hard case; gig bags do not afford the same protection. All our guitars are sold with a hard case but if yours came with a gig bag contact us to upgrade; we always a few cases available to purchase just give us a call.
– wrap the case in a couple of blankets or a sleeping bag. This will provide additional insulation and help to stop the instrument from freezing.
– when taking it out from the vehicle the following day, leave it in its case wrapped in blankets to allow it to equilibrate with the room temperature before taking it out to play. This is especially important with cheaper instruments but is still worth doing for quality ones.

We are fortunate in that the woods in all our instruments are well seasoned, for a minimum of ten years, with most having a good number of decades under their belts. Sadly, this isn’t true of all instruments. Furthermore, some lacquers can shrink and harden as the temperature drops and, when the wood doesn’t shrink at the same rate, the result can be heart-breaking.