Did you accidentally leave your guitar out in your cold car in the middle of winter? Or perhaps you are thinking about putting a few things in a storage locker that is in an uncontrolled temperature environment. Well if so, you might be wondering if the cold would hurt your guitar any.
In this article, we will discuss whether or not cold temperatures have the capability to harm your guitar, no matter if it’s an acoustic or an electric guitar.
Because after all, you probably paid good money for your instrument and therefore, have an interest in protecting it from elements like the cold.
Table of Contents
Will Cold Temperatures Hurt My Guitar?
How To Tell If Your Guitar Is Damaged By the Cold
If you believe that you may have damaged your guitar by leaving it in a cold environment, then there are a few signs that you can look for so you know with certainty.
Wood has the tendency to swell so if you see that the action is raised higher than it usually is, it could be due to extreme temperature changes. You might also see cracks in the finish of your guitar or even bubbles.
Another way to tell if your guitar has been damaged from the cold is if it all of a sudden starts to produce fret buzz when you play it.
Fret buzz is the annoying sound you get when a guitar string vibrates against the neck of your guitar. It’s important to note that other factors can play into fret buzz and not just damage from cold temps.
How To Properly Store Your Guitar
One of the most basic and easy ways to store your guitar and protect it from the elements is to simply keep it in a guitar case. I recommend using a hard case and not a soft one.
The reasoning behind this is that soft cases do not protect your guitar from outside temperatures as well as hard cases do.
If you happen to be traveling in a vehicle with your guitar, it might be a good idea to just bring it inside when you get to your destination. I realize that this might not always be possible.
So if that’s the case, you could go out and warm up your vehicle every few hours or so to keep the guitar from becoming extremely cold.
Just be sure to put your guitar somewhere inside the cab of your vehicle and not in the trunk, otherwise, the heat might not reach it.
