Keeping guitars in cars

[Nebulous]

I'm thinking of purchasing a cheap, second hand, pre-beaten guitar to keep in my car as a traveller/ lunch break escape.
Have any of you had a bad experience with keeping guitars in your car for too long? Could the varying temps ruin the neck?

The guitar I have in mind is a cheap LP copy with bolt on neck.
The point of this is to not scratch up my nicer guitars, get away from the PC at lunch times and to get more time on the guitar each day.

Thoughts?

 

[Ermz]

Bog is selling his 6-string Hellraiser!

 

[Empathy]

Ever seen what happens to drum shells when you leave them in your car all the time? Same story with guitars. They will die horrible, horrible mutant deaths. If you don't care though, go for it!

 

[JeffTD]

As long as you keep it in a case or gigbag and it isn't in direct sunlight, you're fine.

 

[egan.]

When you tour guitars they sit in non-climate controlled trailers for months at a time through insane temperature changes.

 

[Nebulous]

The one I had in mind would come with a gig bag. This is looking good for my playing, bad, again, for my bank balance.
Thanks for the replies!

Keep them coming, especially anyone with horror stories to learn from lol.

 

[TravisW]

The toughest thing with keeping guitars in the car is heat. If your car gets extremely hot, it can cause the glue to soften, which can cause problems on some guitars. The wood will fluctuate to some degree, but humidity tends to have a bigger effect on that than temperature.

 

[bryan_kilco]

As long as you keep it in a case or gigbag and it isn't in direct sunlight, you're fine.

NO!!

I bought a new guitar and kept my old Ibanez in my car for about a week. Took her out and opened the case to rusty strings and condensation on the pickups. Literally - moisture on the pickups. The pickup coils all rusty.

Don't do it unless you are taking it out of your car every night.

 

[JeffTD]

NO!!

I bought a new guitar and kept my old Ibanez in my car for about a week. Took her out and opened the case to rusty strings and condensation on the pickups. Literally - moisture on the pickups. The pickup coils all rusty.

Don't do it unless you are taking it out of your car every night.

Some case materials are prone to moisture for whatever reason - I had this issue with a Carvin I used to have.

There's a reason I keep silica packets in my guitar cases.



For what it's worth, my Schecter rode in the generator bay of a tour bus for 2 months this summer. I pulled it out twice on the entire tour, and when I finally opened it at home it was still in tune. Nothing at all wrong with it.

 

[heshian46]

Ever seen what happens to drum shells when you leave them in your car all the time? Same story with guitars. They will die horrible, horrible mutant deaths. If you don't care though, go for it!

What JeffTD said. I kept my entire kit in my truck in between shows and practice for over 3 years due to not having proper storage space while at home and college. I always had everything in bags and cases and I never saw any significant damage from the varying temps.

Its do-able, just protect your instrument with a decent case and you'll be fine.

 

[Empathy]

What JeffTD said. I kept my entire kit in my truck in between shows and practice for over 3 years due to not having proper storage space while at home and college. I always had everything in bags and cases and I never saw any significant damage from the varying temps.

Its do-able, just protect your instrument with a decent case and you'll be fine.

Funny you say that. Our drummer keeps his Sonor Designer kit in his car all day every day. Tiny little Honda Jazz, manages to fit the whole fucking thing in there.

Point is, it's fucked. Keeps everything in good quality bags, but goddamn, the weather patterns here in Perth have utterly destroyed them sitting in that car. They're exposed to direct sunlight in a car that cooks like a furnace for 3/4 of the year. They sound nothing like they used to, the shells have literally started to warp. The snare is the only thing in good condition because it's the only thing he takes out of the car (probably because everyone keeps asking him how much he wants for it, apparently the Series 1 Designers are popular).

 

[bryan_kilco]

Some case materials are prone to moisture for whatever reason - I had this issue with a Carvin I used to have.

There's a reason I keep silica packets in my guitar cases.



For what it's worth, my Schecter rode in the generator bay of a tour bus for 2 months this summer. I pulled it out twice on the entire tour, and when I finally opened it at home it was still in tune. Nothing at all wrong with it.

You know, I was thinking about keeping those silica packs in there but I didn't know if it would effect the guitar at all. Maybe I'll start doing that. The old Ibanez is so beat anyway, needs all new hardware....so it's not like I totally fucked up, but it has happened more than once to me, in 2 different types of cases.

 

[pikachu69]

I sold a guitar (BC Rich Beast!) to a friend a few years back when I worked at my local music shop. Brand new, in flight case with silica bags inside. I gave it a good checking over before it left the store and it was in mint condition. She brought the guitar, put it in her car parked outside the store and went for a walk in town for an hour or two then when home. in was about 22 degrees/cel outside so not that warm.
When getting the guitar out of its case for the first time she noticed it was quite warm and wet. The whole guitar sweated and within another couple of hours all of the metal in the bridge and on the pickups had rust forming on them. The wood had sweated out alot of oil and the fretboard cracked. The guitar was hung on a wall and never played. It has been there for about 7 or 8 years now...

Extreme example i know but is it really worth the risk? Wood IS sensitive to heat so exteme fluctuations in temp will have some adverse effect, its only a matter of time.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Depends on where you live, I guess. I've seen guitars (stored in proper cases) absolutely raped by the humidity and/or cold weather many times.

 

[heshian46]

Funny you say that. Our drummer keeps his Sonor Designer kit in his car all day every day. Tiny little Honda Jazz, manages to fit the whole fucking thing in there.

Point is, it's fucked. Keeps everything in good quality bags, but goddamn, the weather patterns here in Perth have utterly destroyed them sitting in that car. They're exposed to direct sunlight in a car that cooks like a furnace for 3/4 of the year. They sound nothing like they used to, the shells have literally started to warp. The snare is the only thing in good condition because it's the only thing he takes out of the car (probably because everyone keeps asking him how much he wants for it, apparently the Series 1 Designers are popular).

Yea you're right, climate is different everywhere.
However, I live in Chicago and we get extreme everything from freezing winters to blistering summers.

I also think its important to keep your bearing edges clean and crisp.
I re-cut mine at least once a year.