Why wait a day to open a shipped instrument?

[Paul Merlo]

I just received my Weber last Friday and there were stickers on every panel reminding me to wait 24 hours for it to acclimate before I even opened the cardboard box. The reason I say 'remind' instead of 'recommend' is because I spoke with the great people at Sound To Earth earlier in the week and they all told me to wait a day before I opened it. Call me crazy, but I'm guessing the people who actually made it might know more than I do about their product and how to care for it.

Now, I work in an architectural millwork shop and we deal with wood installations expanding and contracting all day. And sometimes we need to remind the architects that fixtures need expansion joints and all the screws in the right place if all those muy expensivo executive boardroom wall panels and built-ins want to keep a flat surface and not look like a bunch of giant potato chips stuck to the wall.

A few days before the mando arrived, I was talking to the builders in Montana, where it's 95 degrees out and probably much drier than my home in southeast Michigan surrounded by water and a good 15 - 20 degrees colder that day. We're talking about where to ship the mandolin and when it will arrive.

I was so excited because after 4 months, it's down the homestretch we go! Only a few more days wait now... So there I was tracking the updates (ain't the internet a wonderful thing?) and watching my mando arrive and leave Bozeman. Then it lands in Omaha. OMAHA??? what in tar-nation is it doing in Omaha? Then is shows up somewhere else and somewhere else and yet another city that ain't mine. I don't know if it's going by plane, train or automobile at this point either...

Finally it gets to my office around noon after 6 hours on a truck (allegedly). There it is, sitting on the counter, and now comes the choice: wait 24 more hours to open it or risk damaging a once-in-a-lifetime prize mandolin. After all that, I waited.

[Cheryl Watson]

I first pull the cased instrument out of the box. Then if the case feels quite warm or cold to my touch, I have always waited about 3 hours, then undid all the latches and lift the lid just a tiny bit to slide in a popsicle stick or something similar which lets the air in very slowly, for another hour and then I open the lid. I've never run into any problems doing that.

OK, THAT said, it might be best to wait 24 hrs. if Weber instructed you to do so because they probably know a LOT more than I know but it is going to be so HARD on you!

[sgarrity]

I didn't realize we were talking about a specific instrument here. But I have to tell you.......15-20 degrees difference and some humidity should not cause a problem with your mandolin. And if it does it probably wasn't built right in the first place. As for the stickers on the Weber box....sounds like typical corporate CYA policy.

As for me, you can bet your G-strings that I'll be opening mine when I get them if for no other reason than to make for darn sure the carrier didn't damage it in the process of getting it into my possession!

[Marcus CA]

An instrument inside its case inside a well-packed box is going to feel changes in temperature very gradually.

A few years ago, I bought my Weber mandocello from Mandolin Brothers in January. They did a phenomenal job of packing the case inside the box. It didn't budge in there, trapped inside countless styrofoam peanuts. It had the "Wait 24 hours" stickers that are referred to as cautionary or CYA, depending on POV. So, I did. Kind of.

I opened the box after 18 hours. The peanuts were incredibly cold. A few hours later, I pulled the case out of the peanuts. The case was still incredibly cold. At the 24-hour mark, I popped the case. The m'cello was still incredibly cold. Fearful from the checking stories, I immediately put it back in the case for a few more hours. When I couldn't wait any longer, I opened the case to find a merely cold mandocello. For the first 15 minutes that I played it, it couldn't stay in tune for half a song. Now, I can play it for an hour without needing to retune.

The finish looks great!

Personally, until Mythbusters or Lynn Dudenbostel says that the wait is pointless, I'd rather spend a day letting an instrument acclimate (perhaps unnecessarily) than spend years wishing I had done so.

[Ivan Kelsall]

First off - Paper & cardboard are very good insulators in themselves. They reflect heat both ways,keeping hot & cold 'out' & keeping 'hot & cold' in. If a new instrument arrives in it's case,inside a cardboard box,unless it's been really 'soaked' at a low temp. for a long time,there's a good chance that the outside will be far colder than the inside. Also,when the box warms up to room temp.,the inside will still be colder,but still not as cold as the outside was.
I received both my Mandolins from TAMCO in Brighton UK during the winter months, Dec.for my Weber & Jan.for my Lebeda. Both were packed in cardboard boxes which i opened straight away,& on opening the instrument case,neither one had the faintest 'condensation' bloom on the finish in my warm living room - the Lebeda,had spent a weekend in a cold freight depot.prior to being delivered on the Monday morning.The cardboard box filled with newspaper packaging kept it at a decently high(ish) temp.
Obviously,with the extreme low temps.you folks in the US get,if an instrument has taken quite a journey over several days of very low temps.,then it would be wise to let things warm up a bit,even then, i'd certainly take the case out of the packaging to aid the warm up process,or the case & instrument could still be very cold,even after the carboard packaging had warmed up to room temp.,
Ivan

[JeffD]

Personally, until Mythbusters or Lynn Dudenbostel says that the wait is pointless, I'd rather spend a day letting an instrument acclimate (perhaps unnecessarily) than spend years wishing I had done so.

Well said.


Kafka said: "Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin, impatience. Because of impatience we are driven out of Paradise. Because of impatience we cannot return."

[Ed Goist]

Jeff that Kafka quote is classic!

[morgan]

For those who think "it can't happen" - I played in a band with a guitar player who left her very nice Taylor in her car overnight in the Massachusetts winter, and the finish cracked badly. The result was not an attractive "distressed" look; it was ugly. She felt terrible about it, so it was not a topic she cared to discuss at length and I never did resolve with her whether she thought the finish cracked in the car overnight or when she opened the case. I've certainly been less cavalier about temperature extremes since.

[Brett Byers]

I guess it's time for me to chime in on this thread. As the finish guy for Weber, I pushed for us to place the "wait 24 hrs..." stickers on the shipping boxes. It is not a corporate CYA move as some have suggested. It is a small company PTCM policy. (protect the customer's mandolin). I have received quite a few phone calls from distraught customers who, upon receiving their instrument, opened the box immediately and removed the case. And when they opened the case to check out their new baby, they watched and listened in horror as the finish began to check. It happens. Granted, it happens in the cold winter months more than summer, but remember, winter in Montana can last six months or more. Nitrocellulose lacquer is not very forgiving when it comes to rapid changes in temperature, whether it's cold>hot or hot>cold. It breaks my heart to receive those phone calls. We understand the significance of shelling out a few thousand dollars for an instrument, and the importance of that instrument living up to, and hopefully exceeding, the customer's expectations. The stickers that we place on the shipping box are there to protect your investment, not our own butts. Does every finish check if the case is opened right away? No. Do the majority of instruments check if opened right away? No. Does it happen? Yes. It is absolutely no consolation to a customer who's finish has checked to tell them, "Hey, you're only one of a hundred..." To them, that instrument represents a lot of things, not the least of which is a significant financial outlay. If we can prevent this from happening by placing a few cautionary stickers on our shipping boxes, then we have done our job. An immense amount of work goes into producing a Weber instrument, and for something bad to happen at the moment of delivery is a real shame. We want to prevent that bad thing from happening.

[hedgehog]

I always wonder who the genius was that decided on the proper finish is for a musical instrument. I am also a gun guy, even today most of my guns have wood finish. Yes, guns are affected by the very same weather related issues experienced by musical instruments. It is well documented that a gun stock will move which can adversely affect accuracy or performance. But one thing that you NEVER see in a fire arm is finish checking, even under the harshest weather related changes imaginable. I use tung oil on my nicer wood stocks and my OME Banjo is finished in tung oil, never a crack or the slightest bit of change. There thousands of boats finished in Varnish, they never seem to crack. God knows a poly finish never cracks. I've asked this of Greg Rich this very same question, why in the world do we seem to insist on a nitro finish that we all know will eventually destroy itself. He says that it's tradition and he actually likes the cracks on old instruments. Sorry, this sort of thing never makes sense to me.

[JeffD]

But one thing that you NEVER see in a fire arm is finish checking, even under the harshest weather related changes imaginable.

I wonder if it has something to with the sheer mass. A gun stock is a large thermal mass, and will be much slower to change temperature (for the same changes in ambient temperature) than a mostly hollow accoustic instrument.

Just thinking out loud.

[JeffD]

I guess it's time for me to chime in on this thread. As the finish guy for Weber, I pushed for us to place the "wait 24 hrs..." stickers on the shipping boxes. .... If we can prevent this from happening by placing a few cautionary stickers on our shipping boxes, then we have done our job. An immense amount of work goes into producing a Weber instrument, and for something bad to happen at the moment of delivery is a real shame. We want to prevent that bad thing from happening.

Thank you. Yes. and thankyou.

[JGWoods]

Clearly the purpose of a "wait 24 hours" sticker is to caution the customer and save them from possible disappointment if/when the finish checks. I know of no instrument maker that provides warranty repairs for finish checking.