What happens to an instrument as you break it in?

[Tonxi]

What happens to an instrument as you break it in?
I only started playing ukulele on March 10 this year.
My $30 Ashton soprano sounds like a different instrument now that I have played it for 400-500 hours. (Maybe more as I have played it 12-16 hour on many a day and I usually put in 4-6 hours most days.)
I had to take up ukiery to give my hands and my wife's ears a break.
I bought a $99 solid mahogany Ashton concert sized 10 days ago and it was decidedly dull compared to my old one. It had nice sustain but no projection or warmth. These were the things that developed as I broke in the first one so I wasn't too concerned.
There was an Aria and 2 Lanakais to compare it to. I much preferred the feel of the neck on the Ashton and despite the fact that they were all brand new I also preferred the tone.
I fancy that I can hear its eventual sound lurking even as it was in the shop. Maybe I will be mistaken having only ever had 1 new instrument to go on.
I have played it for 50 or 60 hours so far and it is starting to sound quite a bit warmer and louder now but only after being played and warmed up. First thing in the morning it almost sounds new again (comparatively) then after 20 minutes or so it gradually gets a bit of projection happening and it just sounds warmer the longer you play it.
I imagine that being solid it will be a slower process than a laminated one.

What causes such a dramatic change in the sound?

How do you asses what a new instrument will sound like after it is broken in?

[charangohabsburg]

What happens to an instrument as you break it in?
[...]
What causes such a dramatic change in the sound?

I don't know, and I don't know if anybody really knows.
But i suppose it has to do with a change of stresses in the wood, further hardening of the glue, and further drying of the resins in the wood. Some will claim that the wood "learns" from the sound vibration - which is a factor I don't believe in very much. In 2005 John Smith and Joe Wolfe (School of Physics, University of New South Wales) published a paper about the comparison of two violins and how they developed over the years: Measurement of the effect on violins of ageing and playing. One of these violins was played on a regular basis and the other one was stuffed away. They couldn't discover a significant difference in sound development.

How do you asses what a new instrument will sound like after it is broken in?

Very similarly as estimating how a fine red wine will develop: with a lot of experience:

[Tod Gilding]

Yeah Markus I was looking for that link you posted but couldnt find it, That is the only scientific study that I have ever been able to find, and is a good read.
Martyn , I have owned many Guitars over the years and have not noticed any improvement in the sound except maybe myself improving as a player.
I think the bottom line is that no one really knows, there are too many variables,but if you read the uni study you will find that they found no improvement with time or amount of time the instrument was played,but thats not to say that there could not be with different construction methods and or timber selection.

Martyn, you also say
" First thing in the morning it almost sounds new again (comparatively) then after 20 minutes or so it gradually gets a bit of projection happening and it just sounds warmer the longer you play it."
I think I would be like that as well if I was In Glen Innes

[Allen]

I've got no idea what changes actually are happening other than the string tension gradually pulling the various parts that make up and instrument into compression and tension.

But putting strings on 2 brand new instrument and barely playing one, just putting it in it's case as compared to one that is played every day for lets say a month has left me thinking that there really isn't much difference if any that I can tell between what's changed in either of them.

For sure the tone has changed. Opened up with notes becoming cleaner, more defined. Projection is better. Sustain improves dramatically. Volume I would say improves, but that may be an auditory trick with everything else becoming more focused and cleaner that it just seems to be louder.

With the huge swings in RH we get up here I also notice that when the humidity drops to what the rest of you might consider normal levels, that the instrument sound it's best.

[TrueAxe]

I've heard that its the resin's in the wood aligning to the natural resonance frequency of the guitar.

As a guitar vibrates the resins shift to align with the resonance frequency of the sound box. That would make it louder and sound warmer as the guitar is more able to vibrate at its natural frequency.

But I only heard this from a guy who heard from a guy so don't quote me on it and it seems to make alright sense to me but I don't know much about this stuff.

[kiwigeo]

I've heard that its the resin's in the wood aligning to the natural resonance frequency of the guitar.

As a guitar vibrates the resins shift to align with the resonance frequency of the sound box. That would make it louder and sound warmer as the guitar is more able to vibrate at its natural frequency.

But I only heard this from a guy who heard from a guy so don't quote me on it and it seems to make alright sense to me but I don't know much about this stuff.

I'd take this theory with a grain of salt.....IMHO it sounds like someone has been smoking alot of drugs and has become very misaligned.

Resin doesn't have an ordered crystalline structure like quartz or magnetite so there's nothing to be aligned. As far as I can ascertain an average spruce top doesn't have a huge amount of resin in or on it so that's another reason not to believe this theory.

Of course if your spruce top has a substantial amount of mould on it then quite often the moulds have been known to line dance around the guitar's soundhole.

[liam_fnq]

Of course if your spruce top has a substantial amount of mould on it then quite often the moulds have been known to line dance around the guitar's soundhole.

You're starting to sound like a broken down record Martin.

[kiwigeo]

Of course if your spruce top has a substantial amount of mould on it then quite often the moulds have been known to line dance around the guitar's soundhole.

You're starting to sound like a broken down record Martin.

Guilty as charged Mi'lud.

[Tonxi]

What happens to an instrument as you break it in?
[...]
What causes such a dramatic change in the sound?

I don't know, and I don't know if anybody really knows.
But i suppose it has to do with a change of stresses in the wood, further hardening of the glue, and further drying of the resins in the wood. Some will claim that the wood "learns" from the sound vibration - which is a factor I don't believe in very much. In 2005 John Smith and Joe Wolfe (School of Physics, University of New South Wales) published a paper about the comparison of two violins and how they developed over the years: Measurement of the effect on violins of ageing and playing. One of these violins was played on a regular basis and the other one was stuffed away. They couldn't discover a significant difference in sound development.

How do you asses what a new instrument will sound like after it is broken in?

Very similarly as estimating how a fine red wine will develop: with a lot of experience:

The part about the wood learning struck a chord with me. As I have been playing them I have been trying to draw the sounds I want out of them and constantly adjusting everything. My strumming/ picking/ speed / volume/ rhythm /chords and playing the combinations that sound how I want almost exclusively.
When I put Aquila Nygut strings on after about 2 weeks, the $30 job had an awful rattly overtone that kept cutting in, especially on open g .
I almost took them back off but the ones that came with it were a joke.
I was trying to get the stretch out so I was strumming quit hard. I tried to just ignore it and hope it would go away but it wasn't happening.
The louder I played the worse it got, so I changed tactics. I played as loud as I could but at the same time I tried to make sure that it never happened.
I was extra careful and made sure I strummed/plucked the g string gentler than the rest especially and it slowly stopped happening.
Slowly but surely the sound I wanted emerged from the $30 job. My mate who is a guitarist for the last 30+ years bought the same uke 4 days after mine from the same shop. He has the same strings too. He hasn't played his anywhere near as much.
We both agree mine sounds way better.
My new one is starting to sound how I want to, too. I fully loosened the strings and re-tensioned them last night. It seemed louder afterwards so I did it again today.
Fine wines reach a peak age. How long till they hit peak maturity?

[kiwigeo]

Fine wines reach a peak age. How long till they hit peak maturity?

My wines usually reach their best a few years after I've drunk them.

My thoughts on what happens to an instrument as it is broken in:

1. the instrument stabilises to the environment it is in. Wood moves and never stops moving.
2. parts of the instrument subject to stress as a result of string tension (eg bridge, bellying up of lower bout etc) may take a while to adjust.
3. a new set of strings takes time to bed in. The Savarez high tension reds I use on my classicals sound brash and loud when theyre fresh on the guitar but after a few days they lose their edge and sound warmer.
4. the human perception of the sound of a guitar can change. This can be affected by your mood.....the weather or how many reds youve had.

Martin

[charangohabsburg]

Fine wines reach a peak age. How long till they hit peak maturity?

My wines usually reach their best a few years after I've drunk them.

Don't worry Martin, that's just OK!
But if one discovers that this wine had reached it's peak a few years ago and there are still 11 out of 12 bottles left, then certainly something has gone terribly wrong!

[ProfChris]

I think it's all the parts of the instrument settling down and learning to live with each other. If the strings aren't under tension then this obviously can't happen. I'd also imagine that playing it induces some extra stresses to which it must adjust.

Read Kipling's short story "The Ship who Sang". This may not be how it happens that a made thing starts to work at its best, but it's certainly how it should happen.

[1st Bass]

I think you meant "The Ship that Found Herself" by Kipling.

The Ship Who Sang is by Anne McCaffrey

[ProfChris]

I think you meant "The Ship that Found Herself" by Kipling.

The Ship Who Sang is by Anne McCaffrey

So I did - thanks, there was a niggling in the back of my brain that I'd got it wrong.

[Nick]

So I did - thanks, there was a niggling in the back of my brain that I'd got it wrong.

Welcome to my world . I used to have the same niggle in my ear....but I divorced her

[Tonxi]

So I did - thanks, there was a niggling in the back of my brain that I'd got it wrong.

Welcome to my world . I used to have the same niggle in my ear....but I divorced her

The niggle in my ear sanctioned my purchase of a ryobi laminate trimmer at Bunnings on Thursday and topped it off 2 hours later by presenting me with a copy of "Hand made hand played" by Robert Shaw. It was on sale with 50% off, but still. I wonder what the catch is?

[kiwigeo]

The niggle in my ear sanctioned my purchase of a ryobi laminate trimmer at Bunnings on Thursday and topped it off 2 hours later by presenting me with a copy of "Hand made hand played" by Robert Shaw. It was on sale with 50% off, but still. I wonder what the catch is?

First addition to your porn collection.