Sudden Sound Quality/Color Change

[afsac]

This is my first post on the forum. I'm a recent Larrivée convert, with less than a year since I bought my OM 40-RW, which I absolutely adore. I've played this instrument continuously in gigs and rehearsals plus much practice and it has opened up beautifully.

My issue is this: recently I noticed a quite sudden change in the tone quality. I'd describe it as having lost some of the mid range. Think like if someone put their hand on the soundboard while you play.

Not sure what could be causing this. Last year, on a pretty humid day (I live in New York), the guitar seemed to suffer a similar change, where the sound went kind of dead. The issue went away after a day or so. I'm hoping this is what will happen here.

I would like to know if anyone else has experienced a similar issue. Could this be the wood being reactive? Or could this be an issue with the bracing? (Please forgive my ignorance. I am quite new to steel-string playing and its idiosyncrasies). Many thanks.

[B0WIE]

 Could be several things. The first thing to do is to change the strings.

Humidity causes the guitar woods to expand and they can sound less crisp and responsive. It's important for acoustic owners to have a hygrometer and know what the RH is in the room, or in the case if you humidify in the case. Without knowing what humidity your guitar is being subjected to, it may suffer damage such as cracks, braces coming loose, etc.

 Humidity also changes how we hear things so, even if your guitar is properly humidified, the air in the room may affect how you hear it.

 The room you play it in has a huge influence on what you hear. Even just turning your chair 90 degrees can often change what we hear from an acoustic.

 When a brace comes loose, you will sometimes hear a buzzing or odd overtone. Sometimes. The sound can change because the top lacks stiffness and may sound more bassy.

 We can also go through changes in how we hear things due to congestion and other factors that affect the auditory and nervous system.

[Queequeg]

Welcome to the Larrivee Forum, afsac.

I believe that your suspicion about the change in tone accompanied by the humid NY summer is very likely the culprit, just as BOWIE's articulate explanation above would suggest.
It's a somewhat delicate balance with fine wooden instruments and so important to keep them properly humidified, but not too humidified.

A number that often comes up is 47% RH (relative humidity). Certainly there is some leeway in the range of the spectrum. I don't panic if it goes 10 cents in either direction.
A dry guitar will deliver a crisp response. But if it gets too dry that can be very detrimental to the guitar, in particular, but not limited to the top wood.
If it gets too humid one of the first things you will notice is the tone will become rather muddy, because, as BOWIE says the top lacks stiffness. This is probably what you are experiencing.

So I think of it as sort of a "Goldilocks rule". Not too dry and not too wet. And in order to keep your guitar in the sweet spot get yourself a hygrometer (or two). Rereading BOWIE's post he advised "It's important for acoustic owners to have a hygrometer."
I live in Michigan (similar climate to New York) and I've been running a dehumidifier here since mid-June, and soon enough I can put that away for the season.
As you probably know it's referred to "relative" humidity because warm air can hold much more moisture than cold air. So on a hot summer day when the humidity is reading 60% there's a whole lot more water in the air than if the temperature is only 25ºF at 60% RH. In fact on a cold winter day if your hygrometer is reading 60% your windows may start to drip with condensation. 35% RH is pretty good here at my home in January.

A forced air furnace will significantly dry out the air in your home , and by mid-November I'll be plugging in a humidifier to keep these guitars from drying out.

Music stores sell a variety of sound hole humidifiers and case humidifiers, which are also good options.

[afsac]

Thank you B0WIE and Queequeg for the thoughtful responses.

When I bought the guitar I purchased a couple of hygrometers as well as a humidifier with its own hygrometer for the winter months. I also got a pair of Humidipak kits to put in the hard case and in the travel case. (I also read thoroughly Larrivée's Care & Maintenance manual). In general, the relative humidity at home reads between 40% and 57% or so, which I believe is healthy.

So this seems to stem from the instrument being exposed to more extreme changes outside of my home. The past couple of weeks have been more humid, and some indoor locations seem to concentrate it with more people gathering, etc.

As mentioned, I use the instrument all the time, and I accept that this comes with some risks that I believe I am managing. Definitely open to and grateful for your suggestions.

This is something I think about a lot, and is, I think, a genuine topic of discussion: a fine instrument (mine is not as high-end, but definitely finer than most other acoustics I've owned) should be taken care of to maximize its lifetime and playability/performance. But it should also be played and it's a tool to make music. Where people's personal preference fall on this is very interesting to me.

[jpmist]

My issue is this: recently I noticed a quite sudden change in the tone quality.

That sounds kinda alarming. Armchair quarterbacking leads me to think it has to be something physical on the guitar that's shifted. So look closely at the nut then see if the saddle is seated completely. Then look inside the guitar with a mirror and check out how the ball ends meet with the bridge plate inside.

All that's left to check is humidity changes which is my best guess. Larrivee's web site has an astonishingly well detailed primer on humidity changes and it's effect on acoustics that should be assigned reading for all Larrivee newbies.

https://www.larrivee.com/pdfs/Larrivee%20Care%20Maintenance.pdf

"Another effect of high relative humidity on the guitar is the loss of sound quality as the instrument distorts, along with a definite decrease in string life. Fortunately, all of the above problems associated with exposure to high relative humidity should correct themselves when the instrument returns to the normal range of humidity: 40% to 50% relative to 22°C or 72°F."

[B0WIE]

I don't see playing the instrument to pose any meaningful risk. And, using it doesn't cause issues like this. Sometimes, NOT playing it can cause them to sound odd (I have one that does this).

Humidity outside your home will be irrelevant if you're using the humipacks. Sounds like you're doing the right things. You won't really have humidity concerns if you're using 2 way humidity control (so long as it's in a hard case).

 It's important to consider that our perceptions change more than the guitars do. People sometimes take that the wrong way but what we think we hear changes for various reasons and it's not about the quality of our hearing. One example is how humidity in a room changes how we hear things. I use my ears for a living and consistency is hugely important for me.  Through this I've found that sometimes things just sound different and you won't know if it's you unless you have some sort of reference. I listen to the same song on the same equipment every day when starting work so I can tell if anything is influencing my hearing.

 If it continues for a couple weeks after changing the strings then I'd have it looked at.

[StringPicker6]

I keep my acoustics stored in their cases when not in use, and have been putting D'Addario humidipacks in them for a few years now.  I really love the humidipacks!