Any guitar enthusiasts in the house?

[Portsider86]

I have an old family heirloom that I want to protect. I don't play, I gave it a shot once and I have no intentions of pursuing it further. Nobody in the family plays but I also have no intention of selling this guitar right now. So I'm just wondering if there is something I should be doing beyond relaxing the strings to make sure it doesn't rot away. BTW, my guitar is a 1948 C.F. Martin D-18. I've been told that it is valuable so I'd like to protect as best I can but I know nothing about instruments.

Thanks gents.

[Portsider86]

Ehh, starting bids don't mean much. There are plenty of sellers, and buyers for that matter, that are full of sht. I don't know how it sounds, I wasn't alive in it's heyday when it was being played daily. A great-aunt & uncle performed with it and played at family gatherings. Also, I'm left handed and the guitar is wronghanded so I didn't pick it up when I dabbled a few years back. There aren't any cracks, its not bent/warped, or any other discernible damage. In my amateur opinion I'd say it has the appropriate 65 years worth of handling marks.

[Rucker61]

A guitar humidifier is always a good idea in Colorado.

[Ah Pook]

A guitar humidifier is always a good idea in Colorado.

Throw some heaters in the humi. too. I can't play a guitar to save my life but love vintage axes.

[UrbanWolf]

A guitar humidifier is always a good idea in Colorado.

+1 too dry the wood finish will start to crack.

[Logan]

+1 too dry the wood finish will start to crack.

^^ This. I have a Carter Stanley edition Blueridge that I neglected to humidify. I opened it up one day to find it cracked up the front. You can pick up a humidifier cheap. It's worth it. To me, Martin is the king of guitar makers. Also loosen those strings as mentioned.

[Rucker61]

I have an old family heirloom that I want to protect. I don't play, I gave it a shot once and I have no intentions of pursuing it further. Nobody in the family plays but I also have no intention of selling this guitar right now. So I'm just wondering if there is something I should be doing beyond relaxing the strings to make sure it doesn't rot away. BTW, my guitar is a 1948 C.F. Martin D-18. I've been told that it is valuable so I'd like to protect as best I can but I know nothing about instruments.

Thanks gents.

www.acousticguitarforum.org is good place to start for info.

[BPTactical]

I would not be adding any humidity or such to it without consulting a Luthier. You may very well cause more harm than good. Contact "PalePainter" here, he is an electric Luthier extraordinaire but if he doesn't know he can get you to a knowledgeable person on acoustics.

[spleify]

You might be able to get a value here

http://www.maurysmusic.com/martin_guitars?gclid=CNLw2MyKtLsCFclaMgodzEkAvg

Post a pic so we can see what it looks like!

[palepainter]

You certainly want to keep it in the case. Relieve string tension. You do no have to take the strings off. The case will acclimate slower and help to balance out drastic changes in humidity. They make little units to put in the case t help balance humidity, basically charcoal canisters. Too dry is definitely not good.

I know a few guys that work at Martin that could help with pricing. If you wanted, you could email me a shot of it or post it here. Palepainter at gmail dot com