Hi Dan,
Jaycon said it well in that if you are pretty comfortable so is your guitar -- "any" fine solid wooden instrument, in fact.
And I know how you feel. We ding'em, we have to care for them like kids, but they are worth it aren't they. But you know, I have a buddy who is very well to do, and his wordly advice to me was "Buddy...One thing I have learned in my life of aquiring many nice and beautiful assets -- Never, never get too attached to your toys!!" (He just happens to have a beautiful Koa Presentation Series).
And y'know, he's quite right in the end. We can't let ourselves get too crazy. And we can't live in a bubble you are right, but our guitars really do need to be in an appropriate environment at all times, 'cus all it takes is one bad day, and you got yourself a CRACK.
I have seen this a bunch of times.
For some performers, this is less of an issue than it is with "nobody's" like me.
The professionals carry at LEAST TWO instruments. But this need, and the quality of these instruments is on more than one level. Sometimes, if they make enough money, their instruments are both fine guitars, but any damage incurred is a COST OF DOING BUSINESS so to speak. I know this for a fact. The pros will not play a beater instrument if they really need to sound good at a concert. Some pros can not play lessor quality instruments at their performances, either. They also have their instruments insured in some way.
However, the TWO worst issues out of the everything to watch are:
1. Temperature extreems and all "radical" changes to these temporature extreems.
2. High and Low humidity -- wetness and dryness. Both wood killers and crack makers.
So...if you watch those two issues you will be doing pretty well for any wooden instrument you own. Now that means things like not playing our Taylor when asked when the weather is bad or miserably damp or hot or cold, and other issues like leaving it in a car, or allowing it to lay in the sun or be in front of a fan, etc.
I was at a Bluegrass festival recently and it was so wet and rainy the tents were flooding. I felt very sorry for those players 'cuz there were some very nice instruments taking some very bad abuse.
To me that was not good instrument care. I could not and I do not do that. I have to have another instrument along for situations like bad weather gigs or sessions.
I had to learn how to say "NO" to myself: I was at an ethnic festival recently to do Irish sessions outdoors, and did not even take out my Taylor because the weather was so crummy. Yes, I missed the session playing, people ribbed me about my "precious baby", but they didn't pay for it and I thought I would be foolish to put my 810B thru that torture. That time, I did not take my alternate guitar. I do not like to use my beater, you know, but I will if I need to take it. This time I did not need to, so I avoided the desire to play in favor of doing what was right for my "Baby".
Anyway, that's how I live with my instruments, lowe these past forty years...
Later,
-grm
[ 06-20-2001: Message edited by: gmccall ]