Goddamned termites

[S. Cane]

Ok, I has been discussed a lot but people often reply to threads about this with jokes.

I am terrified of termites harming my amps and guitars. I know it is not common to see guitars attacked by termites but still...

This time of the year we get plenty of winged termites, it's their reproductive cycle, and I get scared to death.

Does anybody know for sure if the woods used in guitars like alder, rosewood, maple and such, and the pine and modern woods used in amps might be attacked by termites?

I once emailed Fender asking if the wood used in strats was treated in any way to prevent this and this is what they replied:

"Hey Sergio,
Thanks for asking. I can honestly say, in my over 30 years in the guitar business, I have never encountered termites in a guitar. The body and neck are finished with a urethane finish, so it's unlikely termites would even seek a guitar out when I'm sure there are more readily available wood sources.
If you keep the guitar in its case, you'll have no problems
Consumer Relations Manager|Fender Musical Instruments
Corporation"

Ok, I know the finish is a shield, but the rosewood is unfinished, and amps are made with wood!

Any replies and advice will be much appreciated.

[phantomman]

AFAIK termites only attack "raw" wood (ie: unpainted, unstained, unsealed, etc) so your guitars are likely safe. However pine amp cabinets could provide worthwhile nourishment, especially the interiors which are largely "naked". I wouldn't worry about anything fabricated from MDF as the chemicals contained in the bonding agents would probably kill termites if they nibbled on it.

[ch willie]

Termites! If only my gear had termites. No, mine has Tazmanian devils. Of course, it could have something to do with the premium herbs I'm smoking.

[S. Cane]

[DanTheBluesMan]

your guitars and amps would have to be in such a undisturbed filthy environment like a barn shed or cellar with a dirt floor, left with no covers or cases, where water can regularly moisten them, before they'd be victims of termite infestation.

If I just described your room and offended you, I'll show myself out

[S. Cane]

your guitars and amps would have to be in such a undisturbed filthy environment like a barn shed or cellar with a dirt floor, left with no covers or cases, where water can regularly moisten them, before they'd be victims of termite infestation.

If I just described your room and offended you, I'll show myself out

Thing is, there are dry wood termites, these ones don't need that moist, rotten environment, to eat furniture, walls and such.

[CoyotesGator]

As long as the wood has a finish, it should remain termite free.

[S. Cane]

A friend of mine, who builds amps, gave me an interesting insight on this.

He suggested that I put a naphthalene mothball or two inside each amp. It keeps insects away, so termites won’t come anywhere near it.

As far as I know mothballs are basically naphtha, and people even use it to clean guitar finishes, so I don’t think it’d harm any gear.

[Bill Moore]

If you can stand the smell!
Pantyhose with mothballs under the hood is a way to keep rodents from nesting/destroying things in the engine compartment around here,but the smell is hard for me to tolerate!

[jrgtr42]

Guess I don't have much to say that hasn't been said before -
I was thinking you were talking about having them in your house and I was going to make a joke about hoping they didn't get into your guitars.

But yeah, you really shouldn't have anything to worry about - they would go for a lot of things before attacking guitars.
If you're that worried, keep the guitars in cases - the bugs can't get to them there, short of long-term attack that you would surely notice before they got all the way through (stop calling me Shirley!)

[Don]

If you have to do something to protect your gear from termites, you have a termite problem wherever you're storing your gear that needs to be taken care of ASAP. Once that's taken care of, your gear should be fine.

I'll pass on the stinky mothballs! I used to store a sportscar in my father's garage and my grandmother used to surround it with mothballs. The smell would dissipate after a few weeks and she was doing it out of love so I never asked her to stop.

[dirtdog]

Maybe get yourself a sacrificial anode. In the case of a guitar, this could be a small piece of unfinished pine. My guess is any termites would for for that first before taking on a lacquered guitar.

do the termites go for any finished furniture you have in your house?

[ch willie]

Buy a bunch of Bon Jovi records--termites like to eat shit.

(okay, lay on the hate JBJ lovers--after all, he has 1000 hits to my 0 hits)

[S. Cane]

Maybe get yourself a sacrificial anode. In the case of a guitar, this could be a small piece of unfinished pine. My guess is any termites would for for that first before taking on a lacquered guitar.

do the termites go for any finished furniture you have in your house?

No, most of our furniture is made of Woods that termites don’t eat. And here we don’t usually build houses with wooden walls and such, houses are all brick and cement.

Anyway I just sprayed the man cave with termite-correct bug spray.

[ndiagacol]

You're dealing with a real nuisance there! I also had a similar problem. The signs of termites in my house were tiny holes in the woodwork and sawdust-like piles nearby. It provoked me to act swiftly. A local pest control service saved my day, they effectively used some kind of non-toxic method which didn't harm any other bugs or birds. So you might want to look into pest control services in your area.

[S. Cane]

You're dealing with a real nuisance there! I also had a similar problem.

How did it work for you?

[Offshore Angler]

Thing is, there are dry wood termites, these ones don't need that moist, rotten environment, to eat furniture, walls and such.

Exactly. Even though we keep antique airplanes in squeaky clean, heated hangars the ones with a lot of wood like the PT19 are required to have termite checks as part of the annual inspection. Up north it generally isn't an issue but down south it's a huge one.

Generally though, if you keep your guitars in the case you won't have an issue. Lifton-style or Fender Tweed cases would show damage before the guitar gets hurt. The old molded fender cases are fine too. Just don't let the fabric on the inside get wet or you're going to have an enormous mess.

If you are of the "display my guitars" ilk then yeah, you're going to have a lot of issues. I see no reason why a termite wouldn't want to munch acoustic bracing.

Chuck