how to?

[Dave W]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that acoustic instruments do change with age much more than solid slabs of wood and the differences can be audible.  My 2 cents! 

I think it's a distinct possibility, but if it's true, no one really knows why. Do the sound box vibrations cause changes in the wood, or do they just affect the glue joints? It's known that different finish types and thicknesses affect the damping of the top. Does this change with age?

I also think instruments that sound good with age also sounded good at the beginning. A bad sounding guitar won't sound good with age.

[sniper]

i have been doing some limited research on tone wood and drying techniques and found that wood surprizingly does take a "set" or stabilization with respect to relative humidity; ususally averaging 16% moisture content with air drying techniques but kiln dried wood as far as cabinet/instrument making it seems to work best at about 8-9% maximum moisture content for those purposes. this will vary with climate changes.

there doesn't seem to be a substitute for time when it somes to stabilization of the wood provided it isn't allowed to dry out and split/check, glue not withstanding.

the schools of thought as far as ways to treat the wood vary as much as there are people is my impression of care techniques. i'll probably stick with using light applications of lemon oil for the first 1000 years and if that don't work then i'll change to something else.

oil treated wood seems to take on a patina that other finishes do not allow with the wood reaching a point of not wanting to take on more oil than is ness to keep the stability or stauration point over years of being treated regulary. lord knows what the oil does to glue.............but there doesn't seem to be a glue shortage.....yet!

what was enlightening was how wood seems to adjust very quickly to the humidity content of its surroundings. it is quicker than i would have thought.

[Dave W]

Real oil finishes offer much less resistance to moisture exchange and much less protection against moisture damage compared to surface finishes.

Fortunately a lot of "oil finishes" on the market are really oil/varnish mixtures that do build a surface film, even if it's not as hard as some other finish options.