Spillage on the Electric Guitar

darrenw5094 · 05-12-2009 10:24pm #1

Just been jamming on the Ibanez through a Mesa Boogie. Cut a long story short, full mug of hot tea fell on the guitar. Mostly the front of the body. Liquid probably down in the pickup cavities and on the pickups too.

Wiped it down as best as i could, and let it dry out for a while. Plugged it in an hour or so later and the sound was bassey with no bite. The bridge Dimarzio Evolution sounded like the neck pickup. The neck pickup was way to bassey to use.

Will it dry out over a day or so? Or are the electrics, pickups, pots, capacitors done for?

Kenny_D · 05-12-2009 11:41pm

Jaysus thats a bitch. I broke lots of electronics with tea. haha. I'd have waited WAY longer than an hour though. You should have given it at least 24 hours man. From past experience on tea+electronics I'd say something is fecked. You might get lucky though. Give it a good day to dry out though and dont plug it back in until then

darrenw5094 · 05-12-2009 11:46pm

GStormcrow wrote: »

Jaysus thats a bitch. I broke lots of electronics with tea. haha. I'd have waited WAY longer than an hour though. You should have given it at least 24 hours man. From past experience on tea+electronics I'd say something is fecked. You might get lucky though. Give it a good day to dry out though and dont plug it back in until then

Jaysus....he tells me now.....lol.
Yep....have to leave it for a day or so.....assess the damage. Will the electrics have to be re-wired and maybe the Dimarzio's? I love those Dimarzio Evolution pickups.

rcaz · 06-12-2009 2:14am

Just thinking about it (and I have no experience with tea spillages on guitars), I doubt you've broken anything. The electronics in a guitar are very simple, on a (relatively) massive scale compared to something like a computer. Open it up and give it a bit of a wipe, and use some contact cleaner?

darrenw5094 · 06-12-2009 2:19am

Good idea.....might do that first thing in the morning. I hope the pickups don't get liquid damage. The wire bit, i could live with.....rewire not too much trouble.

But the overall sound went very bassey. Really unusable. I will see in 24 hours or so.

Alanstrainor · 06-12-2009 3:04am

Yeah i wouldn't worry too much just yet, i'd open up the guitar and clean things as much as is possible and let it all dry out. There's not much that could go wrong really, there's nothing complicated going on in a guitar. Clean it and let it dry out as much as possible is the main thing.

Eoin Madsen · 06-12-2009 5:31am

darrenw5094 wrote: »

Will it dry out over a day or so? Or are the electrics, pickups, pots, capacitors done for?

They're probably fine. Sounds like it's just shorted or something from the water. If tea got into a pot, it might be fecked, and maybe some kinds of capacitor could be damaged by damp. But like El Pr0n said, there's nothing complicated in a guitar. It will probably just dry out. And using it after an hour or waiting longer etc. won't make any long-term difference to whether there's a problem.

If the tea had milk in it I think you should open it up and clean it out - if only because the milk will actually go rancid and your guitar will stink. :pac: And the residue could conceivably mess with the circuit.

Done and dusted · 06-12-2009 11:49am

Ok this may sound strange but its worked for two laptops and a V3 Razor phone:

The Method:

Open the guitar up and once you've confirmed its dry get some rubbing alcohol and dab it on a clean cloth. Rub down the electronics and leave for another day to totally dry

Where the method comes from and did it work:

So my dad was a electrical engineer many moons ago, I happened to drop (dont ask how) my V3 razor into a full pint glass of Budvar. So The dad told me to open her up and get some rubbing alcholo. He said that when the beer / liquid dries it leaves like a residue on the electronics which will either bork them eventually or just make them perform badly. So after letting the phone sit under the heater for a few hours I switched the phone on and it worked like a dream.

The same thing happened to one of the family's laptops and a then to a mates one, I told him todo the same and it worked.

Hopefully this may help you man!

OK-Cancel-Apply · 06-12-2009 12:18pm

Did you change the strings? Part of the problem could be tea clinging to them and dulling their tone. Especially if there's sugar involved.

darrenw5094 · 06-12-2009 1:20pm

OK-Cancel-Apply wrote: »

Did you change the strings? Part of the problem could be tea clinging to them and dulling their tone. Especially if there's sugar involved.

Sugar with tea.....that's disgusting.....lol.
Full mug of hot tea with milk was the culprit.:mad:
The strings need a change and fretboard needs a dash of lemon oil, so do all in one go. But i doubt the strings have dulled in tone by that much.

Johnny Storm · 06-12-2009 2:07pm

I'd definitely give the pots and the pickup switch a good spray with contact cleaner and blot it up as much as possible, then let it air out. Possibly the pickups too?
And get as much of the tea out of the guitar as possible cos as already posted the milk will go rancid:eek:

OK-Cancel-Apply · 06-12-2009 3:32pm

darrenw5094 wrote: »

Sugar with tea.....that's disgusting.....lol.
Full mug of hot tea with milk was the culprit.:mad:
The strings need a change and fretboard needs a dash of lemon oil, so do all in one go. But i doubt the strings have dulled in tone by that much.

Ah right ok. LOL just to be clear, I'm by no means a sugar-in-tea person! :pac:Just that I suspected sugary tea might stick more.

Voodu Child · 06-12-2009 6:21pm

I would strip the guitar as much as you are able to - take off the trem, take out the pickups, etc and just get it all as dry as possible. Get blotting paper into the nooks and crannies etc.

As everyone has said, theres not much that can go wrong, and damage is all part of the character of a guitar. If a pot or pickup is gone bad through liquid damage, so be it. Not the end of the world to have to replace them.

If it had happened to one of Jimmy Pages or Hendrixs guitars back in the day, you can be sure that the tea would be the 'secret' to the tone, and Fender/Gibson would be selling relic'd guitars will tea pre-spilled in 'em :pac:

rcaz · 06-12-2009 9:14pm

Voodu Child wrote: »

If it had happened to one of Jimmy Pages or Hendrixs guitars back in the day, you can be sure that the tea would be the 'secret' to the tone, and Fender/Gibson would be selling relic'd guitars will tea pre-spilled in 'em :pac:

+1!

Johnny Storm · 07-12-2009 8:49am

But that would be vintage tea

Quattroste · 07-12-2009 2:02pm

The Guitar should be fine, and I do hope it is, but I can't understand why no one else has said "WTF were you doing with a full mug of tea beside your guitar?" You should be slapped until the tea dries out naturally and then slapped a bit more. :mad:

Nozebleed · 07-12-2009 2:06pm

use a hair dryer...ive done it a few times.

cHaTbOx · 07-12-2009 2:14pm

What I find funny is that he has an ibanez for sale

darrenw5094 · 07-12-2009 4:18pm

cHaTbOx wrote: »

What I find funny is that he has an ibanez for sale

Not the one up on adverts.....:)
A Vai Jem with a RG2570 body that i picked up at a good price. I like it, especially for just over €500 or so.

Guitar playing makes thirsty work.......need the mug if tea nearby. Not so close in future though.......but too far away either.;)

cHaTbOx · 07-12-2009 6:25pm

darrenw5094 wrote: »

Not the one up on adverts.....:)
A Vai Jem with a RG2570 body that i picked up at a good price. I like it, especially for just over €500 or so.

Guitar playing makes thirsty work.......need the mug if tea nearby. Not so close in future though.......but too far away either.;)

Was only joking , hope it is playing well now though

Spillage on the Electric Guitar

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