should I bring an expensive acoustic guitar for concerts?

[aclarson]

My opinion is sound as good as possible all the time. I take my Taylor to Open Mics all the time, and I always have people say "damn, that guitar sounds nice." I guess the riff-raff CAN tell.

[perform/record]

That's not the way I read that post.
What it's really saying is your equipment should reflect the value of what your getting paid for the gig. That's just silly. A lot of bands bring their best stuff to any gig and some gigs don't pay a dime. With the possible exception of large bass cabs and or p/a bins.

[travisbrown]

Originally Posted by Puffpastry

You could get finish checking/cracking if the temperature change extremes are high enough. Use a good case and let it acclimate in any new environment before you open it.

You could also try posting your question on the Acoustic Guitar Forum as well:
General Acoustic Guitar Discussion - The Acoustic Guitar Forum

If it's in the case, to would take hours and hours to get cold enough to check when you open it up in a warm environment. From the house to the car into the gig - no problem. Couple hours in a parked car below freezing, no problem. It's when you leave it in the trunk or trailer overnight or after a long Canadian winter drive and then yank it out of the case before letting the temperature normalize that you can run into problems. If you are ever unsure, the fastest way to normalize is unlatch the case but leave just a tiny crack open. In about 20 minutes it should be okay to take out. Otherwise, it will take about an hour closed up in the case to warm up enough. I lived in Calgary and Kelowna with super dry winters at -15C to -20C, and never ran into problems.

And this doesn't happen all that much on modern guitars anymore. Usually production guitars now have a polyurethane or polyester finish which are very tough. It would be a more susceptible to this with nitro or french polish.

I've deliberately checked finishes when making guitars by getting them good and warm up and blasting them with a CO2 fire extinguisher.

[travisbrown]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

I've always found a good rule of thumb to be -- never bring an instrument to a gig that costs more than you'll be receiving from playing that gig...

Fletcher, in Canada a typical coffee house gig pays, well, about a cup of coffee. Maybe a biscotti. Sad, but true.

But you are right that most people wouldn't notice any difference.

[initialsBB]

Originally Posted by travisbrown

Fletcher, in Canada a typical coffee house gig pays, well, about a cup of coffee. Maybe a biscotti. Sad, but true.

For those gigs you're only allowed to bring these

[travisbrown]

Originally Posted by initialsBB

For those gigs you're only allowed to bring these

And useful for stirring your payment after your set.

[joeq]

Originally Posted by Joseph Egan

Very cold weather is a problem for acoustic guitars in that sudden exposure to warm air will checker the finish. Happened to me. Left my Taylor 710 overnight in my car after a gig, temperature was about 10 degrees F. When I opened the case I had two lines that looked like cracks going down the finish of the front of the guitar. I believe if I didn't leave the guitar overnight in the car I wouldn't have gotten those finish cracks.

A friend of mine had that happen to him. The finish cracked up into little patterns like a Renaissance painting.

He was certain that it was not the cold per se, but the sudden change in temperature, when it was brought inside and exposed to a warm room. He said he saw it happen as he opened the case. After that, he let his guitars sit in the case in the warm house to get gradually warmer, before opening them.

I never saw any structural damage to a guitar from the cold, though, only the finish.

[BradD]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

I've always found a good rule of thumb to be -- never bring an instrument to a gig that costs more than you'll be receiving from playing that gig... so, if they're going to be giving you a few thousand dollars to play that show bring the guitar that would be your first choice. If they're paying you a couple hundred to play that show... bring a guitar that will get you through the gig though it might not be the "best" sounding one in your arsenal.

At the point of the "couple hundred" to play a show your audience hasn't made the significant investment in the price of a ticket and won't notice the difference. At the point where the audience has an investment in seeing you... then by all means pull out all the stops to provide the best experience you can for your audience's money.

Make sense?

As a keyboardist, I would never have a gig if I followed this rule.