Im preping my guitar for a new pickguard that should arrive anyday now & in the 12 years ive been playing ive never left the strings off my guitar for a long period of time, my question is will it damage the neck in anyway if i leave them off for at the most 3 days. Im preping it now because i have the time & i dont want to put new strings on it then have to take them off again to install the pickguard.

Thanks

i think u can leave the string off for a day or so, ive had the strings of for bout 2 days on my jackson usa, and a neck istn rilli like a small stick that breaks like **that, sop i think it should be ok

id still leave the strings on for as long as possible though, just incase

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Yeah... I don't understand the physics of the neck and guitar etc, mainly because I have very little interest in it. From an over cautious point of view though, logicwould saythe neck would be more prone to warping with no string tension to maintain it, so don't leave it anywhere too warm or against a radiator.

I don't know the answer, though I'd assume it'd be fine

Dude, you can leave the strings off of it for as long as you want. Seriously. I have had so many guitars without the strings on them for VERY long periods of time. Just to give you an example:

I had a Charvel Model 6 that I refinished about a year ago, and I had it sitting in a case with the strings off for OVER 8 years! Seriously, and there is absolutley nothing wrong with the neck, truss rod, fretboard, frets, intonation, anything. Anyone who knows anything about guitars will tell you that leaving the strings off for any period of time is not going to hurt it, and cranking on the truss rod is not going to hurt it, either (but so many people are afraid to do it). You'd be surprised at what a guitar can take. Ever dropped one? It's not recommended, but it doesn't shatter like a porcelin vase. Ever see someone (like Yngwie on G3) slam their guitar into a speaker cabinet? It takes a lot, and believe me, taking a string off is not going to hurt it at all.

+1

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i hit mine with a samurai sword

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A friend dropped his brother's Fender strat down a small flight of stairs, and after getting the wind knocked out of him by his brother, he realized it was in perfect condition. It was a carpet floor though. He didn't even apologize.

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hell yeah this dude knows what he's talkin' about. i've also left string off of one of my guitars for tlike 6 or seven months and it was finr when i used it again, but i did keep it in a guitar box wrapped up in blankets and sheets to protect the actual wood and shit, and two of my three electric have been dropped and even had semi hevy stuff fall on them, and they're in good condition still

Necks can definately be warped if there is no tension on it for long periods of time,so i would leave some strings on for as long as possible.Though it is alot more common in lower end guitars.

Blasphemy.

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I don't really know personally, but I saw a guitar on ebay that had cracks all over the finish... big ones too. He said it was from the guitar sitting in the case without strings for so long...but then again he might not know what he's talking about. Even if it's true, he said this thing was sitting for years....a couple weeks or even months might not hurt, I wouldn't want to find out...

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The finish has nothing whatsoever to do with the strings.
If it's shitty finish or its in bad environment (heat, humidity, whatever), thats the only thing that'd lead to the finish cracking by itself.

Here's a pic of a guitar that had the strings off of it for 8 years. 8 years with no string tension. Also, I know people who I deal with that have necks laying around all of the time. Blank necks. These necks obviously have no tension on them, either. It's a good chance any guitar you've ever had at some point had a neck sitting around for quite some time (without any strings on it) before it was bolted onto your guitar. If anyone feels like waiting again, I'll take the strings off for another 8 years and we'll see what happens.

Necks are made of wood. What is going to mess up your neck are environmental factors, like temperature and humidity. Heat and humidity make a wood swell. Cold and dryness makes wood shrink. In Florida, going from a hot and humid summer to a cold and dry winter is going to be hell on your guitar. You'd better get that truss rod wrench out and start crankin'!

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I have one of my guitars in pieces, bolt-on neck disconnected. It's been off for months now, I don't see any bow or warpness to it, but I'm guessing it's when you string it back up that you notice.

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that might be because it's nitrocellulose paint - it's common for nitro to do that as it ages. not sure about big cracks though....

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Aren't most people's guitar indoors and in room temperature. If your guitar is always indoors in a fixed room temperature it won't matter the environmental changes outside.

I think it will have an effect on the guitar leaving the strings off for a period of time cuz my bro took the strings off mine, I'm not sure why but he did and it was upto him to buy new ones and it took like a week to replace them.

And when you tap on the 7th fret on the low e string it kinda harmonises with the same notethat would be on the 8th fret g string i don't know what has caused this but it never done it before.

Yes. I would hope all people keep their guitars inside. But I can tell you this. Living down here in Jax, my house (with the air on or not) would be warm and humid in the summer, and now it is cold and dry. I'm not talking about the extremes of outside (95 degrees with 80% humidity to 45 degrees with 10%). But anyone anywhere notices a difference when going from summer to winter. Yes, there are environmental changes that will take place even in an inside environment. These subtle changes will require a minor set-up, if you care about your guitar staying in tune, playing at maximum capability, and intonating. If you want some tips, just ask.

Sounds right,have you tightened the truss rod.