thomasteven Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 Hi, I have a beautiful, new Larrivee guitar that I got for christmas and I was looking for an opinion on if I should bring it with me on my trip to Cuba. The reason I am not sure about bringing it is because of the humidity difference between my hometown (St. John's, Newfounldland, Canada) and Matanzas, Cuba, which is where I will be staying. Anyone with any experience, ideas or insight please let me know. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 Hi, I have a beautiful, new Larrivee guitar that I got for christmas and I was looking for an opinion on if I should bring it with me on my trip to Cuba. The reason I am not sure about bringing it is because of the humidity difference between my hometown (St. John's, Newfounldland, Canada) and Matanzas, Cuba, which is where I will be staying. Anyone with any experience, ideas or insight please let me know. Steve You should try to avoid rapid changes. If you are taking it from a very dry climate to a wet climate it will and then back it will be tuff on the instrument. Anything you can do to make the change more gradual will help, but you are probably safer not to put it through that if you don't have to. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_A_T_T Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 Is there a humidity difference? Newfoundland seems like it would be a generally humib place like here in BC, bacause of the ocean. Cuba is surrounded by ocean itself, right? See if you can find some kind of weather related website that gives relative humidty for different areas (Weather Network, or CNN, maybe?). I'd also be cautious about bringing something that valuable along on vacation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 if you find that there is a large difference in the humidity in cuba and you have a little time before your trip you might think about getting a guitar case humidifyer and gradually get your guitar acclimated. in my opinion it's not humidity as such that hurts the guitar but the big changes in humidiy..that expansion and contraction that do. add the posssible problems with luggage handling and you might be better off leaving it at home if you're just going on a short vacation type trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 A Larivee? Consider replacement costs if damaged or lost...or stolen. This is just me, but if I owned a Larivee it would stay home. Find a beater guitar that won't be such a great loss if one of the above mentioned happened. If you really MUST bring your guitar to Cuba, insure it to the hilt and make sure its in a good hardshell case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 Pick up an acoustic from a local Cuban Luthier. A fella sent me some pictures of a shop he visited in Cuba. I was amazed by the guitars they built in such modest working conditions. Thats what I would do. Shoot it would be aclimated already. Have a great time! Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odin Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 A Larivee? Consider replacement costs if damaged or lost...or stolen. : I would not worry to much about it getting stolen. The crime rate in Cuba is low...at least much much lower than in the US. Watch out for fake sigars! If i where you i would leave it at home, go to cuba and buy a tres, and learn some cuban son music. Music lessons is really cheap in Cuba. And there are many veeery good musicians there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted February 18, 2006 Report Share Posted February 18, 2006 You probably won't have a problem at all if you let it settle in the case for 24 hours without opening it up. I've been to the Cayman Islands, which are pretty close to Cuba, and never had a problem. I would definitely keep an eye on the guitar, though, both on the trip down, while you're in Cuba, and on the trip back. I have had enough non-American friends who have visited Cuba to know that it is most definitely not the happy island paradise Castro would like you to think it is, and people are very poor and would gladly rob a northern tourist of his prized Larrivee to catch a good price on the market. Watch your back down there, my friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odin Posted February 18, 2006 Report Share Posted February 18, 2006 You probably won't have a problem at all if you let it settle in the case for 24 hours without opening it up. I've been to the Cayman Islands, which are pretty close to Cuba, and never had a problem. I would definitely keep an eye on the guitar, though, both on the trip down, while you're in Cuba, and on the trip back. I have had enough non-American friends who have visited Cuba to know that it is most definitely not the happy island paradise Castro would like you to think it is, and people are very poor and would gladly rob a northern tourist of his prized Larrivee to catch a good price on the market. Watch your back down there, my friend. What market? There is no market in Cuba...because people dont have money. Its not a paradise, but you are safe there. You cannot compare Cuba to the other islands in that erea. But of course they will gladly cheat you when you change money or buy sigars. Best of all people there have no guns either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted February 18, 2006 Report Share Posted February 18, 2006 Best of all people there have no guns either. Just like the good little commies they are Precisely because they don't have any money and could turn it around to another tourist for quick cash is the reason WHY I would keep an eye on it. You've already said yourself they'll sell you fake cigars all day long, why wouldn't a $3,000 (US) guitar be a tempting target when they could trade it for a new transmission for their '56 Chevy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odin Posted February 18, 2006 Report Share Posted February 18, 2006 Best of all people there have no guns either. Just like the good little commies they are Precisely because they don't have any money and could turn it around to another tourist for quick cash is the reason WHY I would keep an eye on it. You've already said yourself they'll sell you fake cigars all day long, why wouldn't a $3,000 (US) guitar be a tempting target when they could trade it for a new transmission for their '56 Chevy? anyway the crime rate in Cuba is low, and....much much lower than in the US. Thats a fact. Check it out if youre goverment let you. Please give me proof if im wrong. I have traveled a lot in Europe, US and Cuba. And Cuba is the last place i would worry about loosing my guitar. Im not even red. Viva Cuba! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted February 18, 2006 Report Share Posted February 18, 2006 anyway the crime rate in Cuba is low, and....much much lower than in the US. Thats a fact. Check it out if youre goverment let you. Please give me proof if im wrong. I have traveled a lot in Europe, US and Cuba. And Cuba is the last place i would worry about loosing my guitar. Im not even red. Viva Cuba! How about you prove that you're right? That's how we do it in the US. Our information is open and freely available--Cuba's is not. Here's an interesting story--a friend of mine from Spain and his brother were down in Cuba on vacation. They were traveling around and saw an old fire station with an old fire truck sitting beside the building. They thought it looked cool so they snapped a few pictures of it and were just sort of walking around when all of the sudden, the Cuban Army shows up. Hauls 'em into the jail and holds them in cells that would make Gitmo look like a Hilton for 2 days. Released them two days later with no explanation of charges or why they were picked up. $500 camera--gone. $400 US cash--gone. Army didn't know anything about it, of course. Viva Cuba, my ass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted February 18, 2006 Report Share Posted February 18, 2006 Interesting reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odin Posted February 19, 2006 Report Share Posted February 19, 2006 How about you prove that you're right? That's how we do it in the US. Our information is open and freely available--Cuba's is not. ... just sort of walking around when all of the sudden, the Cuban Army shows up. Hauls 'em into the jail and holds them in cells that would make Gitmo look like a Hilton for 2 days. Released them two days later with no explanation of charges or why they were picked up. $500 camera--gone. $400 US cash--gone. Army didn't know anything about it, of course. My god.. i taught Guantanamo was bad In general, Cuban police lean over backwards not to molest tourists since Cuba is so dependent on tourism for income and since Cubans are basically very polite people and hospitable to strangers. Personal security on the island is in general quite good. Until recently, crime was little known. That is changing with the continued economic hard times and we have seen a rise in crime which reached dangerous levels in '97 and '98 in certain areas such as Old Havana (Habana Vieja) and parts of Santiago, where purse snatchings and muggings were common. Because of this, there is now extra vigilance by the police who have taken to asking for IDs a lot more frequently and crime has gone down all over. Such ID checks are common in tourist and high visibility areas such as the Malecon along the Havana shore. It is less common in non-tourist areas. There are recent (2001) changes in the penal code which drastically increase prison sentences, though prisoners are eligible for parole after serving half of their sentences, unlike the US where parole is increasingly not part of the picture. Already a Cuban can get a jail sentence of up to 70 years for fighting with or attacking a tourist. Even so, best to consult local Cubans on what are the safe areas and what aren't. However, with the crackdown, folks report that foreigners feel they can walk the streets again... The level of crime in the worst places is not even comparable to US levels, though hard numbers are not easy to come by. Many Cubans are in fact supportive of the current crackdown as there is a tremendous personal fear triggered by a few murders. They have nothing to compare this to and are unaware that their murder rate is far, far less than what can be experienced in any major US city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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