Conversely, if going from a humid situation to a dry one, when the 
pitch would fall, there would appear to be no problem -- at least, 
not for the strings; and as long as the RH does not far enough as to 
crack the SB.

But apart from this, from experience of my own modern instruments 
that have survived such changes without damage over more than ten 
years, it would not occur to me to detune for a few months.  Indeed, 
I would expect that this might shorten the lives of the strings in 
the long run.

The question is: if this is to be done, how far down to detune?  And 
it would be best to maintain the balance of tension across the 
instrument by taking them all down by the same amount, so that what 
ever the new A is, the rest match it...

David

At 15:12 20-06-16, Dongsok Shin wrote:

>Interesting question, and it depends a lot on the instrument. I have 
>found that Dowd harpsichords in New York City, that goes from cold 
>DRY winters to hot HUMID summers go up in pitch over a half step 
>when the seasons change. So the result can be broken strings. 
>Perhaps, if you live in an area like that, then it would be wise. 
>But if seasonal differences are not extreme as they are here, then I 
>don't see why you should do this. You are just as likely to break 
>strings when pulling them back up to pitch.
>Dongsok
>
>On 6/20/2016 7:57 AM, George Debono wrote:
>>Dear Colloeagues, need a spot of advice:
>>
>>If an  instrument is stored  for weeks or months  & not played pending
>>removal  to another location,   should the strings be slackened ?
>>
>>I think not but maybe I'm wrong?
>>
>>George
>>
>>(from hot  sunny Malta)
>>
>>::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
>>Note:  opinions  expressed on HPSCHD-L are those of the  individual con-
>>tributors and not necessarily  those of the list owners  nor of the Uni-
>>versity of Iowa.  For a brief  summary of list  commands, send mail to
>>[log in to unmask]  saying  HELP .
>>::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
>
>::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
>Note:  opinions  expressed on HPSCHD-L are those of the  individual con-
>tributors and not necessarily  those of the list owners  nor of the Uni-
>versity of Iowa.  For a brief  summary of list  commands, send mail to
>[log in to unmask]  saying  HELP .
>::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Note:  opinions  expressed on HPSCHD-L are those of the  individual con-
tributors and not necessarily  those of the list owners  nor of the Uni-
versity of Iowa.  For a brief  summary of list  commands, send mail to
[log in to unmask]  saying  HELP .
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::