My guitar strings don't like the cold

[U2girl91289]

I have noticed that with this ridiculous bitter cold in the northeast, which is making my entire house cold, that my guitar strings seem to be tighter/higher and get out of tune more easily. Are there any special care precautions that I should take when it is this cold to ensure that the strings do not break, and that it doesn't get damaged? Thanks!

 

[gragravar]

Strings do shrink slightly when it gets cold, so does the guitar itself come to think of it. Not that you should follow my example but I frequently leave guitars in the back of my car after shows for a few days. Just recently we've been having -23c days and worse at nights which presumably the guitars reach after a few hours in the boot and none of them have come to any harm. If you're worried I'd loosen the strings a turn or so until it warms up again but a well made guitar kept indoors should survive a cold snap without any special handling. Certainly none of mine have come to any harm because of the cold so far (he said hopefully)...

 

[edge's girl]

so far the canadian cold hasn't killed my guitar stings yet, but sometimes when it's -35c out i loosen the strings