Guitars and Humidity

[Dreabfly]

I posted this in guitars, but I know you guys are the masters and I thought you might have input. So please pardon my double posting:

 

So.

 

I recently moved to Vegas. One thing I never really thought about here was how dry it was.

 

Today, while cleaning the house, I realized that our Balinese hardwood coffee table is cracked and separating at the seams - REALLY BADLY. I immediately oiled it and will likely get another humidifier for the main part of the house. But more importantly - it got me thinking - HOLY CRAP. WHAT ABOUT MY GUITARS!!!

 

I went online and checked out the humidifier links. Truthfully - I'm not all that keen on keeping my guitars locked up in cases all the time - I like them at my fingertips while I record. So is having a humidifer in the room enough? Or do I really have to lock them away with their own case humidifier and a little humidity meter to boot?

 

Anyone here live in the desert? And have experience with the issue?

 

My two most important guitars are a vintage '72 Fender Mustang Competition and an original Parker Fly Deluxe (the balsa/epoxy hybrid). The Parker seems like it will survive, since it's gone through hell and back with me in the extreme winter/humidity of Boston. But I'm really concerned about the Fender. It's a Cali instrument and before I left was used to the easy coastal weather.

 

Help me, Obi Wan.

[UstadKhanAli]

I cannot think of a single reason why a humidifier in a room would not be adequate for your guitars.

[scud133]

I bought a cigar case humidity gauge and glued it to the inside of my guitar case just behind the neck pocket. It has a magnetic base, so I can pull it out easily, read the gauge, and put it back in the general area and it snaps back into place. oooh, science. Ideal humidity is about 45%.

 

The best place to humidify a guitar is in its case, NOT in the open air. You take it out, play it, it gets exposed and all, but when it goes back into the case for bedtime, it gets nice and refreshed in the case. Bob Taylor recommends "Dampit" humidifiers, but there are tons of alternatives available out there that all accomplish the same thing.

 

Taylor Guitars: Humidity's Greatest Hits (pdf)

 

Here's some great videos for the humidity-uninitiated:

 

 

 

Taylor totally leads the charge on humidity awareness, not sure why -- but their website is just overflowing with humidity-related resources.

[Dreabfly]

Well - yeah - that makes sense. I just read Taylor's latest issue of Wood and Steel and they seem to be the wood gods. I mean - they scour the planet for all kinds of the perfect woods and they really seem to know their stuff. There was a whole article on wood drying methods. This is how you know you've traipsed (sp?) over the edge. You're reading articles on wood-drying methods just before falling off to sleep.

 

Thanks for the info so far, guys. Anybody else - feel free to chime in.

 

I did get that idea from most of what I read - that the best place is the case - not really because it traps humidity in, but traps the elements out. My issue is that my Mustang came in the crappiest moldy-ass case ever. It smells like a mo-fo. It had been stored (by itself, thank god) in a rain-soaked garage in LA and is absolutely drenched in must. I can't imagine having to open that thing everyday to play it - but as I'm now thinking about it - maybe it's the perfect place for it to live while here in the desert. My Parker came with the original heavy duty gig-bag. No hardcase.

 

I am doing the usual musician dilemma about $$$ versus instruments. Dontcha just hate that????

[bbach]

Taking your guitars in and out of the case several times a day is a royal pain. Sometimes I have but a minute or two and want to grab one and run through a couple things and set it down and go.

I use a room humidifier. I have for years now. We also have a whole house humidifier on our furnace, but we are not able to keep the house humid enough for my guitars in the dead of winter, so I supplement my music room humidity with a 5 gallon room unit. It works great.

[amplayer]

I live in New England, which means my guitars are subject to extreme humidity variations; Here, it is often very humid in the summer, and it is always very dry in the winter.

 

It is my experience that electric guitars with proper finish on them (both body and neck) can handle the extreme humidity changes but will need adjustments to their truss rods a couple times per year. Is that a guarantee that yours will not fail? No, but since none of my electric guitars have had any problems, I feel pretty confident in this.

However, acoustic guitars definitely need to stay humidified. Being too humid usually not nearly as bad. I'm not familiar with the Fender in question, but if it is an acoustic, I would definitely suggest a humidifier either in its case or one for your room.

 

However, note that humidifiers can often fail. If you use a humidifier, make sure you place it somewhere that can handle a small flood in case the humidifier gets clogged.

[bbach]

 

I live in New England, which means my guitars are subject to extreme humidity variations; Here, it is often very humid in the summer, and it is always very dry in the winter. It is my experience that electric guitars with proper finish on them (both body and neck) can handle the extreme humidity changes but will need adjustments to their truss rods a couple times per year. Is that a guarantee that yours will not fail? No, but since none of my electric guitars have had any problems, I feel pretty confident in this. However, acoustic guitars definitely need to stay humidified. Being too humid usually not nearly as bad. I'm not familiar with the Fender in question, but if it is an acoustic, I would definitely suggest a humidifier either in its case or one for your room. However, note that humidifiers can often fail. If you use a humidifier, make sure you place it somewhere that can handle a small flood in case the humidifier gets clogged.

 

 

Good point. I forgot about my "mini" flood when my humidfier all of a sudden decided to dump a couple gallons of water on my carpet. Good idea to keep your humidifier away from all things electrical and have the humidifier power cord hung with a drip loop below the outlet it's plugged into.

I agree with you on finished guitars, but all wood should have some kind of humidity provided, even finished wood. I don't think you have to sweat the 45% thing. However, in very dry cold winters or dry desert conditions you should provide something. Plus, I find that keeping my guitars in a humidity controlled invironment takes away the need to make seasonal truss rod adjustments.

[Dreabfly]

Thanks for all the great input, guys. I've ordered another humidifier for the house. I'll start there and see what happens.

[slight-return]

I want to say it's liona boyd that mentioned in the carpet in her hotel rooms

 

What I do is "average humidity regulation" - since I can't really count on the humidity of a lot of rooms the instrument might encounter, I adjust the average by submerging the instrument in water (or gin if prohibition comes back and I need the bathtub for my liquor) overnight maybe once or twice a week

 

If I have stiff new strings , I add some mister bubble to relax them

[boxorox]

While there are extremes in temperature and humidity that should be avoided, most damage is caused by Rapid and Extreme changes. If your guitars survived the NorthEast, Dry winters, wet summers, AC, central heat, they should love the SouthWest.