How far do you go with enviromental changes to your axe?

[learn'r]

I gave my beater away ....

 

all that's left is solids now. I don't play out any further then my deck .... however this is Ohio.

 

some of you sage players .....

 

how paranoid should I get?

 

limits?

[DonK]

I don't baby my guitars in the sense of worrying about where I play them. I exercise reasonable care as far as trying not to bang them around and stuff like that. I never leave guitars in my car for more than a few minutes, and not even that on a really hot day. But as far as dealing with environmental changes, I accept that with an instrument made from wood you're going to have those. I'm fairly proficient at tweaking a set-up, and I check and record key measurements each time I changes strings, i.e., relief at the 7th fret, and string height at the body fret. That way I know the baseline setup for each guitar.

[kwakatak]

During the winter months (and sometimes during peak A/C usage in the summer months) I keep my guitar in its case with a soundhole humidifier in place and a hygrometer to monitor the case's internal humidity levels. I also put a partially-opened ziplock bag containing a damp (not drippings wet) sponge up near the heastock (to hydrate the fretboard).

 

I've attempted to use cool mist humidifiers in the past but I've had bad luck with them. No matter how cautious I am, I end up ruining the internal electronics when attempting to clean them.

[guitapick]

I've used a soundhole humidifier during the winter for years. Haven't thought to keep the guits in their cases, though.

 

Have a Vornado room humidifier which requires replacing these 2 "sponges" that absorb the dirt about once a year. Pretty simple and effective.

[Freeman Keller]

When I built my 000 I was so proud of it I had it in the living room on a stand. Within one month the fret ends were sharp, the grain in the top was starting to raise, and the action had gone all to hell (March, central heat, eastern Washington). I fixed everything and put it in a case where it belonged with a kitchen sponge humidifer.

 

The only guitars now that are not in cases are my two resonators (pretty hard to hurt those babies). Everything else has a sponge that I dampen each time I play it - every week or so.

 

I am always impressed when I go into a quality music store and see the guitars in a case (or a room) with a R/H gauge - and I worry when I see expensive gits not taken care of. Scare yourself by reading what Jean Larrivee says about humidity

 

http://www.larrivee.com/flash/features/education/humidity/humidity.html

[guitapick]

Good article, Freeman. Thanks.

 

Bob

[guitarist21]

Originally posted by Freeman Keller http://www.larrivee.com/flash/features/education/humidity/humidity.html

 

"Guitar will very likely deconstruct itself."

 

Scary.