Winter's toll on guitars

[diablo175]

Took 3 guitars to a local but renowned luthier for non-weather related repair and tweak issues. His first act was to check the necks, to which he immediately exclaimed,"Wow! This is off 3/100's... and this one is about 2/100's and this one is so bad it needs to go in our re-humidifying room STAT!

Not what you want to hear when he's handling your 3 and 4,000 dollar guitars...

So, it got me to thinking about two things:

1) Do I need to get a humidifier in my basement studio? It would seem the answer is pretty obvious.

2) What's the optimal humidity level setting for a small room (10 x 16 ) full of guitars? He had his work shop set at 55% My studio room is at 34%

On a side note- he was quite complimentary about the workmanship and materials of the two Hamers. Stating that they were "Boutique quality" ebony and maple, he admitted to always being impressed with Hamers.

[sixesandsevens]

Are those measurements neck relief at a certain fret?

Glad to hear the Hamers stack up favorably in the eyes of someone ... less biased(?) than the folks here.

Finding Hamer has been a blessing and a curse... Knowing that very few (if any) pay such careful attention to wood selection at anywhere NEAR the user Hamer price point is a painful truth, esp. with Hamer "gone".

Edit: I'd consider humidification, esp. if it's going to get drier for you as winter deepens.

[Toadroller]

You kiddin' me?

My main rotation of guitars (80% Hamer USA) are sitting on a rack near the baseboard heater.

Not ideal, but wood moves. I can feel it when I play them.

Truss-rods move wood.

[Studio Custom]

45% humidity is ideal

45% humidity is ideal

45% humidity is ideal

[BlueRedWhite]

I either will get a case humidifier or humidify the whole room, my guitars are all on their case, in a mostly humid place, so i need to check humidity as well...

I found this article on the Taylor Guitar site:

This article

[diablo175]

I just bought a bunch of Planet Waves in-case humidifiers. Not a bad idea IF you keep your guitars in their cases.

For those that are out on the floor- room humidifier now set at, Studio Custom? 45%

[dragan]

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=thermo+hygrometer&tag=mh0b-20&index=aps&hvadid=3481626636&ref=pd_sl_17hy30r9im_b

I need one of these

[gorch]

Any intonation issues noticeable? Forget about humidity if not. In this case that guy is a duper.

[dragan]

my gtr room humidifier is a wet bath towel draped over a music stand , only when its very cold ,like now ( minus 4 F this am , high Mon predicted to be minus 10 F )

[diablo175]

Any intonation issues noticeable? Forget about humidity if not. In this case that guy is a duper.

Yes, as well as action issues. String height is all wonky.

[Armitage]

The University of Minnesota has developed guidelines for the minimum recommended humidity levels for houses.

Based on a 70ºF interior room temperature, engineering studies established the following guidelines:

Outside Temperature Inside Humidity

20º to 40ºF Not over 40%

10º to 20ºF Not over 35%

0º to 10ºF Not over 30%>/>

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-10º to 0ºF Not over 25%

-20º to –10ºF Not over 20%

-20ºF or below Not over 15%

Guitarists tend to be a bit higher, but mold and condensaion on windows can be a real problem.

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[dragan]

whats guitar centers acoustic room level about 70% ???

[Armitage]

... and then people bring the guitar home and it all goes wonky.

[dragan]

^ thats what i was thinkin

[specialk]

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=thermo+hygrometer&tag=mh0b-20&index=aps&hvadid=3481626636&ref=pd_sl_17hy30r9im_b

I need one of these

Thanks for the link! I've got an old crappy one now.

[diablo175]

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=thermo+hygrometer&tag=mh0b-20&index=aps&hvadid=3481626636&ref=pd_sl_17hy30r9im_b

I need one of these

Luckily, the small room humidifier I bought has a humidity gauge built in...

[BlueRedWhite]

I just bought a bunch of Planet Waves in-case humidifiers. Not a bad idea IF you keep your guitars in their cases.

For those that are out on the floor- room humidifier now set at, Studio Custom? 45%

Diablo, i saw those today...aren't they for acoustic and classical guitars?? what do you do for your Calis??

[diablo175]

Diablo, i saw those today...aren't they for acoustic and classical guitars?? what do you do for your Calis??

Nope. They can be thrown into any guitar case- solidbody or otherwise.

[a.bandini]

Diablo,

Good luck with the humidity, but beware my experience with humidifiers:

If you don't use distilled water and you live in an area with hard tap water, then your aerosol humidifier is putting lots of dissolved minerals in the air. That isn't necessarily a problem, unless your computer fan blows directly onto the corner of the backside of the monitor screen like my iMac does. As a result, I had a "fog" slowly creeping across the monitor (took a couple weeks) as the minerals deposited on the inside surface of the screen.

I don't know if this is a problem that can also afflict widescreen television screens and other electronic gear, or is instead just something that the iMac is susceptible to. I figure that there must have been an electrostatic charge on the inside of the screen that attracted and concentrated the minerals, but it sure became noticeable.

Apple replaced my screen under warranty, but they weren't happy about it. I've since gotten rid of those humidifiers, and rely instead on covered sponges in my acoustic cases and replenish those weekly.

I don't worry too much about my electrics, and tweak the truss rods instead, but what do I know? (Not much.)

[diablo175]

Thanks, a.bandini

I used to be somewhat unconcerned about my electrics and I've heard several responses from people dismissing the impact humidity has on electrics. While I can see how acoustics would be more susceptible, I can't help but be incredulous about the ambivalence towards humidity's effect on electrics. My case may be somewhat extreme but 3 guitars, all showing definite signs of board/neck shrinking, frets protruding and neck relief issues, suggests that electrics ARE something to concern myself with.

Luckily, there are no monitors or TV screens in the room with the humidifier.

[Uncle Thor's Hamer]

I keep our music room humidifier set at 40%. I'd prefer 45% but with my travels the humidifier tank runs dry by day 3 if set at 45% in the winter. I also run a whole-house humidifier set at 30%.

FWIW, the Royal College of Music in London has a museum with many old stringed instruments, 300+ years old, with the humidity kept at 30%. Therefore I believe 30% should be perfectly safe for your instruments.

[Armitage]

People get this silly idea more is better, what a guitar doesn't like is change! You have to be semi consitent with where you store your guitar and where you play your guitar.

BTW anyone who has had the fret ends stick out on an electric knows humidity matters on an electric too!

[silentman]

Case humidifier on the cheap:

1 sandwich baggie

1 household sponge

Roll up the baggie. Grab a scissor and make some small cuts in the bag. Dampen sponge and place in baggie. Stick it in your case. Bob's your uncle.

[Never2Late]

People get this silly idea more is better, what a guitar doesn't like is change! You have to be semi consitent with where you store your guitar and where you play your guitar.

BTW anyone who has had the fret ends stick out on an electric knows humidity matters on an electric too!

Agreed - my experiences with humidity and Hamers have been that my guitars hated RAPID changes in humidity, causing tuning stability and fret-buzz issues.

This winter, my home is staying pretty temerate, a moderately-low level of humidity, and my necks have been dead-straight, tuning very stable with zero issues. I've been careful to keep my guitars above freezing temps at all times, including car-rides, so my clearcoat finishes have not cracked/checked at all.

[diablo175]

Case humidifier on the cheap:

1 sandwich baggie

1 household sponge

Roll up the baggie. Grab a scissor and make some small cuts in the bag. Dampen sponge and place in baggie. Stick it in your case. Bob's your uncle.

Does this method maintain a constant 45% humidity level?

[silentman]

I don't know about the level. But it helped fix some fret sprout I had on my guitar.