I previously lived in Santa Fe and now live in Las Vegas, NV. I'm originally from the Southeast where humidification simply wasn't an issue, but when I moved to the Southwest I found out things were quite different. My experience tells me that it all depends on the guitar. I've got a couple of Martins with some age on them ('70 D-35 and '92 D-28) and they were pretty bulletproof. In my opinion, these guitars have already developed a certain amount of natural strain relief through aging (the D-35 has a repaired top crack) that makes them less susceptible to issues. On the other hand, I had a friend in Santa Fe who left his brand new Taylor 814ce out on a stand just one night instead of in its humidified case and it developed a top crack. Certain issues will happen in dry climates such as the frets sprouting out a bit from fretboard shrinkage. I play it safe and use a humidifier in the room my guitars live. Enjoy Santa Fe, it's a great town with a tight little music community, I miss it! Check out my buddy Stan Burg's cool guitar shop down in Albuquerque, Guitar Vista.
