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  #1  
Old 01-19-2016, 01:39 PM
FlatpickMN FlatpickMN is offline
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Unhappy Humidification headache

Hey all,

I recently bought a Santa Cruz (early 90s) that I've been carefully humidifying and keeping in it's case (up here in Minnesota).

This last weekend I took it out and noticed more dip of the belly between the soundhole and bridge and more protrusion from the bridge to the endpin than usual. Closer inspection revealed a crack, the ungluing of the middle seem on the top from the bridge and worsening toward the end of the guitar. My hygrometer in the case read 35% (the lowest I have seen) despite Oasis' OH-5+ being full and in place.

I have taken this to my bud who's a pro. There's no structural damage, all the braces are in place, etc.

I immediately added on of those planet waves sponge case humdifiers at first in the case and now in between the strings of the soundhole, in addition to the Oasis. It's been sub-zero here are things have only gotten drier.

My headache- Now, I can't be the humidity in the case above 28%

Both humidifiers are resting above the sound hole, and I'm now waiting on a filter to start using an old room humidifier in addition to the ones in the case. I have noticed a slight narrowing of the crack; it does seem to be improving.

Why can't I get it up to the usual 46%? My only thoughts are that the guitar is so thirsty, none of the humidity is reaching my hygrometer (which I've even placed under the neck join) It is a cheap digital hygrometer, but I have tested it (at least as far as breathing and watching the humidity change, etc.)

Anyone had this experience?
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  #2  
Old 01-19-2016, 01:46 PM
jljohn jljohn is offline
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I think I'd take the hygrometer out of the case, set it in the room, keep the door closed, and humidify the room to 40+%.
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Old 01-19-2016, 01:48 PM
fishstick_kitty fishstick_kitty is offline
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Are the sound hole humidifiers drying out fast?

EDIT: I am in Maine and have a small room (maybe 8'x5') with a room humidifier and it keeps the levels in the 40-60% range...so room humidifier is the way to go IMHO.
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Old 01-19-2016, 01:51 PM
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SFCRetired SFCRetired is offline
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The highest mine got yesterday was 36 maybe 37 in the case. Which was better than the 33 outside of the case. But I also run a room humidifier, but my guitar room is not a closed off room. It's my family room that is open to the upstairs bedroom and open to the hall that goes into the main house.

I think my wife is going to order a whole house humidifier this week.
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  #5  
Old 01-19-2016, 01:57 PM
weisser weisser is offline
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Default Dry Guitar

Quote:
Originally Posted by FlatpickMN View Post
Hey all,

I recently bought a Santa Cruz (early 90s) that I've been carefully humidifying and keeping in it's case (up here in Minnesota).

This last weekend I took it out and noticed more dip of the belly between the soundhole and bridge and more protrusion from the bridge to the endpin than usual. Closer inspection revealed a crack, the ungluing of the middle seem on the top from the bridge and worsening toward the end of the guitar. My hygrometer in the case read 35% (the lowest I have seen) despite Oasis' OH-5+ being full and in place.

I have taken this to my bud who's a pro. There's no structural damage, all the braces are in place, etc.

I immediately added on of those planet waves sponge case humdifiers at first in the case and now in between the strings of the soundhole, in addition to the Oasis. It's been sub-zero here are things have only gotten drier.

My headache- Now, I can't be the humidity in the case above 28%

Both humidifiers are resting above the sound hole, and I'm now waiting on a filter to start using an old room humidifier in addition to the ones in the case. I have noticed a slight narrowing of the crack; it does seem to be improving.

Why can't I get it up to the usual 46%? My only thoughts are that the guitar is so thirsty, none of the humidity is reaching my hygrometer (which I've even placed under the neck join) It is a cheap digital hygrometer, but I have tested it (at least as far as breathing and watching the humidity change, etc.)

Anyone had this experience?
From my days working at Mandolin Brothers, I can suggest a sure fire method of rapidly and safely humidifying a really dry guitar. Buy three of the large "Dampits" and make sure to squeeze out all excess water. Hang the dampits in the sound hole of the guitar and then place it a large plastic garbage bag with the neck protruding. Tape or tie up the bag around the neck and check the guitar on a daily basis, re-humidying the dampits as needed.

During a really cold winter the shop would have at least two or three bagged guitars.

A couple, two three days should be all it needs.
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Old 01-19-2016, 01:58 PM
bkharmony bkharmony is offline
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A couple thoughts:

I've found hygrometers can be very unreliable. I'd put two in the case and compare them. I keep two hygrometers in my guitar room (i.e. bedroom), and they often vary by 5%. That obviously won't solve your humidification problem, but it'll give you a better idea what's going on.

I would resort to a home-made case humidifier. You can find several tutorials with a quick google search. Long story short, cut a bunch of holes in a sandwich baggie and stuff a wet sponge in there*. In your case, I'd stick one at the headstock and one at the lower bout. I'd use these in addition to your Oasis until it stabilizes. Check the humidity every day. It'll get there.

*for my home-made humidifiers, I actually drill holes in a travel soap dish. Works perfectly.
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Old 01-19-2016, 02:07 PM
FlatpickMN FlatpickMN is offline
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Hey guys, thanks for all your responses. Some great information. The humidifiers themselves are not drying out all the quicker than usual.

It looks like a may have to resort to the emergency humidification until I can stabilize things. I've got this "whole house" humidifier we use at our wood shop, wondering how loud it will be.

Any recommendations on room humidifiers? Do you end up filling it every day? What if I go out of town? Caring for this guitar is starting to seem like caring for a puppy, ha.
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Old 01-19-2016, 02:11 PM
FlatpickMN FlatpickMN is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by weisser View Post
From my days working at Mandolin Brothers, I can suggest a sure fire method of rapidly and safely humidifying a really dry guitar. Buy three of the large "Dampits" and make sure to squeeze out all excess water. Hang the dampits in the sound hole of the guitar and then place it a large plastic garbage bag with the neck protruding. Tape or tie up the bag around the neck and check the guitar on a daily basis, re-humidying the dampits as needed.

During a really cold winter the shop would have at least two or three bagged guitars.

A couple, two three days should be all it needs.
Would you still put it back in the case? It seems one would the neck wood and frets to move and expand consistently.
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Old 01-19-2016, 02:24 PM
fishstick_kitty fishstick_kitty is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FlatpickMN View Post
Hey guys, thanks for all your responses. Some great information. The humidifiers themselves are not drying out all the quicker than usual.

It looks like a may have to resort to the emergency humidification until I can stabilize things. I've got this "whole house" humidifier we use at our wood shop, wondering how loud it will be.

Any recommendations on room humidifiers? Do you end up filling it every day? What if I go out of town? Caring for this guitar is starting to seem like caring for a puppy, ha.
I have a Vornado evaporative room humidifer. It's quiet and effective. It has a 1.5 gallon tank (I think)...I fill it 2-3 times per week at the worst part of the winter. http://www.vornado.com/humidifiers/E...tex-Humidifier
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  #10  
Old 01-19-2016, 02:53 PM
dneal dneal is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FlatpickMN View Post
Would you still put it back in the case? It seems one would the neck wood and frets to move and expand consistently.
The Taylor video on the subject has Bob putting the guitar back in the case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB8tELj43RE
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Old 01-19-2016, 03:06 PM
Ned Milburn Ned Milburn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FlatpickMN View Post
Hey all,

I recently bought a Santa Cruz (early 90s) that I've been carefully humidifying and keeping in it's case (up here in Minnesota).

This last weekend I took it out and noticed more dip of the belly between the soundhole and bridge and more protrusion from the bridge to the endpin than usual. Closer inspection revealed a crack, the ungluing of the middle seem on the top from the bridge and worsening toward the end of the guitar. My hygrometer in the case read 35% (the lowest I have seen) despite Oasis' OH-5+ being full and in place.

I have taken this to my bud who's a pro. There's no structural damage, all the braces are in place, etc.

I immediately added on of those planet waves sponge case humdifiers at first in the case and now in between the strings of the soundhole, in addition to the Oasis. It's been sub-zero here are things have only gotten drier.

My headache- Now, I can't be the humidity in the case above 28%

Both humidifiers are resting above the sound hole, and I'm now waiting on a filter to start using an old room humidifier in addition to the ones in the case. I have noticed a slight narrowing of the crack; it does seem to be improving.

Why can't I get it up to the usual 46%? My only thoughts are that the guitar is so thirsty, none of the humidity is reaching my hygrometer (which I've even placed under the neck join) It is a cheap digital hygrometer, but I have tested it (at least as far as breathing and watching the humidity change, etc.)

Anyone had this experience?
I just wrote this today:

http://www.handcraftedguitars.ca/201...9/guitar-care/

It could be your case is chambered. Think of this when you place your hygrometer and humidifiers. Pay attention to this paragraph:

"Cannister humidifiers – Buy these if yo store your guitar in its case. These have a fairly large reservoir that holds and releases a good amount of humidity. They clip into position between the strings and are held in place in the soundhole. These humidifiers will humidify the guitar from inside its body. One thing to note is that many guitar cases create 2 independent air chambers which are separated and sealed by the soft foam and/or material of the neck chamber. With cases like this, it can be a good idea to wrap a second cannister humidifier with a bandanna and leave it under the headstock to ensure the fingerboard is properly humidified. Do NOT attempt to humidify the whole guitar by leaving one or two cannister humidifiers in the headstock area of the case. The bulk of the humidity will NOT enter the body chamber in many styles of guitar case."
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Old 01-19-2016, 03:14 PM
FlatpickMN FlatpickMN is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dneal View Post
The Taylor video on the subject has Bob putting the guitar back in the case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB8tELj43RE
That video was very helpful, thank you.

Fishstick that humidifer is what I was looking for too, thanks.
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  #13  
Old 01-19-2016, 03:21 PM
FlatpickMN FlatpickMN is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ned Milburn View Post
I just wrote this today:

http://www.handcraftedguitars.ca/201...9/guitar-care/

It could be your case is chambered. Think of this when you place your hygrometer and humidifiers. Pay attention to this paragraph:

"Cannister humidifiers – Buy these if yo store your guitar in its case. These have a fairly large reservoir that holds and releases a good amount of humidity. They clip into position between the strings and are held in place in the soundhole. These humidifiers will humidify the guitar from inside its body. One thing to note is that many guitar cases create 2 independent air chambers which are separated and sealed by the soft foam and/or material of the neck chamber. With cases like this, it can be a good idea to wrap a second cannister humidifier with a bandanna and leave it under the headstock to ensure the fingerboard is properly humidified. Do NOT attempt to humidify the whole guitar by leaving one or two cannister humidifiers in the headstock area of the case. The bulk of the humidity will NOT enter the body chamber in many styles of guitar case."
This is interesting. Many builders recommend only placing humidifers in the headstock or storage compartment to avoid any water or breakage of the humidifer damaging the instrument (I think Santa Cruz and Bourgeois are among them). However, this make sense to me.
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  #14  
Old 01-19-2016, 03:23 PM
Wyllys Wyllys is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FlatpickMN View Post
Hey all,

I recently bought a Santa Cruz (early 90s) that I've been carefully humidifying and keeping in it's case (up here in Minnesota).

This last weekend I took it out and noticed more dip of the belly between the soundhole and bridge and more protrusion from the bridge to the endpin than usual. Closer inspection revealed a crack, the ungluing of the middle seem on the top from the bridge and worsening toward the end of the guitar. My hygrometer in the case read 35% (the lowest I have seen) despite Oasis' OH-5+ being full and in place.

I have taken this to my bud who's a pro. There's no structural damage, all the braces are in place, etc.

I immediately added on of those planet waves sponge case humdifiers at first in the case and now in between the strings of the soundhole, in addition to the Oasis. It's been sub-zero here are things have only gotten drier.

My headache- Now, I can't be the humidity in the case above 28%

Both humidifiers are resting above the sound hole, and I'm now waiting on a filter to start using an old room humidifier in addition to the ones in the case. I have noticed a slight narrowing of the crack; it does seem to be improving.

Why can't I get it up to the usual 46%? My only thoughts are that the guitar is so thirsty, none of the humidity is reaching my hygrometer (which I've even placed under the neck join) It is a cheap digital hygrometer, but I have tested it (at least as far as breathing and watching the humidity change, etc.)

Anyone had this experience?
While I certainly sympathize with you, I've lived and played music in MN since the mid-60's and never bothered about humidity. My Charlie Hoffman dreadnought (#101, May 1976) has lived in houses heated by wood all winter, un-air-conditioned summers and all that MN has to offer. Zero problems. Harmony Sovereigns, J-45's, Martins, fiddles, mandolins, banjos, basses...none have ever had a single problem.

I guess the "secret" is to make any temperature/environmental changes gradually. I let nature take its seasonal course and ease my instruments into a room slowly and carefully, though.

Good luck, happy picking.
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  #15  
Old 01-19-2016, 03:26 PM
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jim_pridx jim_pridx is offline
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Hey Flatpick! I'm just east of you in WI, and we've been experiencing the same sub-zero weather. There's definitely some good advice here in getting your guitar back in shape, but I've found that once a guitar becomes stabilized, I really need to use at least two if not three humidifiers in my acoustic guitar cases in this kind of weather. Since I own an old home, running room units just won't get the RH up high enough to make much of a difference (25% - 28% max). I also use a hygrometer right next to the soundhole to get a read on the RH in the case while shooting for a minimum of 45%. In addition to using an Oasis soundhole humidifier, I add these little guys to my cases. I just use one screw to secure it to the compartment area near the headstock and/or near the neck heel:



I've been using them for years with no problems, and they're easy to make. I'll agree that it's much like taking care of a pet or babysitting......LOL.....but it beats having guitar issues.
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