Ideal temperature and humidity for acoustic guitars

[Theleman]

Hi All

I have ordered a couple of meters for monitoring temperature and humidity in my guitar room.

What would be the ideal temperature and humidity for acoustic guitars?

Now I have 7x acoustics. They seem reproducing themselves
They are low end budget makes, but most are playing and sounding nice, and more than good enough quality and price for my level of playing skills.

1x is all solid wood body (spruce top and rosewood back and sides)
2x are cedar top (0ne is a project / repair)
3x are spruce top and mohogany back and sides
1x all mahogany body

[varmonter]

Google says 55-65 % RH And 65-75 degrees F.

[The Bard Rocks]

I'd lower that humidity reading by at least 10 degrees, if not 20.

[JayBee1404]

CFM, Lowden, and Fylde all recommend 45-55% RH. Those are the ones I'm interested in, for obvious reasons!

[fazool]

Originally Posted by varmonter

Google says 55-65 % RH And 65-75 degrees F.

Thats too high.


Both Martin and Taylor recommend 45%-55% as ideal RH.

Personally, I prefer 40% as my target.

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by fazool

Thats too high.


Both Martin and Taylor recommend 45%-55% as ideal RH.

Personally, I prefer 40% as my target.

That's a good target for me as well.
Generally speaking, mine is around 45% with a room temp of 68-70

[mercy]

45/75 is safe and whee mine usually are. I prefer 40% but my house doesnt go there usually.

[dbradfie]

I'm with Fazool on this. I target 40% in my guitar room. I have no controls in my room for de-humidification so it goes up to whatever the air is currently supporting.

A couple of interesting notes from other builders:

Froggy Bottom states that they build their guitars in a very dry environment (20% - 30%)
http://froggybottomguitars.com/The-F...ty-basics.html
Their philosophy is building in a dryer environment and then shipping to either a dry or humid environment provide more stability.

Santa Cruz states this on their care a feeding page

If you generally keep your guitar inside your house and prefer to keep it out of the case, you should have a room humidified to 47%

http://www.santacruzguitar.com/guitar-care-feeding/

In general there is a rather wide humidity range that a guitar can safely be stored and used in. It is the rapid, wide swings in humidity that cause the problems.

[Theleman]

So what if, the humidity is very high in the guitar room? Say, 65 - 80%? like in the winter damp shed?

What will happen to the guitars?

I would imagine, in very low humidity, the woods will crack open.

[mattgil]

There is a lot of talk to humidity levels, but what about temp? 65-75 is obviously ideal but I keep my guitars in a side of my house we don't use much and like to keep the heat colder like 55-60, humidity is solid at 45%-50%. Does temp make much of a difference if humidity is stable?

[00-28]

My guitars stay at 30% to 40% humidity and temperature at about 55 to 70 degrees. I case the guitars and watch for signs of a dry guitar when the humidity drops below 20%. Coastal Southern California is weird when it comes to weather and humidity. It can go to single digits in the afternoon and be 99% at night.

.......Mike

[jaymarsch]

My guitars tell me that 40-45% is the sweet spot. But, being in NorCal, I find that the humidity is usually between 50-55%. Guitars still sound great but I always enjoy those weeks where we get into sweet spot territory. I know that two of my guitars were built at 38% so it would make sense that they really sing closer to that range.

Best,
Jayne

[Sage97]

Originally Posted by Theleman

So what if, the humidity is very high in the guitar room? Say, 65 - 80%? like in the winter damp shed?

What will happen to the guitars?

I would imagine, in very low humidity, the woods will crack open.

This.

https://www.taylorguitars.com/sites/...aWetGuitar.pdf

[Theleman]

Originally Posted by Sage97

This.

https://www.taylorguitars.com/sites/...aWetGuitar.pdf

OMG, excess humidity can cause traumatic damage to guitar.

Low humidity and crack on the wood is maybe better than swelling and expanding of the woods caused by excess humidity for repair and salvage?

Although keeping ideal humidity and temperature for guitars would be the best.

[Rev Roy]

Originally Posted by fazool

Both Martin and Taylor recommend 45%-55% as ideal RH.

Personally, I prefer 40% as my target.

Yep, this is pretty much the range I’m comfortable with too. I’m fine with my guitars getting just north of 35% and hate the muffled sound I get when they approach 60%.