Homemade incase Humidifier (works great for less than $5

[Mystery123]

Originally Posted by Kip Carter

You can go into most dollar stores and get a package of them cheap. I recommend only using about 15 beads per soap box.

What/where are they called in dollar store?

[funkapus]

Does a case humidifier like this up around the headstock or in the compartment get much humid air down into the soundbox?

Right now I'm using sponges in Ziplocs with slits in them; and I've got one up by the headstock, but two in the soundhole as well. It'd be great if just one of these up near the headstock really did the trick.

[brianhejh]

I have not tried these beads before.

If you fill the beads with water to increase moisture in the guitar/case as intended, can it be equally useful to reverse this process, use them without water - therefore the beads draw moisture from the guitar/case if required. Is this possible?

Brian

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by Mystery123

What/where are they called in dollar store?

Water beads. They are intended to keep flowers moist and fresh longer, so you sometimes see them in the crafts department.

Originally Posted by funkapus

Does a case humidifier like this up around the headstock or in the compartment get much humid air down into the soundbox?
.....

I almost always put my soap dish humidifiers in the accessory box (these are NOT airtight), or under the headstock, or standing in the cutaway void. basically wherever one fits without touching the guitar finish. I usually only use one of the three places, unless conditions are extreme. If you don't believe that moisture gets around inside the entire case, try putting half a raw onion in your closed accessory box. Your whole case will stink inside the next day.
** I accept no liability for odor removal in your case if you try this experiment**

Originally Posted by brianhejh

.....can it be equally useful to reverse this process, use them without water - therefore the beads draw moisture from the guitar/case if required. Is this possible?

It is possible, perhaps even likely. But I have no experience with this -- I never need to dehumidify. The Boveda / Humdipaks both absorb and release moisture as needed to maintain whatever RH their salt solution is designed to hold -- usually 49%. If I really felt like dehumidifying, I would use a dessicant pack made of silica gel, like those that come in electronics packaging.

[guitar george]

Be careful that you do not over-humidify a guitar in it's case. It's too easy to try all types of creative and unproven humidifying methods. Too much moisture can harm the finish and damage the structure of the guitar.

[N+1]

My experiments suggest that air circulation within Taylor guitar cases is very limited, and the relative humidity in the headstock area can be very different from the relative humidity in the soundhole. When I started trying to control the humidity (in my situation, I need to dehumidify all the time, but the same principles apply), I began by dehumidifying the air in the headstock area, assuming that some sort of steady state would develop throughout the case. It never did. The RH might drop to a steady 35% in the headstock zone, but in the body of the guitar it remained stubbornly at 65%.

The only solution, I've found, is to position the dehumidifying device in the soundhole, held between the strings. I can't see any obvious reason why a similar system couldn't be used for the reverse process (i.e. of humidification), using bags containing water beads or a sponge - but I'm never going to be in a position to need that myself.

More details here.

And a recent update here.

[lowrider]

I put the soap box in the headstock area and the hygrometer in the guitar cut-out area. The guage averages about 52%, so that seems good to me.

I left my metal resonator out on a stand and the frets were starting to extend past the ends of the fretboard. I put it in it's gig-bag and in two days it was fine again.

[N+1]

Originally Posted by lowrider

I put it in it's gig-bag ...

Ah. So this is a gig bag - not a solid case? I can see you'd get more air movement in that.

[brancher]

Novel idea, but what's wrong with just using one of those Boveda setups from D 'Addario or someone?

[N+1]

Originally Posted by brancher

Novel idea, but what's wrong with just using one of those Boveda setups from D 'Addario or someone?

Nothing at all, as far as I know. I have (and use) a couple of Boveda pouches myself. I'm not sure whether they allow maximum rate of transfer of the moist air, compared with, say, the open weave of a jute or cotton bag, but they do work.

[brancher]

I use 'em for both Martin and Yairi cases. Right now, the humidity in my home in SE US varies wildly due to the influx of the winter storms and resultant uber-dry air inside my house. So humidity inside the house, usually at around 60%, dips sometimes to 25% when a winter storm blows thru.

Anyway, I have a hygrometer that I put inside the cases from time to time to take a humidity 'pulse', and the Boveda bags do very well as long as the case is closed.

I may give these beads a shot, though...


Thanks.

[Blueser]

I'm all for innovation and even for saving a few bucks, but by the time I'm done running to the dollar store, drilling holes in soap dishes, working out ways to place these homemade solutions in and around my case, I could and did just order these.....

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...iABEgJGT_D_BwE

They're not "cheap" but neither are my guitars. A really solid product that I check on every two weeks and just works. Ordered two for each case and could not be happier with their performance.

[lowrider]

Blueser, I don't understand those humidifiers. Do you put it in the sound-hole and take it out every time you play?

[N+1]

Originally Posted by Blueser

I'm all for innovation and even for saving a few bucks, but by the time I'm done running to the dollar store, drilling holes in soap dishes, working out ways to place these homemade solutions in and around my case, I could and did just order these.....

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...iABEgJGT_D_BwE

They're not "cheap" but neither are my guitars. A really solid product that I check on every two weeks and just works. Ordered two for each case and could not be happier with their performance.

I've tried those too (I tried all sorts of things when I realised I had a humidity problem). They're fine, but you can only get about 20g (two 10g packs) of silica gel beads into one of them. At some times of the year that's OK, but now, as I've gone through the year, I often find I need more. Of course one could buy another of those gadgets: so ... two per guitar; six guitars in cases ... the cost adds up. But maybe more to the point: I quite like fiddling about with my homespun cotton bag remedies.

[guitar george]

Originally Posted by lowrider

Blueser, I don't understand those humidifiers. Do you put it in the sound-hole and take it out every time you play?

You push it down between the D and G strings until it can't go any farther. The top lip of the humidifier sits on the strings and prevents it from getting inside the guitar. You pull it out when you play the guitar.