When do you start worrying about high humidity?
 

I'm at my Upstate house, the gauge outside reads 85%s and inside reads 71%.

My Dread Jr is back in it's gig bag with Silica packs and the reading inside is 54%.

Last year things got really soggy in NY and my guitars sounded like they had someone's laundry stuffed inside. I got the silica packs and ran the ac every time I had a guitar out of the case. That got things back to normal, so this year I'm trying to get ahead of it and I have my three guitars in their cases with the silica packs.

Do you worry about high humidity? And what do you do about it?

54% isn't considered harmful at all but if the guitars sound bad maybe the humidity is higher than you think.
Have you considered purchasing a de-humidifier?

My approach is similar to yours, but I keep my guitars in their cases anyway.

We get indoor RH around 70% for several weeks in the summer, and like you I use Silica Gel in the cases of my ‘better’ guitars and can maintain an RH level of about 45% without difficulty.

Much depends on how your guitars respond to higher humidity - some of my guitars that I have had a long time and are fairly ‘substantial’ don’t require any special treatment and have been in many different climates around the world.

Ah yes, so it goes.... that wonderful guitar suddenly sounds like $100 laminated cheapie. Your strategy is sound (no pun intended) and using a dehumidifier and/or air conditioner will help somewhat. FWIW, humidity is not usually as dangerous to guitars as extreme dryness but don't be surprised to find the action getting higher as a bit more belly develops in the top due to humidity saturated wood. Here on Cape Cod and a mile from the ocean the radical changes in humidity - or lack of - on a seasonal basis is a constant challenge. I keep an air conditioner going for at least a few hours a day in the summer in my studio where I teach and a humidifier going all winter, plus individual humidifiers in the sound holes of each guitar. And I have to tweak the truss rods at least twice a year. I also have a good humidity gauge to check every day. But in spite of my best efforts, that summer humidity is a bitc.... well you know. I have to keep reminding myself that the tone I know and love WILL return, eventually. Good luck!

Gene

... and oh yeah.....
 

DO NOT leave your guitar in direct sunlight shining through a window onto it when the humidity is high. You are now baking it with a bit of water! Bad, bad things happen. This is the voice of experience talking. I see you keep your guitars in their cases. Good plan for sure. But some of us - I confess to being one - are a bit too lazy to put them away after every playing session.

I keep mine in their cases with D'Addario Humidifier packs year round. I return them to their case after use, and they stay at a constant 49-51% RH all year.

I’m lazy at times, but it doesn’t affect the care I give my guitars.

I keep them in their cases and monitor the humidity, keeping it between 45-55% at all times.

When do you start worrying about high humidity?
 

When that old guy down the block starts loading animals onto his boat... :eek:

Actually, I just leave everything in its case when not in use - even with today's kiln-dried woods I don't experience any real issues...

I wish I had high humidity. I live in a nasty dry part of the country. I need three humidifiers in each case, just to keep levels at mid 40's.

In SC, my indoor RH is around 50-54% in the warm months, and 35-40% in the winter. I typically leave my guitars out in stands year round, but will rotate 1 guitar in a case with humidipack for a week at a time all winter. If my guitars aren't out in their stands, I play considerably less throughout the year.

The guitar would have to be at 70-80+% for a long time in order to become over-humidified.

From what you read the main reasons guitars become over-humidified are that they are neglected in a non-climate controlled environment, or someone has gone crazy with the simple wet sponge-type humidifiers.

If your guitar is in a case with some sort of self-regulating humidifier like the humidipaks or the oasis type humidifiers, and the reading is in the 50% ballpark, it's fine.

I don't "worry" about high humidity here in the West. The main thing is the wood expansion that accompanies a humidity increase makes all my instruments sharp, so I make sure I check the tuning on all 20 of my wooden stringed things. Many years back I kept everything cased with dampit humidifiers - opened two of my fiddle cases to find snapped strings.

Larrivee has the best break-down I've seen of the effects of RH on guitars; they include this with each guitar they sell, but also have it posted on their website, to wit:

https://www.larrivee.com/pdfs/Larriv...aintenance.pdf

Because the factory where my guitar was made was maintained at 47% relative humidity, I try to keep my guitar room at that level but am unconcerned as long as the humidity remains between 44% and 52%. Typically, my room is one or two percent from the target. It’s better to err on the high side than the low side as hygrometers becomes less accurate towards the dry side.

$22.95 at Walmart. Keep it in the case under the headstock with a cotton hand towel between. Keeps my guitar at 40-50% all summer long, even at 80-90% humidity.

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/a05...d&odnBg=ffffff