Why all of the Humidity threads these days?

[guit3090]

Ten years ago, I don't remember all the talk of guitar and humidity issues. Why do you think today, there are so many more problems with humidity and guitars?

[JohnW63]

'Cause there weren't so many internet forums telling all of use what happens if you DON'T keep your guitar humidified.

I would bet that a LOT of guitars we sold off as bad instruments, in the past, because they didn't play right, or the owners kept adjusting the neck to make up for issues in the past, that were just due to being very dry or too damp.

I never thought about it for 30 years. I didn't know it could change a guitar so quickly, until I got guitars that were not Ovations. I've found even THEY play better with some humidity. Within 3 weeks of getting my Guild, the top started sinking and the strings started buzzing in places. Once I stuck a case humidifier in and left it that way, the top came back up and it plays fine. Maybe the bracing matters or how light the top is built, but some just react more than others.

My average Humidity is in the low 20s. Sometimes less.

[kydave]

Originally Posted by guit3090

Ten years ago, I don't remember all the talk of guitar and humidity issues. Why do you think today, there are so many more problems with humidity and guitars?

Newbies who read more than they play...

[AZLiberty]

Originally Posted by guit3090

Ten years ago, I don't remember all the talk of guitar and humidity issues. Why do you think today, there are so many more problems with humidity and guitars?

We were talking about it 20 years ago. We were just talking about it on RMMGA rather than here, since forums didn't exist yet.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by guit3090

Ten years ago, I don't remember all the talk of guitar and humidity issues. Why do you think today, there are so many more problems with humidity and guitars?

Hi guit3090…

Cracks.

Also, there is more attention (perhaps overly so) being given it these days. This forum has grown to over 92,000 members of whom about 2000 are active at any given time.

It's an important topic which has turned into a quite large commercial business for Planet Waves and Oasis (and Dampit is still around too).

A lot of newbie topics (String formula, weight, capos, wood combos, etc) are more frequent in the forum nowdays.

10 years ago sometimes an unanswered post would stay on the front page in the forum for a day before falling to page 2, but nowadays, topics disappear to page 2 and beyond in an hour. There is more traffic and discussion these days.

[sbpark]

Think it has more to do with people informing themselves and wanting to take better care of their instruments. I don't think it has much to do with "newbies who read more than they play". Those people are too busy starting threads about how different bridge pins totally changing the sound of their guitar. Or "which strap looks better" thread.

[Rosewood99]

Originally Posted by sbpark

Think it has more to do with people informing themselves and wanting to take better care of their instruments. I don't think it has much to do with "newbies who read more than they play". Those people are too busy starting threads about how different bridge pins have totally changed the sound of their guitar. Or "which strap looks better" thread.

+1 on that thought. This is a good thing.

[ljguitar]

Hi all…

I was sitting in a luthier's shop (he builds guitars full-time for a living) the other day and the topic came up (I brought it up) and I said I think it's good.

He said he has repaired several guitars a year the past few years which he attributes to over humidifying which he believes is causing issues with the finish of guitars (not just the ones he builds). He believes it is because players are keeping their nearly-air-tight cases at 60% humidity or above.

He thinks it's an issue, and after repairs advises players to keep the humidity in these nearly air tight cases at a lower level, and advises them to not keep the guitars sealed in the cases all the time. He has not had return business after they lowered the humidity levels in the cases.

Most of the guitars he is repairing are under 5 years old.

Originally Posted by kydave

Newbies who read more than they play...

...or perhaps people who live in areas where it can be a very real issue for them. It's not exactly a make-believe threat to wooden instruments. I'd rather someone be slightly over reactive about humidity issues than be careless.

[JohnW63]

^ Exactly.

A lot of the naysayers live were it is around 40% RH much of the year. Their view is biased and not very valid, in my view.

I don't live were they salt the roads in the winter. How would I know about the rust it can cause. If I say that it's just newbies who read more than they drive, should I be taken seriously ?

I'll follow the advice of luthiers and guitar manufacturers, thank you.

[AZLiberty]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi all…

I was sitting in a luthier's shop (he builds guitars full-time for a living) the other day and the topic came up (I brought it up) and I said I think it's good.

He said he has repaired several guitars a year the past few years which he attributes to over humidifying which he believes is causing issues with the finish of guitars (not just the ones he builds). He believes it is because players are keeping their nearly-air-tight cases at 60% humidity or above.

Where I live (Phoenix AZ) the #1 cause for repairs is dried out instruments. Here the dry season is basically "always". Even in summer when the outside humidity can approach that of the rest of the world the inside humidity is generally single digit due to running the A/C from March to October.

I've cracked guitars before because I failed to refill the in-case humidifiers fast enough. (in summer, Fast enough is every 10 days)

Living in AZ, the idea that it's possible to over-humidify an instrument sounds insane.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by AZLiberty

Where I live (Phoenix AZ) the #1 cause for repairs is dried out instruments. Here the dry season is basically "always". Even in summer when the outside humidity can approach that of the rest of the world the inside humidity is generally single digit due to running the A/C from March to October.

I've cracked guitars before because I failed to refill the in-case humidifiers fast enough. (in summer, Fast enough is every 10 days)

Hi AZ…

I agree. And the luthier I spoke with agrees with you too. We live in a low humidity area (often single digit in the winter outside). According to our local guitar tech cracks from non-humidifying is also his number one supporter of his business.

But every 10 days to recharge a humidifier is different than raising the internal humidity of an air-tight case to above 60% levels and keeping it there all the time.

Besides, my experience is my guitars sound best at between 35-40%, and sound like dogs with stuffed noses when the humidity reaches 55-60%.

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by AZLiberty

Where I live (Phoenix AZ) the #1 cause for repairs is dried out instruments.

I do not doubt this.
But, long term, what about furniture and such?
I think a big bunch of this is nonsense.
A better safe than sorry for most of the world.
I just checked and both my monitors inside show 68% and 74% at a nearby weather station.
My guitars are not blowing up like balloons.

[MrMartyr]

This is why.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4ga_M5Zdn4

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

I do not doubt this.
But, long term, what about furniture and such?
I think a big bunch of this is nonsense.
A better safe than sorry for most of the world.
I just checked and both my monitors inside show 68% and 74% at a nearby weather station.
My guitars are not blowing up like balloons.

But what is the RH inside your house--where the guitars are stored. That's what matters. My understanding is that at 68%+ RH inside (if that's what it were) is going to cause issues long-term for guitars that were built in an environment around 40-50% RH.