Room humidity levels

[Justinian]

Originally Posted by mercy

If your guitar was built at 40% then 50 would be high. I believe that you can safely go 10% up or down from the % your guitar was built at. My guitar was built at 40 so I keep it at 40+- but if your guitar was built at 50 then 40 would be where you should should start humidifying.

How to find out % for specific brand?

[Earl49]

Call whoever built your guitar, if you can. Taylor and Martin both work hard to maintain their factories at 47-50% RH. That is also a typical middle-of-the-road working number for most shops. FWIW my Taylors were built in that 47% environment, and I don't worry much until my house goes below 40% RH for more than a day or two - like it is right now. My house rarely ever gets below 35% indoors, but whenever it is below 40% I start wetting the damp sponges (or water beads) in their perforated soap dishes. I also use more caution for a new guitar than one that has 8-10 years under its belt.

I've chatted with one luthier in southern Colorado who does not condition his shop at all and builds at 30% RH. His guitars are mostly sold in that region, and being built in dry conditions they are perfectly happy down to 15-20%. But take one of his guitars to Florida or Hawaii in the summer humidity, and you can expect problems. Similarly, a guitar built in tropical Indonesia at 99% RH and brought to dry northern winter climates will be unhappy.

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by Earl49

Call whoever built your guitar, if you can. Taylor and Martin both work hard to maintain their factories at 47-50% RH. That is also a typical middle-of-the-road working number for most shops. FWIW my Taylors were built in that 47% environment, and I don't worry much until my house goes below 40% RH for more than a day or two - like it is right now. My house rarely ever gets below 35% indoors, but whenever it is below 40% I start wetting the damp sponges (or water beads) in their perforated soap dishes. I also use more caution for a new guitar than one that has 8-10 years under its belt.

I've chatted with one luthier in southern Colorado who does not condition his shop at all and builds at 30% RH. His guitars are mostly sold in that region, and being built in dry conditions they are perfectly happy down to 15-20%. But take one of his guitars to Florida or Hawaii in the summer humidity, and you can expect problems. Similarly, a guitar built in tropical Indonesia at 99% RH and brought to dry northern winter climates will be unhappy.

I did not find that to be the case with my Pono. Maybe it was built in a climate-controlled room. Could be since Pono builds all their Ukes in Indonesia.

[Earl49]

I was making a generalization as an example. All the more reason to check directly with Pono. I know they are built in Indonesia, but John Kitakis can tell you if you call. My all-koa Pono ukulele gets humidified just like my guitars, as do the other high quality instruments. I also have several guitars that have never been humidified or received any special care, without consequence. My nearly 30 year old Seagull M6 is one example.

But who knows about the Chinese factories that pump out 100,000 unnamed inexpensive guitars for import every month?

[Pura Vida]

I have two whole house humidifiers, which keep the entire house in the low 40s RH. If you're using a room humidifier, I'd still recommend a hygrometer that can be calibrated. Both of my humidifiers report 5% higher than actual, so I set them at 45% to get a target of 40% RH.

[palsed]

OP here. Thank you all so much for your feedback. It's really helpful. I have all my guitars (of 3 different manufacturers, all solid wood) in cases with humidipacks but I hope to leave at least some out this winter so I play more. I just found a nice used 2300 square foot capacity humidifier on FB Marketplace for a nice price that should hopefully keep the room at 45-50% easily. I'm in the PNW, but even with the rain, my indoor can creep into the 25% range in winter.

[Beachnut]

This was a great question but I have an imp f/up. on how to get proper humidification. I have 4 guitars, a Rosewood/Walnut antique parlor grand and 2 wood clarinets. I live in Florida. They are all in a ballroom style open room (about 700sq ft) off the foyer. So "open concept" style.

What should I buy to keep check and keep the humidity levels in check?