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  #31  
Old 02-27-2011, 10:49 PM
Brink Brink is offline
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This works for me. And what is $45 compared to the cost of your new guitar. It tells you when to refill it, and has a hygrometer that records min and max humidity and temperature. Nuff said.
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  #32  
Old 02-28-2011, 05:49 AM
Neal Neal is offline
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Ahhh, 'tis good to be vindicated!

I'm probably just too sensitive HK, but when you read a post with advice quoted, and then give opposite advice without reference to the quoted, it seems dismissive. Not a problem.
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  #33  
Old 02-28-2011, 10:53 AM
CornDawg CornDawg is offline
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Living in the Seattle area until just 10 years ago, humidifying my guitars was never a concern. Then my wife and I moved to north central Illinois where she has family and that first winter I learned how dry the air could be when reaching for a light switch and saw a spark jump an inch from my finger to the switch. We have run a whole house humidifier ever since, typically putting 4-5 gallons of moisture back in the air per day. There’s single room humidifiers in our bedroom and the office where I keep a few of my guitars.

Until this winter, none of my guitars had shown any negative effects from dryness during winter, except for a little string buzz. At least, not until the blizzard we had last month. A new Recording King RO-16 I keep in the living room for a ‘couch’ guitar, really suffered during the blizzard. In just 3-4 days, the fretboard began to bulge between the 14th and 20th frets, such that the guitar was unplayable beyond the 9th fret without buzzing. Since the guitar was in the same room where I run the whole house humidifier, I figured it couldn’t possibly be a humidity issue. I had to return it to the dealer for another problem (bridge was not well glued from the factory), who repaired it and after a few days in the store, at 50% humidity, the neck bulge receded and is now flat again.

Since then, I’ve been keeping it in the case with a sponge-in-a-bag humidifier and there’s been no recurrence of the neck problem. I also picked up a trio of those cheapie Sunbeam dial hygrometers from Walmart ($3) to keep a better eye on the humidity. I put one through the ‘salt calibration’ test and it was within a % or 2 of 75%. The other two are +/- 5%.

This humidification stuff is all new to me though, having lived in Seattle for nearly 45 years. So I’ve been really mindful of reading the humidity since the blizzard … putting one of the hygrometers within 5’ of the fireplace (vented gas log), I’ve discovered burning it will drop the humidity by up to 15% in just an hour - even with the whole house humidifier just 15’ away and running continuously. I’m not certain, but I suspect this 50 year old house is more of a challenge to humidify because it has hardwood floors with a brick exterior. In winter, there are a few places where the hardwood floor planks open up to reveal gaps. And I suspect the cold plaster walls over brick cause what moisture I do put back in the air to condense on them.

Thanks for the humidity tables posted above; clearly I need to adjust my target downward from the 40-45% I’ve been shooting for during those cold snaps.

Though I think it might be easier to simply move back to the west coast.

Jack
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  #34  
Old 03-08-2011, 12:05 PM
Tony_LS Tony_LS is offline
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Default Using and oasis without a case

I like to keep one of my guitars on a stand to display it. Would keeping an oasis humidifier in the sound hole do any good if the guitar is not in a case?
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  #35  
Old 03-08-2011, 12:23 PM
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ljguitar ljguitar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tony_LS View Post
I like to keep one of my guitars on a stand to display it. Would keeping an oasis humidifier in the sound hole do any good if the guitar is not in a case?
Hi Tony…

First of all Hello and Welome to the Forum! We are glad you joined...

There are other (and perhaps better) choices for in-body humidification. Those will not help to maintain your bridge or fingerboard (which are unfinished wood).

In any event you would need to have the soundhole mostly sealed off for the humidifier suspended in it to be effective. The Kyser Lifeguards work well for that (I use them when my guitars are out in the room).





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  #36  
Old 03-08-2011, 12:48 PM
Tony_LS Tony_LS is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ljguitar View Post
Hi Tony…

First of all Hello and Welome to the Forum! We are glad you joined...

There are other (and perhaps better) choices for in-body humidification. Those will not help to maintain your bridge or fingerboard (which are unfinished wood).


In any event you would need to have the soundhole mostly sealed off for the humidifier suspended in it to be effective. The Kyser Lifeguards work well for that (I use them when my guitars are out in the room).

Thanks for the info. I see what you mean about sealing the sound hole. I'll have to purchase one. What do you use to humidify the fingerboard and bridge when the guitar is in the case? I was thinking about the sponge in a soap dish method that someone had posted.

Thanks again,
Tony
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  #37  
Old 03-08-2011, 01:14 PM
tinear tinear is offline
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Just wanted to pipe up and say that if anyone is looking for a hydrometer and likes to avoid Wal-Mart, Radio Shack carries them.
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  #38  
Old 03-08-2011, 01:16 PM
zumaboy zumaboy is offline
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Originally Posted by ljguitar View Post
Hi Howard and Neal…
I found no offensive info from either of you, but do know that in Wyoming (can't speak for other areas of the country) that if it's cold and dry outside, if I can even hold 40% it's a miracle, and if I push it higher what I end up with is ice on bottom ⅓ the windows, and water dripping onto the bottom of window casings and sills.

It may true Howard that my windows are not the best, but I'm not about to invest in $15,000 worth of new windows to correct it, when I plan on living here only 3 more years and selling the place.

I'm not convinced it would fix it anyway, since the upscale homes of several of my clients and students also suffer from this same icing and condensing on the windows problem. In fact it's so prevalent that the local paper reminds us to wash and wipe dry the bottoms of the casings after these episodes to avoid mold forming there.

I envy you who live near coasts and in the south - your humidity is much more to my nose's liking (I get spontaneous nose bleeds if it is too dry for too long).

I often smile when I hear people recommending that 45%-55% being optimal for guitars because out here the only way to accomplish it would be by extreme measures (perhaps a sealed hyperbaric chamber).

So much of our info is based on (and dependent on) where we live...

Just pitching in my 2 cents worth...thanks for letting me share.


Similar experiences to mine in the high desert of NM - moved here 2 years ago from GA and managing RH for my guitars has become MUCH more important! They stay in their cases and I use a combination of the homemade soap dish and ziplock w/holes humidifiers and I use hygrometers to keep tabs on what's going on.

BTW, try dabbing a little Vaseline on a Q-Tip in each nostril at night to avoid those dried-out nosebleeds that happen out here...
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