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  #16  
Old 11-29-2021, 03:05 PM
Silly Moustache Silly Moustache is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dkstott View Post
Wondering if there's anything special about providing humidity in the winter for archtop guitars.

Soundhole humifiers certainly won't work. 🤔🤔
Hi, we had SNOW (!) overnight here in south-east England (very unusual) and temps went very cold so the central heating was pumping out like crazy, and RH went down from 60% to 37% overnight so this morning I was getting my humidifiers installed.

They are soundhole humidifiers from "Music Nomad" but thay can be bought with a "holster" as they call it, and this was what I used for the one archtop that I humidify.

https://www.musicnomadcare.com/Produ...se-Humidifier/
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  #17  
Old 11-30-2021, 08:04 AM
Golffishny Golffishny is offline
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First thing is I have 2 hygrometers and put a fresh battery in each this time of year. I use an empty pill bottle with holes and a damp sponge under the headstock in the case. Generally when the outside air is 20 to 35 degrees farenheit I have to dampen the sponge once a week. When the outside air is below 20 degrees I have to dampen it every 3-4 days. I never checked humidty for over 50 years. I guess I got lucky that no guitar ever cracked. I feel that if you don't have a way to check the humidity you can probably get by with the bottle with holes and damp sponge. If you check it whenever you play your guitar (at least 2x per week) you will normally be ok. Check past threads on the subject for other humidifying apparatus.
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  #18  
Old 12-01-2021, 09:10 AM
kayakman kayakman is offline
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Default Humidify

My 38 Gibson L5 does not need to be humidified,the guitar is well seasoned as it should at 83 years old.
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  #19  
Old 12-03-2021, 06:49 AM
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Craig Wilson Craig Wilson is offline
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On the archtop build that I have underway I've sealed inside the box with a thin wash coat of shellac to slow any dramatic change of humidity. Many archtop builders do the same (ie: Benedetto, Tom Bills).

My house is tight enough that I never have to humidify and the guitars stay out on the wall or stands year round. I run the central HRV part time in the fall/winter to bring the humidity down and keep it in the 45% range. The house humidity never drops below 40% even at -30C outside.

My basement shop tends to be more humid than the rest of the house because the furnace doesn't draw return air (and dust) from there. I sometimes have to run a dehumidifier in the shop when I'm getting ready to do cross-grain glue ups like bracing or top/back attachment.
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Last edited by Craig Wilson; 12-03-2021 at 07:26 AM.
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  #20  
Old 12-07-2021, 04:23 AM
icuker icuker is offline
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had my furnace replaced some years ago and got a whole house humidifier then. Seems to work really well for me (forced heat in the upper midwest). Never had any issues with all my guitars or ukes. If I feel it gets too dry even for my humidifier to keep up with then I use sponge in a perforated plastic container and keep either under the headstock or closer to the guitar body in the case (making sure there isn't any water on the outside of the sponge holder) I do use an electronic gauge to measure humidity in my house.
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  #21  
Old 12-07-2021, 05:17 AM
RJVB RJVB is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by icuker View Post
I do use an electronic gauge to measure humidity in my house.
A calibrated one from a respectable manufacturer? The consumer-grade ones tend to have very high tolerances. I used to have a cardboard gauge in my violin case (might still be there in fact), with reactive materials that change colour as a function of ambient humidity. Not very precise either, but somehow I expect better reproducibility from a chemical reaction.
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