Acoustic guitar without humidifier in case

[Wayne27]

How long can an acoustic guitar survive in its case if it didn’t have a humidifier?

[Brucebubs]

I'm guessing that might vary depending on where you live and where/how the guitar is stored?

[JayBee1404]

…and on what the ambient RH range is over the period in which the guitar remains cased.

[00045]

Originally Posted by Wayne27

How long can an acoustic guitar survive in its case if it didn’t have a humidifier?

I don't have a humidifier in any of my cases, my oldest acoustic is from 1933 (no I didn't buy it new) and has no issues. I never had low humidity issues with any of my guitars.
It really depends where you live.

[colins]

Originally Posted by 00045

I don't have a humidifier in any of my cases, my oldest acoustic is from 1933 (no I didn't buy it new) and has no issues. I never had low humidity issues with any of my guitars.
It really depends where you live.

Yes, very location dependent with A/C and heating both capable of playing a big role in the humidity in your house. I've had acoustics kept in their cases (apart from when they are played) over periods of more than forty years with no humidification and no apparent adverse effects.

If you are concerned it is possible to buy a cheap gauge to measure the RH and give you and idea of whether it might be a problem. There are other threads on this if you search the AGF.

[Italuke]

I lived in Phoenix Arizona for 35 years. Have several all solid wood musical iinstruments (not just guitars). Over the years I was notoriously sloppy about keeping the in case humidifiers filled, sometimes going months or years before refilling them.

No instruments died. One or two, not all, needed fret ends dressed, but no other issues. Despite the prevailing "wisdom" here on the Interwebs...

So my suggestion is yes, use something to humidify, but no, do NOT obsess over it. Obsess about PLAYING music.

[rllink]

First of all, The last several years I'm pretty careful that my instruments live in an environment that is right around 50% relative humidity year around. Why take the chance? However, they make trips, sometimes for weeks at a time, where I don't pay one bit of attention to it. Before seven or eight years ago I was not even aware that instruments needed to stay in a humidity controlled environment. I had a guitar and a fiddle that was out in a storage shed for thirty years.

[FrankHudson]

The correct answer is:

It Depends.

The depends part is being addressed in this thread already.

It hasn't been mentioned yet that some cases are much better at sealing in the native humidity of the guitar and internal case environment.

Most of us in drier climates or seasons, humidify the best we can, when we can because we consider it protective against possible issues.

[hotroad]

Regardless of where you live, the humidity for guitars is between 40-50%. If the humidity is lower than that you might use a humidifier in the case. Where I live it can reach down to 15% and without a humidifier I would worry about damage to my guitars. Of course some guitars are built so heavily that humidity doesn't matter. All this applies only to wood guitars, not Carbon Fiber.

[KevinH]

It also depends very much on the guitar's construction. I had an old inexpensive Gibson knock off for 30 some years that lived in the Arizona desert as well as the Pacific Northwest. Never tried to control the humidity and it didn't show noticeable effects. But it was built like a tank. My current guitars, with much lighter construction do show effects, especially for low humidity - even in the low 30s, where fret buzz first shows up. Now that I have more sensitive guitars, I am more careful about controlling the humidity.

[Silly Moustache]

In my house this time of year i would be putting humidifiers in my guitars, in cases, but at resent with this crazy weather, I'm struggling to keep RH below 60%!

[DanR]

I live in Michigan. In the spring, once the humidity gets to 45% consistently, I remove the humidifiers from the guitar cases. It does get pretty humid in the summer but the a/c takes care of that in the house. In the fall or winter, whenever the humidity dips below 45%, the humidifiers are put back in the cases until spring.

[Blueser100]

Well..it’s 97 degrees outside but a nice 77 in the case. Humidity in the case is 51..No need to humidify right now.

[Brucebubs]

12C/53F with humidity 54% - you can see why I leave all my guitars out on stands.

[ifret]

I've never used in case humidifiers. We take the whole home approach for us, the wood in the house, the furniture, and the instruments. We have central air in the summers (and a basement dehumidifier) and whole home humidifiers in the winters. Never a problem.