Humidification headache

[jim_pridx]

Originally Posted by Wyllys

While I certainly sympathize with you, I've lived and played music in MN since the mid-60's and never bothered about humidity. My Charlie Hoffman dreadnought (#101, May 1976) has lived in houses heated by wood all winter, un-air-conditioned summers and all that MN has to offer. Zero problems. Harmony Sovereigns, J-45's, Martins, fiddles, mandolins, banjos, basses...none have ever had a single problem.

I guess the "secret" is to make any temperature/environmental changes gradually. I let nature take its seasonal course and ease my instruments into a room slowly and carefully, though.

Good luck, happy picking.

Wow! I certainly haven't had that kind of luck. I recall a time in the '70s when I was totally naive to humidity levels in the house, and one of my Martins cracked right up the center of the back and around the rim, and this isn't to mention that the top looked like the Metrodome after a heavy snowfall.....LOL.

[Ned Milburn]

Originally Posted by FlatpickMN

This is interesting. Many builders recommend only placing humidifers in the headstock or storage compartment to avoid any water or breakage of the humidifer damaging the instrument (I think Santa Cruz and Bourgeois are among them). However, this make sense to me.

I have seen valuable instruments crack due to dryness even though the "case" was humidified with a humidifier in the headstock chamber.

I do not recommend Oasis style humidifiers. I have had people tell me stories of them breaking and leaking.

A cannister sponge style humidifier, and even a snake sponge humidifier, can be made certain not to drip or leak if it is used correctly and carefully. They'll last a lifetime, trouble free, too.

Myself, I'd rather own a guitar with one or two benign water drop marks inside, rather than own an instrument that has one or more cracks due to case humidification of only the headstock chamber.

Of course I cannot be certain, but the OP's post suggests the chambering issue is a possibility.

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by jim_pridx

Wow! I certainly haven't had that kind of luck. I recall a time in the '70s when I was totally naive to humidity levels in the house, and one of my Martins cracked right up the center of the back and around the rim, and this isn't to mention that the top looked like the Metrodome after a heavy snowfall.....LOL.

It's not humidity or the lack of. It's changes. Sudden changes being the worst.

I'm not a builder nor a designer, but I suspect that certain (possibly arcane) construction details make for more or less forgiving instruments.

[jim_pridx]

Originally Posted by Wyllys

It's not humidity or the lack of. It's changes. Sudden changes being the worst.

I'm not a builder nor a designer, but I suspect that certain (possibly arcane) construction details make for more or less forgiving instruments.

Yeah, I agree about the abrupt weather changes, but I also tend to believe that you've had incredible luck. I failed to mention in my last post that I also had an old Gibson Dove (built like a tank) that could stand up to any weather conditions, but the Martin not so much. It wasn't until I bought my first Taylor (another lack of humidification catastrophe) in the late '80s that I realized that keeping the proper amount of humidity in the cases would alleviate those issues. It just seems to me that the vast majority of today's high-end builds require this. If nothing else, I'm going to play it on the safe side.

EDIT: Just to add something here, but perhaps I should also point out that both the Martin and Taylor guitars that cracked on me weren't due to sudden climate changes. They were victims of sitting in the same room day after day on guitar stands in a dry house over the course of the winter.

[SFCRetired]

First off I recommend humidifying guitars.

But how many guitars were humidified before they started selling contraptions to humidify guitars? Or before they even started making humidifiers for the house?

Sometimes I think we over think this. If you live in a very dry climate yeah sure, you should be concerned. But only because it lives its entire life in low humidity after it was built in a controlled environment. But when did they start building them in a controlled environment?

[Ned Milburn]

Originally Posted by SFCRetired

First off I recommend humidifying guitars.

But how many guitars were humidified before they started selling contraptions to humidify guitars? Or before they even started making humidifiers for the house?

Sometimes I think we over think this. If you live in a very dry climate yeah sure, you should be concerned. But only because it lives its entire life in low humidity after it was built in a controlled environment. But when did they start building them in a controlled environment?

We also used to live in caves, and use friable asbestos, and lead paint, etc... It is not a bad thing to use knowledge, even if it is new knowledge, for the care and long-term preservation of our objects. ;-)

[dneal]

Originally Posted by jim_pridx

Hey Flatpick! I'm just east of you in WI, and we've been experiencing the same sub-zero weather. There's definitely some good advice here in getting your guitar back in shape, but I've found that once a guitar becomes stabilized, I really need to use at least two if not three humidifiers in my acoustic guitar cases in this kind of weather. Since I own an old home, running room units just won't get the RH up high enough to make much of a difference (25% - 28% max). I also use a hygrometer right next to the soundhole to get a read on the RH in the case while shooting for a minimum of 45%. In addition to using an Oasis soundhole humidifier, I add these little guys to my cases. I just use one screw to secure it to the compartment area near the headstock and/or near the neck heel:



I've been using them for years with no problems, and they're easy to make. I'll agree that it's much like taking care of a pet or babysitting......LOL.....but it beats having guitar issues.

I did something similar, but mounted it inside the guitar so I know it's always humidified. Only problem is that the sheetrock screw keeps poking me in the gut.

[StringMeUp]

Is your hygrometer accurate? It could be way off and you'd never know. You may want to get a Boveda calibration kit and check it at 75% and 32%.

I was curious about how well Oasis Plus humidifiers worked. I did a test using an Oasis Plus humidifier with an OnSet humidity logger for a week. The humidity in the body of the guitar was consistently 55%. The humidity in the room was less than 20%. Depending on who makes the guitar case the fingerboard may or may not benefit from a sound hole humidifier.

[tbeltrans]

I also live in the Twin Cities and I have just one humidifier in my case. This one fits between the strings and has a sponge in it. With this humidifier (MusicNomad), you check it by simply opening the top of it and feeling the sponge. If it is getting dry, you soak the sponge in water and put it back in the humidifier case. I don't see anything weird with my guitar, and the sponge seems to need soaking maybe once a week. I have hot baseboard water heat in my condo, though I don't know if that matters.

My guitar is a Kelday 000 12 fret in a Hiscox Pro II case. From what I understand, guitars made in Europe typically have this kind of case. I suspect the case's ability to seal has something to do with how well a case humidifier works.

Tony

[Nubz]

I've had the same issue living in the Nevada desert. I was using two Oasis humidifiers and a sponge in a soap travel box. I could never keep it humid enough inside the case so my top was sucking in and frets were getting jagged. I ended up getting a room humidifier and I have very few issues now. I also use a BK Precision hygrometer which seems to be more consistent.

http://www.amazon.com/Precision-625-...tal+hygrometer

I hope you get it worked out soon.