#31
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I’ve never had any kind of problem with any of those humidification methods over the years I’ve used them - no leaks, RH maintained in-range throughout the winter. I’m thinking I’ll stick with what I know. The usual disclaimers apply......IMHO, YMMV etc.
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John Brook ‘Lamorna’ OM (European Spruce/EIR) (2019) Lowden F-23 (Red Cedar/Claro Walnut) (2017) Martin D-18 (2012) Martin HD-28V (2010) Fender Standard Strat (2017-MIM) Last edited by JayBee1404; 04-03-2020 at 06:40 AM. |
#32
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I expect, however, that your older guitars were initially made from more seasoned stock - simply due to its availability. I could be well off the mark here though !!!!! |
#33
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And that's really the important point. Ultimately what matters is what you see and hear happening with your guitar. I hadn't given much concern to humidity in the past. But now that I have a small herd of nicer guitars I'm watching the humidity and how the herd behaves. |
#34
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I am always right around 55% which i guess is optimal, but we do get dry winter days here in new england. I made a home-made humidifier out of a Harry's shave kit, the little plactic cartridge that the blades come in, it really works great. Of course you have to cut a block square-shaped sponge to put inside and i use a strip of fishing string to lower it down in the sound-hole. I admit its a bit of a pain to lower and hoist it up, but if does provide optimal humidification and lasts a long time, several weeks. I was sick of changing those little sound hole ones, always drying up too fast because the sponge is so small.
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Next to the grave marked "Unknown" Martin 2018 OM-28 |
#35
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That Wood Handbook is a complex read! I'm not sure I understand all the scientific equations but, ostensibly, once wood is at its environmental equilibrium it should only take up and release water content slowly (ie seasonally) as the RH and temp change. The sudden fall of RH in a couple of hours noted by Silly Moustache as causing his guitars to buzz should not effect a stable wood as it can't loose water that quickly. So perhaps the woods are not yet at equilibrium? It suggests different drying points for wood products that are shipped to different areas of the US. So the wood should be dried differently for a product going to Florida compared to Las Vegas. It did seem that the chosen drying process could make quite a difference to the long-term structural integrity of the wood, as the drying process itself can cause underlying stress fractures within the wood. Plus, woods containing volatiles (spruce?) can give false drying readings as drying is not uniform. All in all, it is a very complex process. Well beyond my pay grade!!! Last edited by Robin, Wales; 04-04-2020 at 06:58 AM. |
#36
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The soap dish pictured is what I used to use until we had a humidifier installed. It uses the heating duct work and is plumbed to a water line.
I just threw the dish in the case under the neck. Once everything got hydrated, I would need to wet the sponge once every 4 to 5 days. The beads were developed to put in flower pots for a slow release of water.
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2007 Indiana Scout 2018 Indiana Madison Quilt Elite 2018 Takamine GJ72CE 12-String 2019 Takamine GD93 2022 Takamine GJ72CE 6-String 2022 Cort GA-QF CBB 1963 Gibson SG 2016 Kala uke Dean A style mandolin. (Year unknown) Lotus L80 (1984ish) Plus a few lower end I have had for years |
#37
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we always have windows open when weather permits and it certainly does right now. All back doors and widows are open, and today RH inside my newish 40 year old well insulted house is currently IRO 30%. The BBC Weather site does indeed indicate outside RH of 49% but it is certainly nothing like that in my house which is also full of fresh cut flowers! We are close to the south coast with the prevailing wind from the English channel, but it is windy, and as my seed trays have just demonstrated it dries things out, even since i watered them four/five hours ago. I've put all my guitars in their cases them that have'em, with homemade humidifiers and "guitar Nomad" jobbies but I'm short of two which are taking ages to arrive from amazon. In the cases the readings are in the low 40s. Two guitars that hang on my wall in my study seem to be fine s they live there all year round, and are the oldest ones - maybe old wood isn't so finicky?
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Silly Moustache, Just an old Limey acoustic guitarist, Dobrolist, mandolier and singer. I'm here to try to help and advise and I offer one to one lessons/meetings/mentoring via Zoom! |
#38
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The air certainly does seem to be very dry at the moment. I live in the north west of Ireland, generally known to be damp, but at the moment the outside humidity is 42%. I've just returned from a winter in Vietnam where the humidity was generally 80 - 90%!
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#39
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32% today, remarkable for April in Ireland!
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#40
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That's amazing! I'm sitting here across the Irish Sea and my room is at 70%
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#41
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It is strange alright. Apparently it is going to rain here overnight, it will be interesting to check humidity again in the morning.
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#42
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I forgot to post yesterday but today it is sunny and dry again and with my French Windows open the temperature is 23.2c and 30% humidity! This is on the side of a hill, overlooking a lake in the north west of Ireland, something strange is going on.
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#43
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Today we are at 15.5 deg C and 67% in the room where I keep my guitar. Just the other side of the Irish Sea and only a few deg south (about in line with Dublin) Just looked at the Met Office for here and it is giving 48% outside at present but going up to 75% by 9pm and then 86% overnight. |
#44
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I am quite a long way from Dublin, the nearest place I can get a fix from the met office is claiming 47%. The wind is from the east, which is always drying and my house is in a very exposed location. My house is modern and very well insulated with underfloor heating, and I thought maybe I am heating up dry air causing it to become dryer so I moved the hygrometer outside into the shade. Guess what, the humidity dropped to 28%! As our friends in the US would say "go figure".
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#45
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Bovida bags work best for me
I live in American SW where outdoor humidity can drop as low as 6% at times. I have a central forced air heat with $1000 add on humidifier that was a waste of money and might add an extra 3-5% of humidity at most. I keep 2 small humidifiers running constantly, hang dry all my clothes and wet mop my wood floors sometimes 3 times a day if needed. I always keep my solid wood guitars in their cases as I have learned that leaving them on stands or the wall will result in damage or change set up. I have keep my home between 40-50% humidity and find I do not get winter colds or flu like I used to without humidity. But I learned hard way, it is hard to maintain a constant humidity in my home and have suffered problems if I left my guitars out of their cases.
For case humidity, I have tried all kinds of systems, soap dish or baggies with sponges, oasis humidifiers, etc. But they require weekly maintenance which becomes problematic with travel or if you neglect any of them for any length of time. Now I order the bovida humidity packs on amazon in the 20 pack size and keep 2 in soundhole and 1-2 at top of case under the headstock. I can get a few months out of them, but I also rehydrate them by putting them in gallon zip lock bags and layer then with thin wetted sponges like building lasagna. It takes about 4-5 days to rehydrate them and if you use the thicker sponges then they bloat up to much, but small 1'2 thick 3X5" sponges like you can by on amazon in bulk hold just the right amount of moisture and when they dry out, the bovida bags seem about back to normal or maybe slightly larger. It helps to rehydrate them before they totally dry out and I bet the guitars stay more stable that way. The sponges have antibacteria and mold treatment which helps keep them fresh, but after a few uses, you might need to rotate them with new ones and let the old ones go to sink duty, just to be safe. If anyone has a better system, I would like to know, but this is best way I have found living in desert conditions. |