Desert dwellers, tell me how you deal with the lack of humidity

[Neil K Walk]

Thanks, guys. As far as I know my cousin can only noodle around so carbon fiber would not be worth it. He and his wife are more “all natural” and like things are more organic. He also likes to keep his doors and windows open so a case is sort of a must. That’s probably why the guitar is the way it is.

I probably won’t waste any money on this idea at this time. I’m not even sure if he has a desire to play. It was sort of my aunt’s idea to try and get his mind off something that was bugging him several years ago.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Neil K Walk

…I'm thinking it couldn't hurt, but likely it's not going to cure what's ailing that guitar. If anything, it will educate him and make playing it less painful. What do you guys think?

FWIW I'd really like to do is build him a kit guitar, but I don't want that to implode from that dry and hot Nevada climate. He's the one I credit with getting me interested in playing guitar decades ago and I sort of want to pay it back. I didn't really learn how to take care of guitars until I had a couple of Pac Rim guitars implode from neglect like this one.

Hi Neil K

Of course the real issue is…if you gifted it to him, would he attend to it regularly and keep his guitar humidified?

It takes discipline to use any humidification method. Most people don't fail to humidify because they don't think it's best, they don't humidify because it takes time and attention.

I taught guitar for nearly 40 years in this arid climate we live in below 10% in the winter at times, and below 20% in the summer at times.

Every student I had…at the second lesson…came to my kitchen where we built them a humidifier for each case they had - soft or hard shell. It was my gift to them, and I often asked them during lessons to see their humidifier, and if it was dry, they went to the kitchen and filled it.



I own 4 full-sized acoustics, a classical guitar and a Baby Taylor. If I were to invest in Humidipaks, it would cost a fortune and not be any more effective than sponges in zip-locks.

I used to use sponges in a soap dish with holes in the lid, but after I found one dislodged and rolling around under the head stock of my Olson, I switched to Zip-lock bags.

People either learn to humidify or face the possibility of warped necks, cracked tops or sides of their instruments.

In our home, we humidify summer and winter, and my guitars hang in the living room, so the only time they get the sponge-n-ziplock treatment is when we travel.

But as I said at the start of this post, if you gifted it to him, would he attend to it regularly and keep his guitar humidified?

[flatfinger]

I’m in Colorado. It’s pretty dry here most of the time. So I am constantly trying to push hydration into my guitars. I use the music nomad sponges and they do a great job for me.

I track the amount of hydration these things provide by weighing them each time I rehydrate the sponge. I have a D-35 that I keep in a Martin plastic molded case and it uses about 1.6-1.8 ml per day. All of my other guitars are in wood ply cases and they run about 2.6-2.8 ml per day.

I’ve found that the music nomad sponges hold about 40ml of water from bone dry to saturated. I don’t like for the sponges to get too far past halfway to dry, so about every 7-10 days or so, I rehydrate all the sponges for my guitars.

As might be expected, I’ve found that the guitars and cases equilibriate somewhat with the ambient humidity. I can expect to see more water used from the sponges in dry periods than in wet periods. I believe the cases play a major role in damping the demand for hydration from the sponges once the case has reached a baseline of hydration from the sponge.

[JohnW63]

You dont need in case humidification if you house is humidified to 40%.

The thread is asking "desert dwellers". If you live in one, your house is NOT 40%. I'm surprised when my house hits 20% RH.

My problem is I have more guitars than I can take out and check on, in a week, with a busy life. I will forget one or two and realize the sponge is dry as a bone, when I DO check it. So, I need methods that last a long time, or a way that tells me what they all are, with a quick look.

[CaptRedbeard]

I'm pretty much in line with Sagebrush Tom. We live East of Reno toward Fallon moving from the SF Bay area many years ago. I have a large floor humidifier that keeps the house at about 37% RH. When I get a new guitar I use a between the strings type unit for a while to assure that it gets to that level. I like and use hardshell cases, not only for protection but I think it helps prevent wild fluctuations in humidity. Overall, I have never had a problem. One of the keys is to play all of your guitars on a regular basis. It is a great time to check it over for any problems as well as remind you why you own it.

[KenL]

I live in the High Rockies, where I've seen the outside Rh as low as 4% in the summertime.

I keep all my guitars in hard cases, and each has a Planet Waves humidifier in the case. I use distilled water in the PWs.

I also have a ultrasonic humidifier left over from when my kids were babies (30 years ago and it still works fine!) that I run for a couple hours every day to keep the Rh in that room at 30-35%. I use distilled water in that too.

My guitars have been stable for 2 years now and sound great.

[Photojeep]

I live in Las Vegas and summer in Reno and use the Humidipak system.
I recharge them 2-3 times then toss them.
During the summer when I'm traveling, I make sure the two I'm not traveling with have fresh paks (6 or so) then I bag the case in an XL lawn trash bag that I seal with packing tape. This keeps them properly hydrated for about 2-3 months (they are always at 44-45% when un-bagged)

The biggest complaint I've heard about paks is that they go hard very quickly at first. The same happened to me but then I read that the first 2-3 sets harden quicker because they're hydrating the wooden case as well. Apparently a standard plywood case contains almost 4 times as much wood as our guitars.

Once past that initial period I get around 1-1.5 months from a set of paks. In an area with summer humidity of around 6-9%. Inside my home is around 26-28% year round.

Best,
PJ

[Logdy]

I live in Phoenix and keep my guitar in a hard case and use two Oasis. One by the headstock and and one in the sound hole. I have to refill every 5 days. Humidity reads 45 to 50%...

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by Photojeep

The biggest complaint I've heard about paks is that they go hard very quickly at first. The same happened to me but then I read that the first 2-3 sets harden quicker because they're hydrating the wooden case as well. Apparently a standard plywood case contains almost 4 times as much wood as our guitars.

I get around that by putting the empty case (open) in the bathroom during a shower. That essentially pre-loads the case, fabric, and padding with moisture.

[Photojeep]

Originally Posted by Earl49

I get around that by putting the empty case (open) in the bathroom during a shower. That essentially pre-loads the case, fabric, and padding with moisture.

Well, I'm a bit shy about having something in there when I step out...

Seriously, a great idea!

PJ

[Birdbrain]

Originally Posted by Dbone

I wonder if a "Tric case" from Seagull would make things better than a conventional hard case in terms of insulating against temperature and humidity issues...I believe that is the claim to fame of them?

http://www.seagullguitars.com/en/pro...rt-hall-deluxe

Could be a bunch of nonsense too

lol

I keep most of my guitars in TRIC cases. It's very protective against impact and temperature, and unlike a gig bag, I can sit on top of it while I play. Overall, it's my favorite case, though I keep my everyday guitar in a traditional case because it's easier to open a couple of clasps than to unzip the full length of the case.

None of these cases seals in moisture completely. My Oasis humidifiers still shrivel to empty, over a month or two. Left out of the case, in the arid air of these high plains, an Oasis would be dry in a few days. I prefer the tubular brown Oasis version rather than the soundhole, because it's easy to see when it's dry and I want humidity to reach the neck, too. They seem to remain usable for long time, too. I'm on my third gallon of distilled water, and they haven't leaked or gummed up.

Only during this past week of rain and storms have I left my best guitar on a stand, to get a drink. It looks very happy now.

One fun science fact- For the same humidity % level, winters are always drier than summers. Because it's giving you the relative humidity, not the amount of moisture in the air at the time. Warm air holds water vapor better than cold air. At 100%, that vapor turns to liquid, first fog and clouds and then snow and rain. So in summer, 30% or less might not be harmful to a guitar, but that RH would have me shutting it in a case during the cold months.

[Birdbrain]

Originally Posted by Logdy

I live in Phoenix and keep my guitar in a hard case and use two Oasis. One by the headstock and and one in the sound hole. I have to refill every 5 days. Humidity reads 45 to 50%...

Wow- my Oasis, one to a case, last several weeks. That's here in Denver, high and dry most of the time. I'm letting them shrivel up like raisins before I refill. As long as they're spongy and cool to the touch, there's moisture there.

[Birdbrain]

Originally Posted by Photojeep

The biggest complaint I've heard about paks is that they go hard very quickly at first. The same happened to me but then I read that the first 2-3 sets harden quicker because they're hydrating the wooden case as well. Apparently a standard plywood case contains almost 4 times as much wood as our guitars.

Best,
PJ

Maybe that's another advantage of TRIC cases- the foam liner inside isn't going to soak up any of that moisture.

[Wellington]

Take some of the humidity here in Saskatchewan, it's been 75-80% for the last several weeks where I live. In winter it will drop to around 20-25% at the worst. My Yamaha ll16 so far has stood up very well, I leave it on the wall from spring to fall and in a case with a planet waves sponge humidifier in winter. I use the hard gig bag that came with the guitar, seems to seal it really good, it's had no issues keeping it humidified in winter like that.

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by JohnW63

The thread is asking "desert dwellers". If you live in one, your house is NOT 40%. I'm surprised when my house hits 20% RH.

My problem is I have more guitars than I can take out and check on, in a week, with a busy life. I will forget one or two and realize the sponge is dry as a bone, when I DO check it. So, I need methods that last a long time, or a way that tells me what they all are, with a quick look.

I suppose it depends on whether the "desert dwellers" run A/C or has some other method of humidification within the home. I am not in the desert, per se, but Sacramento is a hot, dry climate, so 20% humidity outside is normal. But I am able to keep the RH inside of my house in the 40-45% range between two huge humidifiers, A/C when it's really hot, and a house fan that brings in cooler air (with higher RH). Def thankful for those cool evenings vs. those truly dry desert climates.