acoustic guitars and humidity

B

bicycleracer

New member
I am one happy boy, a brand new Martin 12 string is in the house. I am thrilled. My local dealer was far too kind. TAKE THAT, MAIL ORDER!
Anyhoo, I was advised what the ideal humidity range was and some other tidbits and off I went. But wait...that range was far below the normal 85-100 summer humidity we get here in Missouri. Is 45-55 realistic? What is the real impact to my guitar?

To make it even more complicated, I was driving along and saw a poster that said James Taylor is coming. What do the professionals like him do to protect their guitars from swamp like air?

Cheers,
Bicycle racer
 
I believe Taylor keeps their warehouse(s)/guitar building places at 47% humidity - and they're fairly obsessive about it...
 
Where from?

Eddie's Guitars in Maplewood, MO. Good deal aside, nice guys for sure.

So does TRACK RAT imply audio tracks or Velodrome?
 
The onlly things I've seen thats hard on acoustic instruments is rapid changes in temperature and humidity and extreme cold dry air, especially at high altitude.
 
So Philboyd, you are implying it's more the change than the constant state? So I would be well advised to keep it in the case when transfering it to dry or humid conditions such as from inside my house (60%) to outside (85%)? Maybe I coudl pop the lid a few time to acclimate it or am I going overboard?

Thanks for all the replies!
 
They make case humidifiers that set in the compartment in the case. Guitars sound their best when the wood has SOME humidity in it as opposed to dryed out. If you travel with the guitar where there's a big humidity difference, best thing is to let set in the new location IN THE CASE for a good while to acclimate to the humidity conditions slowly. Fast changes can cause wood to split and glue joints to let go.
 
I live in St Louis also. The problem is LACK of humidity more than too much. But rapid changes are not good no matter what.

I had my solid top Seagull out for several seasons, then one January I noticed a split on the soundboard! Sadness!!!! Anyway, the shop was able to fix it - But I keep it in a case now. And I use a humidor thingy during the heating months.
 
bicycleracer said:
So Philboyd, you are implying it's more the change than the constant state? So I would be well advised to keep it in the case when transfering it to dry or humid conditions such as from inside my house (60%) to outside (85%)? Maybe I coudl pop the lid a few time to acclimate it or am I going overboard?

Thanks for all the replies!
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's been my experience, but I'm talking about severe changes. Going inside and outside under the conditions you mention, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Humidity thread #1

Humidity thread #2

Humidity thread #3

Humidity thread #4

These threads have one idea in common - and that it is better to control the room humidity than merely to control the guitar and its case. For high summer humidity, I'd keep the guitar in an air conditioned room if I could. That tends to dry out the air and drop the relative humidity.

On the other hand, I don't have an air conditioner and it gets plenty humid around here; the guitar belly will swell and change the action a bit (gets higher) but no more than that. The real problem is when it gets too dry. That's when wood cracks.

One other tidbit: Cars kill guitars. Don't ever leave your axe in a closed car in the summer sun!! It has a life expectancy of maybe two hours in that environment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top