Strings are not fully "ringing"

[gmel555]

Originally Posted by Paul.Youngstrum

The B and E strings (2nd and 1st strings) are not fully ringing......I humidify the guitars - too much or not enough?.....A Taylor 414Ce-R and Martin D35.

I've re-quoted the OP's 3 points above as it seems -IMHO- altogether improbable that two entirely different guitars would exhibit (at the same time) such a specific issue as this (B & E wire strings not ringing). I'm pretty confident the saddle, nut, neck or frets on both guitars did not "go bad" at the same time...with one possible exception. The only factor I can imagine that could affect both guitars simultaneously is humidity. My experience is that high humidity can definitely "dull" tone, reduce sustain, etc. That would be my educated guess. (PS: Welcome to the forum)

[kizz]

As rockysdad writes, get a hygrometer so that you are absolutely sure that you are not overhumidifying. You could also try leaving your guitars for a few weeks without humidifiers, of course if it's not too dry where you live, but then again you know that if you have a hygrometer. Another thing is that if others can't hear it, then it can be a psychological thing, most of us know that if we focus on a certain string or similar that sounds strange, what helps here is often to try to forget it :-)

[Paul.Youngstrum]

Thank you and everyone for your ideas and suggestions. I've wondered about the "over - humidification" idea. I live in Illinois - not the driest place in the country. I also have an HD-28 that I don't play often - it's rested in its case for a while and not played. I took it out the other day, and the strings rang so well that I started this discussion. So it's probably drier than the other two that I keep humidified (out of fear that the wood will crack) - and I'm going to start with keeping the humidifiers out for a few weeks and see where this goes.

Again, thanks to everyone!

[cliff_the_stiff]

nut slots might be too narrow

[Paul.Youngstrum]

My hygrometer arrived today and guess what? It's showing 21% relative humidity - and says right on it that 45% to 55% is ideal for acoustic guitars.

I admit that I haven't been good at keeping up with the Planet Waves humidifiers - maybe wetting the sponges once a week at the most - maybe longer if I hadn't been playing. Now that I know this, I'll re-dampen the sponges 3 times a week.

I'm also going to convert a bedroom to an office - so I'll get a humidifier for that room and keep all the guitars in there. This will make my wife happy too.

Thanks again for everyone's help with this. It's great to have mysteries solved!

[colins]

Originally Posted by Inyo

Strings not fully ringing, eh?

Try putting them on a Washburn Bell-style guitar:

I would hate to rest my arm on that lower bout. Not a guitar to play sitting down!