The “Humidity Thread”

[Bridgepin]

I use a inexpensive Holmes cool mist humidifier for my music room, it works great. I set it at 40% and I have three hydrometers around the room to monitor it's progress.

I do not leave my guitars out of there case's if I'm not going to be playing that day or the very next. My wife knocked my D-41 out of the stand by accident while cleaning my music room. THAT is all it took for me to not ever want to take that chance again. I have to say I think one of the reasons it made such an impact on me was the the guitar was a week old "the dreaded first ding"

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by Bridgepin

I use a inexpensive Holmes cool mist humidifier for my music room, it works great. I set it at 40% and I have three hydrometers around the room to monitor it's progress.

I do not leave my guitars out of there case's if I'm not going to be playing that day or the very next. My wife knocked my D-41 out of the stand by accident while cleaning my music room. THAT is all it took for me to not ever want to take that chance again. I have to say I think one of the reasons it made such an impact on me was the the guitar was a week old "the dreaded first ding"

Are you still together? Lol

[Troll]

Thank you all for your thoughtful and detailed responses. You’ve given me a lot to consider....much appreciated.

[duesenberg]

Originally Posted by Fretboard Phil

Yes. It turns out that it makes the rest of the house more pleasant and makes it feel warmer. I use an Aprilaire humidifier attached to the furnace and run about 50%. I drop it to 40% when it gets below about 10F outside so the windows don't get too much condensation. With Detroit water system water, I have to change the humidifying element every couple of months (10$ Home Depot).
My guitars hang on the walls and stay OK.

^^^This. I watch the dew point but, same thing.

[RodB]

Originally Posted by Lamenramen

Can someone tell me what I would need to do if I committed to keeping my guitar in it’s hard case when not in use (in regards to humidity management).
With an average year round humidity of 70% or more, subtropical, do I need a dehumidifier machine or bamboo charcoal type of pack, or do nothing if I keep in the case?

Hi Lamenramen,

Putting the guitar in a case without anything else will only slow up changes and eventually the internal RH will be the same as that in the room.

In your situation you would be able to maintain good conditions for your guitar if your case is relatively air tight (like a Hiscox case) and you use a desiccant, like Silica Gel in sufficient quantity. Bamboo charcoal would not be effective enough.

I use 50g packs of Silica Gel (up to several at a time) which I place in small cotton bags - both cheaply available from Amazon here in Europe. The only concerns doing this is to not put too much in a once, but at the same time use sufficient quantity to be effective.

[raysachs]

So, assuming you’re humidifying in the case with humidipaks or some other in-case system, how much difference does the case material make? Is one of those ABS Gator cases gonna be more stable and easier to keep more humid for longer than a typical wooden case? Or is the seal around the edges more important than the material?

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by raysachs

So, assuming you’re humidifying in the case with humidipaks or some other in-case system, how much difference does the case material make? Is one of those ABS Gator cases gonna be more stable and easier to keep more humid for longer than a typical wooden case? Or is the seal around the edges more important than the material?

This is something I wonder about...

I think regardless of the case, one still needs to do a reasonable job at keeping the environment outside the case as reasonable and stable as possible...Like, letting it go down to 20 RHL is not something I would do just because I think my guitar is "safely tucked away in the case with humidipaks"...The humidipacks will be a lot more effective and last longer with some common sense applied exterior to the case...

[s2y]

Originally Posted by rokdog49

Except in situations where extremes are a reality, I think this is humidification thing is way overblown. My guitars all sit out. My in-house humidity is as low as 40 and as high as 55. I guess I'm just lucky.

I wish. I'm another Midwesterner which translates to extremely humid summers and bone dry winters. Electric guitar and bass necks move a lot. Acoustics really suffer.

[LemonCats]

Originally Posted by rmp

I'm in the North East (Massachusetts.) in the winter time, it's dangerously dry, 20% or lower in my house.

A room humidifier in the winter is a PITA and not worth the hassle. Tried it, it was a fail.

I just keep the acoustics in their cases, and each one has some form of humidifier in the case.

I live close by in Connecticut and I'm glad im not the only one experiencing the same thing. 20% or lower humidity in the winter and humidifiers were only increasing humidity by 2 or 3% If i was lucky. So keeping them in the case with humidifiers is the only thing I could do. I still use the room humidifier ontop of that every so often even though It doesn't do much but it gives me alittle peace of mind

Originally Posted by raysachs

how much difference does the case material make? Is one of those ABS Gator cases gonna be more stable and easier to keep more humid for longer than a typical wooden case? Or is the seal around the edges more important than the material?

I wonder the same thing. I feel like the seal around the edges is hugely important. But also in the case of wooden cases in particular I feel like the wood could act as a sponge or vampire and suck up some of that humidity even through the lining :O
I have an abs case and two thickly padded gigbags. I feel like a zipper might not be the most sufficient seal

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by Dbone

For what? Because they are too lazy to open a case?...for the convenience side of things. I would love to leave my guitar on the stand all year round.

Because with numerous guitars, I find keeping one room properly humidified far, far easier. Case humidifiers need to be monitored/refilled almost daily at times, individually. With a 4-gal humidifier in a small room, I refill a single humidifier tank once or twice a week. Yes, convenience.

BTW, most of the guitars in the room are still cased. But I can take them out, leave them out or put them away as I need.

Now, I am in an area where mold isn't as much a concern. I get a bit of window condensation on the coldest days, but that's about it. During that time, I might even crank the RH down to 35% for a while for less condensation (see other thread about how precise we need to be; a properly hydrated guitar isn't going to suddenly dry out and crack if RH drops 5% for a day or two). But of course, YMMV.

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

Because with numerous guitars, I find keeping one room properly humidified far, far easier. Case humidifiers need to be monitored/refilled almost daily at times, individually. With a 4-gal humidifier in a small room, I refill a single humidifier tank once or twice a week. Yes, convenience.

BTW, most of the guitars in the room are still cased. But I can take them out, leave them out or put them away as I need.

Now, I am in an area where mold isn't as much a concern. I get a bit of window condensation on the coldest days, but that's about it. During that time, I might even crank the RH down to 35% for a while for less condensation (see other thread about how precise we need to be; a properly hydrated guitar isn't going to suddenly dry out and crack if RH drops 5% for a day or two). But of course, YMMV.

I totally get it man...trust me...with many guitars the problem gets even more annoying...no doubt...

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by LemonCats

I wonder the same thing. I feel like the seal around the edges is hugely important. But also in the case of wooden cases in particular I feel like the wood could act as a sponge or vampire and suck up some of that humidity even through the lining :O
I have an abs case and two thickly padded gigbags. I feel like a zipper might not be the most sufficient seal

I think wood cases clearly do suck up humidity themselves - Boveda specifically makes 72% humidipaks to "season" cases, presumably if you only start casing your guitars when the weather gets cold or something. But they recommend leaving those in the case for a week or two before you're gonna start trying to humidify the guitar in the case. At that point, the case will be holding enough humidity that when you put the guitar in it with the 49% humidipaks, the humidity from those won't get sucked up by the case.

BUT, in a really dry environment, I gotta figure the case is drying out too and after not too long, the humidipaks inside the case are gonna be keeping both the guitar and case humidified. So those "seasoning" paks would only give you a pretty good head start... So it would seem like you'd be going through humidipaks faster with a wooden case than something a better sealed against water vapor getting into the case material or getting out of the case. But, I recycle the humidipaks and as long as I can move new ones in and re-hydrate the old ones, I think the expense of a really sealed off case is probably overkill... But if you ever travel and leave your guitars behind for an extended time in the winter, it could be an issue...

The one time I tried to use humidipaks on a guitar inside a gig-bag (as an experiment, with a Gretsch Jim Dandy that didn't feel like it was made of actual wood...), I didn't find the gig bag held ANY humidity in. Even with humidipaks inside of it, when I'd open it up, the hygrometer would show the same reading as the ones in the room, whereas the ones in a closed wooden case was right around 50%. I suppose it would be quite possible to make a gig bag that would be sealed against humidity getting in or out - might even be easier to do that with a gig bag than a case? But I've never heard of one...

Actually, just did a quick search and it seems Godin makes a well padded gig bag they claim is thermally sealed. Might be worth checking out. I don't often need the physical protection of a case so this could be a good all around solution in my case (no pun intended):

https://godinguitars.com/tric.htm

-Ray