Dry Winter Air is Coming

[Curlington]

The relative humidity dipped below 40 in my basement, and so I broke out the planet waves soundhole humidifiers with the removable yellow sponges. I bought a bunch on sale some time ago. Needed every one of them, as I managed to sell only one of the five Guild acoustics that were on the chopping block this fall. (Not that I tried very hard or posted them for sale anywhere other than here, and it will soon be too frigid to ship safely anyway.)

Now, I am in my winter rotation. Which means that I play a different one every day, and so, without much effort , replenish the sponge in each one plenty often enough.

These planet waves soundhole humidifiers are a no-brainer. Wet the sponge lightly, squeeze it hard in one hand for a few seconds until absolutely nothing is dripping out, give it a shake, put it in the humidifier housing and close it up, put the housing in sound hole between the d and g strings, close and latch the case, put the guitar back in the basement. The key is to use a damp sponge but far from sopping.

Playing a different one ever day is a good discipline and reminds me that each one is special in its own way.

 

[silverfox103]

Good advice, like your different one ever day program.

Tom C.

 

[Bing k]

Good advice, like your different one ever day program.

Tom C.

it takes Grot over a hundred days.

 

[blueshoes]

Yea I made up a few of my own humidifiers this year in anticipation of the winter weather. I picked up a some
{ now don't laugh } toilet deodorizers, ya know the little round cage type that you hang on the toilet. Picked them up at the dollar store. Removed the deodorizer and put a wet sponge inside . Broke off the hanger part and put one up by the headstock and one hanging in the guitar. I used this plastic cover from a coffee can as a soundhole cover works great and I made six of 'em for less than 10 dollars

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

I make my humidifiers. I use the floral foam material in mine.
This stuff holds a lot of water and for a lot longer than most sponges.
It's cheap and works very well.
I place a piece of the foam inside a travel soap dish.
Drill some small holes in the top of the dish and for about $2.00, I have a great humidifier.

I also rotate playing my guitars and replenish the water as I do this.
I do this year round though. Utah is always very dry.

 

[hojo199]

Yeah I do the rotation thing too. I use the Oasis humidifiers. It's all a big pain -- but better than cracks....

 

[chazmo]

Same situation in casa Chaz, Curlington, out here in central MA. I've got a cheapo room humidifier in the room where I keep all my guitars cased in the winter. But I have to run the thing manually (wish it had a humidity trigger). So, I also have some dampits and some sponges in baggies that I use in the cases in case I don't run the humidifier for a few days.

I'd be uncomfortable leaving the guitars out at all in our common areas (which I do in summer) because even with soundhole humidifiers the neck would dry out.

 

[rachelsdad]

Yeah, I do my w/the florist foam as well..even when they sat unused for 20 years...

plus I have three very large humidors filled w/stogies I need to mess with...but I do the rotation thing on them much more frequently

 

[Curlington]

I’ve been off the grid a bit, so to speak. I did not intend to post this and then abandon it and never come back to it. My main point was that I think these Planet Waves soundhole humidifiers are worth every penny. I am baffled whey others are not as enthusiastic. Each to his own, I suppose. They put the humidity right where it is needed and I’ve never had a drip into the body of the guitar with them, or any other problem. I’ve seen the homemade solutions and used the snake dampits but I think these PW ones are way better enough to make them well, well worthwhile. The best solution, really. They snap together fast, clip in the soundhole fast, and are plenty durable. I got mine on closeout sale for around $5 each. They tweak the design every few years. Thanks for reminding me of the florist foam, I will try it, but carefully. Cheers, Dave

 

[davismanLV]

Here in the land of the parched, I have two whole house humidifiers engaged at all times. It's just what you have to do here. However, I've been blessed with unusually humid weather with mild temps lately. However now that the evening temps are dipping into the low 30's, the heater gets engaged and then the humidity level plummets and those humidifiers have to work overtime. I keep them set at 45% and they kick in when it drops below that level. I leave my guitars out on stands so they're easy to grab and play.

Please humidify your guitars, folks!! It's important to protect your investment and take care of those guitars we love so much!!

 

[chazmo]

...Please humidify your guitars, folks!! It's important to protect your investment and take care of those guitars we love so much!!

Amen, Tom!

I would spare my LTG friends the horror of opening up a case one day and finding your treasured guitar(s) cracked. I am speaking first-hand!

 

[guildman63]

Along with Tom I also do the whole house humidifier as it is much simpler with multiple guitars. The RH in my New England home gets to about 8% in the winter, and to have to mess with multiple case humidifiers, while very effective, was kind of a nuisance. I put a MoistAIR evaporative humidifier at the base of my stairs. It is rated at 2500 square feet, and it keeps the RH level in entire house (minus the family room that extends off of the main house) at 40-45%. I refill it once each day, which takes about 2 minutes. Not only are my guitars happy, but sleeping is much better, and it helps with the wood furniture as well.

 

[fronobulax]

I refill it once each day, which takes about 2 minutes. Not only are my guitars happy, but sleeping is much better, and it helps with the wood furniture as well.

My local Guild dealer has a humidifier in the acoustic room and when it gets cold, he has to get up in the middle of the night and go over to the shop and refill it. Not sure why he hasn't gone for something with a bigger capacity. Maybe he likes going out at night ;-)

 

[Bing k]

We run a fleet of these:

 

[davismanLV]

Bing, those look pretty heavy duty! I'm running two Kenmore whole-house humidifiers. They work well, but I'm always interested in better equipment. What are those???

 

[DenverSteve]

I don't think RH has ever been 40% here. We always have to humidify and whole-house won't do. In-case sponge in soap dish or zip-lock works as well as anything, at a fraction of the cost. Rewet as necessary (about weekly) and everything stays fine.

 

[Westerly Wood]

The relative humidity dipped below 40 in my basement, and so I broke out the planet waves soundhole humidifiers with the removable yellow sponges. I bought a bunch on sale some time ago. Needed every one of them, as I managed to sell only one of the five Guild acoustics that were on the chopping block this fall. (Not that I tried very hard or posted them for sale anywhere other than here, and it will soon be too frigid to ship safely anyway.)

Now, I am in my winter rotation. Which means that I play a different one every day, and so, without much effort , replenish the sponge in each one plenty often enough.

These planet waves soundhole humidifiers are a no-brainer. Wet the sponge lightly, squeeze it hard in one hand for a few seconds until absolutely nothing is dripping out, give it a shake, put it in the humidifier housing and close it up, put the housing in sound hole between the d and g strings, close and latch the case, put the guitar back in the basement. The key is to use a damp sponge but far from sopping.

Playing a different one ever day is a good discipline and reminds me that each one is special in its own way.

wow, i never knew you could take the sponge out. i just run water over the sponge holes till it is sopping, then squeeze till nothing drips and dry off with towel. have to do this about every 5-7 days.

 

[Bing k]

Bing, those look pretty heavy duty! I'm running two Kenmore whole-house humidifiers. They work well, but I'm always interested in better equipment. What are those???

These are Essicks. The 13 gallon a day 3200 square foot model. We get them at Ace hardware. Your Kenmores are probably almost identical.

 

[guildman63]

I don't think RH has ever been 40% here. We always have to humidify and whole-house won't do.

You may be right about that, but my unit raises the humidity from 8% to 45% very nicely, and I can't imagine that Denver is much different than Montana and Las Vegas. Just sayin' :wink:

 

[Curlington]

Clay: This is the one I am talking about:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/planet-waves-acoustic-guitar-humidifier?src=3WWRWXGP
$8 at Musician's Friend. I can't see how you could squeeze the plastic housing effectively or without causing the housing to crack pretty quickly. Running this style under the sink with the sponge inside the housing, even if you shook it out, would almost surely lead to some dripage in the git, ouch.

Now, a number of years ago, they made it with a permanently enclosed sponge with a small hole in the housing and a syringe to inject water into it. As I recall, there were mold problems with the sponge sealed in there like that, which was reportedly the green floral sponge stuff. So, maybe that's the style you were referring to above.

A whole house humidifier would be nice but is not in the cards anytime soon. Cheers.