killdeer43
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I'm feeling the pressure now!playsvintageguilds said:Yes,Joe as in Killdeer !
How totally cool !
:wink: Joe
Hygrometers and humidifiers
- Thread starter fronobulax
- Start date
:wink: Joe
West R Lee
Venerated Member
playsvintageguilds said:Yes,Joe as in Killdeer !
How totally cool !
Practice up......he's a player!
West
Scratch
Enlightened Member
I can see you two sitting and picking on that deck now. Have fun guys...
killdeer43
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Yeah, I've been known to play around. :wink:
Too much fun!
Joe
Too much fun!
Joe
I never humidified my old D50 in all the nearly 35 years I've owned it with no cracks. It's just dumb luck I guess, but now that I'm aware of it I'm sure something would happen if I didn't regulate the humidity in the house now. Also, I'd like to keep the guitars out on stands this winter, so I started doing some research on whole house humidifiers. Now our whole house is only 1400 square feet (it's just the two of us and the fur kids) so I arrived at this one from the Home Despot, and it's been doing a stellar job so far. Just set it and forget it. It holds 14 gallons of water too, so you don't have to refill it that often. The upstairs man cave where the guitars are stays right at 50% RH. 8)
adorshki
Reverential Member
+1. I love to play on decks like that!Scratch said:
playsvintageguilds
Member
Here is where we are with humidity in my 'sanctuary musica'...
The heat source:
The wall:
Placement of humidity unit:
Close-up of reading:
I am surprised at the humidity present in this room.
The heat source:
The wall:
Placement of humidity unit:
Close-up of reading:
I am surprised at the humidity present in this room.
West R Lee
Venerated Member
Don't cha just love rough cedar? Great looking ceiling by the way.
West
West
playsvintageguilds
Member
adhorski !
You are welcome to join me and anyone else on my deck with guitar in hand.
Matter of fact,everyone is welcome to come here to Westport and stay as long
as you like.
I have an acre of land with a great campfire pit,less than 1/2 mile from the edge of the ocean.
A very conducive environment to music.
Bring your tents,trailers,motorhomes,etc.
We can sing and play until the sun sets,the ocean sleeps and a new day dawns.
~ Raj ?????????
You are welcome to join me and anyone else on my deck with guitar in hand.
Matter of fact,everyone is welcome to come here to Westport and stay as long
as you like.
I have an acre of land with a great campfire pit,less than 1/2 mile from the edge of the ocean.
A very conducive environment to music.
Bring your tents,trailers,motorhomes,etc.
We can sing and play until the sun sets,the ocean sleeps and a new day dawns.
~ Raj ?????????
devellis
Member
I've spent a whole lot of time gathering information from multiple sources about humidifying instruments. I have several vintage instruments (we're talking 1890's here) that are pretty delicate. There's a lot of varying opinion out there. the people I'm most inclined to believe are museum curators who often have advanced degrees related to the conservation of vintage instruments and other wooden artifacts, some far more valuable than any of our guitars. I've gotten my hands on publications from these sources and wanted to share what I've found. There's a consensus that 45% is ideal and that 35% to 55% is perfectly fine, as long as there aren't sudden swings of RH within that range.
I'm not trying to disagree with anyone else's recommendations, I'm just sharing the information that I gathered from sources who take these matters very seriously. Interestingly, people often overlook the fact that over-humidifying can also be a problem. Above 65%, mold proliferates and different components taking on moisture at different rates can really fight each other as the humidity climbs. Metal can often rust and glue can be compromised in several ways (swelling, attack by micro-organisms, and heat-plus-humidity can really be disastrous).
Still, dryness is is the real problem. But if your guitar wasn't built on a back porch in the Everglades, keeping it at around 35% doesn't seem to be a huge problem. What is a problem is a hygrometer that reads 35% when the actual RH is like 25%. Unfortunately, that's not a completely uncommon scenario. Even brief forays below 35% aren't cause for panic. Below 30% is definitely not good and below 25% is really, really asking for trouble -- or so I've concluded from the research I've done.
Manufacturers will often give more conservative recommendations because they'd prefer not to have unhappy customers over-drying their guitars and then complaining about problems. It's easier for them to just be able to say, "didn't you follow our recommendations?"
I have a whole-house humidifier and a room humidifier in my music room for the needed boost. It rarely makes an appearance before Christmas, although this year it came out early in December (although it's not really running now and the RH is around 48% in that room).
Just one more comment. You'll see a lot of recommendations for using a plastic bag with water and salt in it as a way of calibrating your hygrometer (assuming its settings can be altered). Problem is, that hygrometer errors aren't linear. So, it could be dead on at the 75% RH that the salt method will produce but could be substantially off (either high or low) down in the 30%-40% range, where you really want to know what's happening. I have acquired three different hygrometers and I compare them to one another. They're never off by more than a percentage point or two. Yes, they could be all wrong but it's pretty unlikely. At least one of them is a "scientific quality" instrument rather than a department store item.
My sources could be wrong, my hygrometers could be inaccurate, and I could be completely off base. I'm not trying to convince anyone that I've discovered some magical, long-forgotten truth. I'm just providing information that people can take or leave as they see fit. I think most of us agree that extreme conditions are bad for guitars. We each have to decide where we want to draw the line. i hope this information helps people do that.
I'm not trying to disagree with anyone else's recommendations, I'm just sharing the information that I gathered from sources who take these matters very seriously. Interestingly, people often overlook the fact that over-humidifying can also be a problem. Above 65%, mold proliferates and different components taking on moisture at different rates can really fight each other as the humidity climbs. Metal can often rust and glue can be compromised in several ways (swelling, attack by micro-organisms, and heat-plus-humidity can really be disastrous).
Still, dryness is is the real problem. But if your guitar wasn't built on a back porch in the Everglades, keeping it at around 35% doesn't seem to be a huge problem. What is a problem is a hygrometer that reads 35% when the actual RH is like 25%. Unfortunately, that's not a completely uncommon scenario. Even brief forays below 35% aren't cause for panic. Below 30% is definitely not good and below 25% is really, really asking for trouble -- or so I've concluded from the research I've done.
Manufacturers will often give more conservative recommendations because they'd prefer not to have unhappy customers over-drying their guitars and then complaining about problems. It's easier for them to just be able to say, "didn't you follow our recommendations?"
I have a whole-house humidifier and a room humidifier in my music room for the needed boost. It rarely makes an appearance before Christmas, although this year it came out early in December (although it's not really running now and the RH is around 48% in that room).
Just one more comment. You'll see a lot of recommendations for using a plastic bag with water and salt in it as a way of calibrating your hygrometer (assuming its settings can be altered). Problem is, that hygrometer errors aren't linear. So, it could be dead on at the 75% RH that the salt method will produce but could be substantially off (either high or low) down in the 30%-40% range, where you really want to know what's happening. I have acquired three different hygrometers and I compare them to one another. They're never off by more than a percentage point or two. Yes, they could be all wrong but it's pretty unlikely. At least one of them is a "scientific quality" instrument rather than a department store item.
My sources could be wrong, my hygrometers could be inaccurate, and I could be completely off base. I'm not trying to convince anyone that I've discovered some magical, long-forgotten truth. I'm just providing information that people can take or leave as they see fit. I think most of us agree that extreme conditions are bad for guitars. We each have to decide where we want to draw the line. i hope this information helps people do that.
suave eddie
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I just found this forum and it is interesting that this is the first thread I see.
I've had guitars for over 40 years and never used a humidifier. This just changed.
Four years ago I bought a '92 (pre-fender) D-55 in mint condition. This is the most valuable acoustic I have ever had. I had never thought about humidity until recently when I realized I didn't want something so easily avoidable to ruin my intrument. I have no idea how the previous owner treated the guitar.
I just purchased one of those Planet Waves soundhole sponge humidifiers. It seems to go dry in approx a week, so my home is probably pretty dry.
I also just bought some lemon oil and treated the fretboard to prevent it from drying out.
I've had guitars for over 40 years and never used a humidifier. This just changed.
Four years ago I bought a '92 (pre-fender) D-55 in mint condition. This is the most valuable acoustic I have ever had. I had never thought about humidity until recently when I realized I didn't want something so easily avoidable to ruin my intrument. I have no idea how the previous owner treated the guitar.
I just purchased one of those Planet Waves soundhole sponge humidifiers. It seems to go dry in approx a week, so my home is probably pretty dry.
I also just bought some lemon oil and treated the fretboard to prevent it from drying out.
killdeer43
Reverential Member
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Welcome, Eddie.
I'd say that you're probably doing a good thing to protect your investment.
Never hurts to play it safe. :wink:
Stay in tune,
Joe
I'd say that you're probably doing a good thing to protect your investment.
Never hurts to play it safe. :wink:
Stay in tune,
Joe
playsvintageguilds
Member
Ever since we started talking about humidity,hygrometers,etc.
I have been most occupied with the placement of my guitars,in and out of cases,on the walls,off the walls...
Bedroom has 75%-80% humidity.
Living room has 65%-72% humidity.
Heat on/heat off.
Slappy strings in high humidity,dry tight tensionized strings in warmer temps.
Man,this is a tough one to understand.
Outside temp has warmed up to 46-52 the past week here on the coast.
So,I put everything back on the wall in the living room with the thermostat set at 67 and the RH solid at 62%.
Essentially I and my acoustics are right back at where I was before the alarms went off.
What have I learned.
Avoid extreme heat/cold.
Be vigilant about your homes' Relative Humidity and placement of your prized acoustics.
Commen sense is an asset.
And,when Bonnie Raitt and Allison Krauss sing together
a dying human heart can be revived.
~ Raj
I have been most occupied with the placement of my guitars,in and out of cases,on the walls,off the walls...
Bedroom has 75%-80% humidity.
Living room has 65%-72% humidity.
Heat on/heat off.
Slappy strings in high humidity,dry tight tensionized strings in warmer temps.
Man,this is a tough one to understand.
Outside temp has warmed up to 46-52 the past week here on the coast.
So,I put everything back on the wall in the living room with the thermostat set at 67 and the RH solid at 62%.
Essentially I and my acoustics are right back at where I was before the alarms went off.
What have I learned.
Avoid extreme heat/cold.
Be vigilant about your homes' Relative Humidity and placement of your prized acoustics.
Commen sense is an asset.
And,when Bonnie Raitt and Allison Krauss sing together
a dying human heart can be revived.
~ Raj
playsvintageguilds
Member
:shock: