Your take on humidity control, if you please.

[roadbiker]

I have noticed, as many of you undoubtedly have also, the big way the effects that changes in humidity have on my guitar. The most noticable is string vibrations (read - buzzing), and to a lesser extent the sound. My house stays at a pretty constant 45% - 50%, depending on the season and I have whole house humidification to keep it comfortable humans and stringed wooden instruments, namely the one beginning with the letter G. Naturally the winter months are accompanied with drier air and I supplement the whole house system with a cool mist humidifier in the bedroom, trying to keep the RH at around 47% (otherwise it drops to the low 40's, which is less than ideal).

Last year I went out and picked up one of those Planet Waves Humidity Control Kits. I got it on eBay for a pretty low price and now that winter is upon us, I am starting to use it again for the season. It looks like it keeps the inside of the case at about 46-47%, but I'm wondering if this thing is really effective or just a waste of effort. I only use distilled water in the sponge and make sure that it is not dripping wet when I put it inside the sound hole (between strings).

What's your opinion? Useful tool or gimmick?

Thanks, Jim

 

[chazmo]

Personally, I think sponges in perforated ziplocs or soap dishes work just fine. Dampits are great too. Also, if you're doing room-level or house-level humidifier, you don't really need the in-case stuff.

The only downside with the sponges is that you can get your case a little moldy. You also have to pay attention to them every week or so; not sure if the planet waves is better in that you can pay less attention. I wouldn't. In any case, this is all a small price to pay to keep your guitars in playing shape and free from cracks.

 

[Geo]

What's your opinion? Useful tool or gimmick?

Thanks, Jim

Here's your DIY kit.

Take four ziploc quart bags......

Punch holes in bags.......

Get absorber.......

Now cut absorber into four equal squares......

The squares are now the right size to fit in ziploc bags......

Place squares under kitchen faucet and soak with tap water.......

Ring out excess water.......

Place squares in perforated bags........

You now have four of the best humidifiers available on planet earth.

Take one humidifier bag and fold one time down the middle. It will now be the right size to place in the soundhole by draping it over the strings. Slip the ziploc end of bag between B & G strings and the bottom end through between the A & D strings. Try to ensure you have equal lengths of the bag pointing downward in the soundhole. When you release the bag it will fan out.

You never have to worry about the absorber dripping. Moisture is released very slowly. The absorber will stay damp inside the bag for around a month and keep your baby nicely humidified.

Been doing it for years and never any kind of problem. I do it year-round.

If you live in a very dry climate you can place another humidifier bag in the case near the headstock.

I've placed them in the case without any mold problems what-so-ever.

Cost about $3.00 per humidifier.

George

 

[Ravon]

I use a film canister with a damp piece of sponge in it with holes drilled in the lid in all my cases. It can leak if theres too much water in there however. I just check it every couple of days (thats no problem :wink: ) keeping the sponge moist with the canister secure with a handtowel. It doesn't leak out even if the canister is on its side and the sponge is again, simply damp and not soaking. One of my guitars has some serious fret wear on the first through third frets which resulted in some annoying buzzing. I put one of these in and in a couple days the buzzing nearly disappeared so i guess its doing the job 8) !

 

[Jeff]

Bob Taylor, in Taylor Guitar's most recent Wood & Steel Magazine was asked about humidification in the Pac NW. Can't quote him exactly, however, according to Bob, in normal situations, humidification is not necessary here. I've not yet bothered with humidification & so far getting away with it. Grampa's barometer/hygrometer is hanging on the wall with my guitars, isn't a high end hygrometer, presently indicates 76% humidity, another out by the woodstove indicate 40%. Towards the end of Summer I could tell things were drying out, probably should have humidified the music room.

Interesting bit of Pac NW guitar trivia, same issue of "Wood & Steel" mag; Taylor is familiar with the PacNw, turns out they have a spruce mill up North a ways, (S of Killdeer's territory) turning out Taylor Tops. 8)

 

[killdeer43]

Bob Taylor, in Taylor Guitar's most recent Wood & Steel Magazine was asked about humidification in the Pac NW. Can't quote him exactly, however, according to Bob, in normal situations, humidification is not necessary here. I've not yet bothered with humidification & so far getting away with it.

I've lived up here in the Fourth Corner for 35 years and I have nothing to offer on humidity/humidifiers/humidification as relates to guitars.
I, too, appear to be "getting away with it." 8)

Joe

 

[Curlington]

These are brilliant in their simplicity and effectiveness. The key is being able to remove/replace the sponge. Puts the humidity right where you want and need it. They are pretty much foolproof. Just soak and then grip the sponge a few seconds until water stops running out. I use them every winter/summer. Well worth it considering the time, energy and money invested in the acoustics. Every year or two it seems, Planet Waves tweaks the design, and the former design goes on close out. I bought a bunch to have spares, give away, etc., and they came out well under $5 each as I recall.

I cannot seem to get imageshack to work right to show a pic of the planet waves humidifier. Hopefully the links will work.

[IMG=http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/6176/kgrhqzhe6zz59pjbotvmhpu.th.jpg][/IMG]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[IMG=http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/6176/kgrhqzhe6zz59pjbotvmhpu.jpg][/IMG]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[Yoko Oh No]

my case humidifier cost under a buck and I've never had a problem....

69 cent plastic soap dish....took all of 1 minute to drill a bazillion holes in the top
stole a sponge from my wife's sponge collection in the kitchen, fitted it into the soap dish
saturate with water and place in the case

seems to do the trick

 

[fronobulax]

I've decided that a lot of humidity advice is like oil changing advice. Everyone agrees it needs to be done but how and when depends upon who you talk to. Guild's official statement is that the humidity where the guitar is stored should be between 40% and 50%. Guild does not seem to say anything about distilled vs. tap water or whether water that drips from an over-saturated humidifier will be a problem or not. (Seems to me that if the humidity is low enough that you need a humidifier then the drops will evaporate before they do any long term damage. But, I'm not going to try that experiment on any of my guitars...)

My local Guild dealer has a room full of acoustics with a humidifier. (I thought the door was to keep the noise out so people could try an acoustic when someone in the other room was blowing out an amp, but it seems like humidity control is at least as important). In the winter he goes to the shop in the middle of the night to refill it. That pretty much convinced me that better safe than sorry was a good policy for humidity and that policy is being implemented for the F-30 and older siblings, even as we speak.

For the record the F-30 has one of these but that is because the answer to our question about humidity was for the dealer to just give us one with the F-30.

 

[killdeer43]

Further to echoing Jeff's sentiment about "getting away with it," I should add that I've owned numerous guitars over 40+ years in Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado before coming here; but I've never owned a humidifier.
When I've purchased guitars and a humidifier or similar device came along inside the case, I've always tossed it (the device, not the guitar).

What have I been missing? :shock:

Joe

 

[Geo]

Further to echoing Jeff's sentiment about "getting away with it," I should add that I've owned numerous guitars over 40+ years in Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado before coming here; but I've never owned a humidifier.
When I've purchased guitars and a humidifier or similar device came along inside the case, I've always tossed it (the device, not the guitar).

What have I been missing? :shock:

Joe

What have I been missing? :shock:

Joe

My first guess would be Texas. :mrgreen:


George

 

[adorshki]

For the record the F-30 has one of these but that is because the answer to our question about humidity was for the dealer to just give us one with the F-30.

Now that you mention it, I recall that the F65ce came with a humidifier that had a round plastic shield with a lip designed to press-fit in the soundhole, and a dangling sausage-shaped thing on a string to be wetted down. I never did like the idea of a wet piece of sponge touching the bare wood inside the guitar, and the plastic shield didn't fit the oval shaped soundhole of the guitar either! So I threw the cheesy thing away, encouraged by the knowledge that here in the SF Bay Area the humidity stays between 45 and 55% year round anyway.
For those who live in regions of great variation outside the "safe zone", I'm sure humidity control is a good thing to practice.

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Here in Northern Utah, we get low humidity year round.
When I got my first good guitars back around 1980, I used an apple as a humidifier. That was what my folk music friends were using.
I don't know how well they worked but my guitars never suffered any damage from low humidity.
A few years later, I traded guitars with one of my buddies. He got my Yari and I got his Yamaha L-20A.
The Yamaha has a very slight lift on the back side of the bridge that got worse after a few months. I took it to my Tech who told me that the damage was due to low humidity.
My buddy never used anything to help with humidity issues.

A few years went by and I found out about Dampit Humidifiers.
I used them for several years and had no humidity related issues with my guitars, which included a 12 string Guild.
The Dampit humidifiers would only last for about 12 to 16 months and then would get brittle and break.

About the time that I was needing something better than a Dampit, I read about making your own humidifier out of a soap dish and Oasis Floral Foam.
This is what I have been doing for over 10 years and it is cheap and works great.
I do use distilled water and I also add a cap full of Clorox bleach to 1 gallon of water.

The floral foam holds a lot more water than any other product that I have ever tried.
That's why it's used for floral arrangements.
It comes in a brick about the size of a small loaf of bread. I cut it to the shape of the soap dish and inside the guitar case it goes.
I replace the foam once a year or so to keep it fresh.
The total cost is about $1.50 to $2.00 per humidifier.
I have tries several different production humidifiers over the years and I like my home made one better than any of the others.

 

[Bikerdoc]

This is what I use in the room where my guitars are located. It's only a 10 x 12 room or so and the door stays closed all the time. The RH does not get below 50 or above 60. I heat with wood and even though the door is closed it stays in the mid-60's; thanks in part to the computer being on all the time and generating some heat. The mising bowl has a mist volumn control as well. Obviously it wouldn't work if my guitars were scattered throughout the house. And it probably wouldn't be as efficient in a larger room. But it works just fine. I can't seem to get my head around putting moisture in a closed case. But then again, I don't know all that much. Just enough to make me dazed and confused most of the time. Peace

 

[walrus]

I have to agree with the "no humidifier" guys - I guess I'm getting away with it. Never had a problem with my guitars from humidity, we use a humidifier in the house in the winter, that's it.

walrus

 

[davismanLV]

Coming from Southern California I never even thought about humidity. High or low. But that doesn't mean my guitars weren't exposed to dryness. After moving to the desert, my Guild became unplayable within a year and .... I luckily got some sage advice about humidifying. I humidify year-round now.

Just because you live in an area where it's not too dry or wet, doesn't mean you don't have to worry about humidity. If you use heating or air conditioning you're sucking the moisture out of the air in your house and probably making it too dry. Best to check your relative humidity in your house when you're using heat or air. See what it says then. The relative humidity on the weather report isn't really much good to you.

And for the guys who think they're "getting away with it".... that's good and well, until the first crack appears, and .... then it's too late. Humidifying like crazy after the fact will not make that crack go away. I'd rather be watchful and check the humidity and see what's what.

 

[chazmo]

Clearly it all depends on your situation.

Whether or not you are in a humid or dry area, I strongly recommend you watch the Taylor videos or visit Frank Ford's web site and research the subject to at least understand the warning signs and know when a problem is looming.

Having experienced this problem first hand, I would spare you guys the self-loathing that results from ignorance on this subject. Two of my lifelong companions cracked a few years ago because I had no idea that care was necessary. Every time I pull those previously pristine guitars from their cases, I kick myself. Not to mention the hundreds of dollars it took to repair them... But to be fair, the web presence that makes this knowledge simple to get wasn't there when I was younger.

Anyway, forewarned is forearmed.

 

[Geo]

Coming from Southern California I never even thought about humidity. High or low. But that doesn't mean my guitars weren't exposed to dryness. After moving to the desert, my Guild became unplayable within a year and .... I luckily got some sage advice about humidifying. I humidify year-round now.

Just because you live in an area where it's not too dry or wet, doesn't mean you don't have to worry about humidity. If you use heating or air conditioning you're sucking the moisture out of the air in your house and probably making it too dry. Best to check your relative humidity in your house when you're using heat or air. See what it says then. The relative humidity on the weather report isn't really much good to you.

And for the guys who think they're "getting away with it".... that's good and well, until the first crack appears, and .... then it's too late. Humidifying like crazy after the fact will not make that crack go away. I'd rather be watchful and check the humidity and see what's what.

+1 on that Tom.

When someone finds a crack it to goes something like this...... :shock: ...... :? ...... :x ......

George

 

[idealassets]

I prefer to use the Planet Waves Humidpak: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Planet-Wave...522?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item2eb914899a

It costs more than the soap dish method previuosly discussed. The replaceable gel packs last nearly a year in Michigan, instead of "3 months" as described by the directions.

The salesman that sold me my Guild F512 liked the guitar that I bought. He gave me the basics on humidity control, and really didn't want to see this guitar warp or crack due to improper storage. I also have a Sunbeam humidifier in my guitar room (from Walmart).

I don't mind the expense of treating my guitars right. I have seen first hand a few costly guitars that are ruined due to warped upper bouts, warped necks, bellying, bad bridge repairs, and horrible surface checking that could have been avoided.

Plus, the mindset of responsibile care of a guitar makes me more consciuos of being careful all the time. I have heard too many tales of woe from someone who "forgot" and left their acoustic in the car trunk overnight in -10 degree weather, only to find a ruined guitar the next day.

Craig

 

[cjd-player]

I prefer to use the Planet Waves Humidpak:

Craig

Be watchful with those Humidipaks. There are a few relatively new threads over on AGF where the new packs, Version 3, have apparently leaked just like versions 1 and 2 (which were recalled by Planet Waves) have in the past. Damaged caused to finishes and guitar cases.