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This thread has spun out from a discussion about stands that Jean started. I keep my guitars on stands for ease of access, because I don't play them if they're in cases and away and because I love looking at them. One of the reasons to NOT leave them on a stand is to maintain the humidity and avoid issues of under or over humidification.

I live in Sydney. The climate is pretty kind to guitars for most of the year, except for a few weeks in summer when it can be 90% humidity and over 40 oC. At the moment though, I have quite a few water penetration problems with my building. It's been raining a lot and I'm having to constantly mop up water that's seeping into the room where I keep most of my instruments.

Well the advice from members in response to Jean's thread had me a bit worried last night, so today I went to the hardware store and bought three different types of hygrometer; two dial ones and a digital one.

The results - The humidity in my music room is somewhere between 65% (and rising) (on the digital hygrometer) and 80% (on the dial ones) (YIKES!!!) and in my lounge room 57%-62% (settled at 61%) According to info from Larrivee (see website below) if the humidity is below 60% you're OK and if it gets above that for short periods the guitar be fine once the humidity drops. If it's below 45% for extended periods it's much worse and it doesn't recover well.

I've now moved my acoustic guitars into the lounge room where the humidity seems to be 61%. I've checked for the signs that Jean Larrivee and Bob Taylor (in the video Dennis posted) talk about and they are both fine. Tomorrow I'll get another couple of digital hygrometers to ensure the change I'm measuring between rooms is due to the humidity itself and not the meter.

Interestingly, if your guitar is experiencing high humidity, Jean Larrivee recommends letting it breathe on a stand.

If I end up with very low humidity at any point, I'll consider putting one or two of the acoustics back in their hard cases.

I have some questions which some of you may be able to answer:

1. Is humidity mostly an issue with acoustic guitars (i.e. hollow body with a sound board) or does it affect solid bodied electrics too?

2. Can you regulate the humidity of guitars in a soft bag too, or only hard cases? - I only have gig bags for my electric guitar and electric bass (and ukuleles).


There's a heap of great info here http://musiciansworkshop.com/humidity.html that I found really useful. Courtesy of Larrivee Guitars

Michele

Hey Michelle,

Sorry I made you lose sleep with what I thought would be a simple question. Wow, did I get an education on the "power of the Forum"! I'm considering the situation from all different angles trying not to drive myself crazy.

Yeah, aside from having the guitar out and calling to my daughter, my husband commented that he liked the way the guitar looks out in the living room. And this is coming from a man who wouldn't know which end to play!

I never heard of these humidity measuring things, but today again I'm sure were close to 90% because we're so close to the ocean, but I want to be conscious of the best conditions for the guitar. The spring and fall can be bad too and winter as well. My feeling is this: if we were playing the guitar, it would have to be out too, so out it will come, but I'll limit the amount of time.

Good luck with the mopping!

Jean

Jean,

You don't have to worry about the effects of humidity when you take your guitar out of the case to play it. The issue of humidity is in the context of prolonged exposure, and playing the guitar for an hour or two a day isn't what I'd consider very prolonged. If a guitar is susceptible to humidity problems, it usually takes days, weeks, or months -- not minutes or hours.

Shel,

1. Yes, humidity is mostly an issue with acoustics, and that's because the wood is so thin (relative to a solid-body electric) -- it can easily absorb or bleed moisture. Also, the necks of guitars (acoustic, solid-body, whatever kind) can expand or contract with the humidity. I've seen guitars that were so dry that the frets were sticking about 1 or 2 mm out from the sides of the fretboard because the neck had contracted.

2. I don't think a gig bag is nearly as effective at maintaining a closed environment as a hard case would be. I wouldn't say they're worthless at maintaining humidity, just somewhat porous. To find out, put one of your reliable hygrometers inside the bag, then check it every 12 hours or so for a couple of days to see what's what.

Hi Shel,

1. Acoustics suffer most from humidity problems as Dennis states, but electrics also suffer mainly the necks. My first electric became unplayable due to a severely warped neck as a result of drying out too much, several Luthiers tried to fix it but it was too far gone

2. This depends on the gig bag, some of the more expensive ones are like sleeping bags (often quilted) and act as an insulator keeping the guitar at a reasonable constant temperature.

I think the biggest issue is when it gets dry , this usually means heat and too much heat damage can be costly to repair and beyond most guitarists. A major issue is when guitars are left in vehicles - dogs die on hot days when left in cars! On hot days the interior of cars can get hot enough to melt the hide glue used on guitars , melts at around 60 celcius. Repeated overheating for short periods in cars can also bring about rapid moisture loss from both the case and guitar this can then condense and cause the finish to get hazy and even gummy. Also plastic components melt quicker than the glue and can cause structural damage e.g. some pick-guards are plastic they curl up and can lift/warp the wood, the obvious signs are seen on the face but the not so obvious is the bracing which can pop off inside

Answer - get insulated gig bags/cases or a good sleeping bag to cover the guitar when left in the vehicle

Jean, thanks I had already been worrying a little about the extra humidity and the possible long- to medium-term effects on my guitars. Your thread has been a good reminder that I should find out more, which I've done. I've taken steps to reduce the impacts on the most vulnerable guitars so that's a good thing.

Den and Chas - thanks for that, it makes me feel better about the guitars that are still being exposed to the high humidity. My issue is definitely high humidity not low so I'll just keep an eye on things and keep my acoustics in the least affected room.

Thanks again.

Shel

Thanks for the info and the reassurance Wiley. It's finally stopped raining and the humidity has started to drop a little.

It's really good to know that the guitars should be fine unless I decide to take them swimming with me. Maybe I'll get one of those special RainSong ones if I ever feel the need to do that.

I hate air conditioning so I'm safe on that front.

Thanks for easing my mind.

Shel

Hey Michele, my issue here in AK is not enough humidity. And I do live very close to the ocean, however in the winter RH drops to the teens. I ALWAYS keep a sponge in the sound holes of my guitars, and they will be bone dry in two days. I've also started to add another once of water in a little thing made to weep moisture thru its walls, and that too will be sucked dry in 3 days. So I have too really stay on it and make sure they don't dry out. With the RH so low, you can see an affect in just a few months.

Gosh Scott! That sounds like murder on guitars.

M