Humidity control - yay or nay

Gear & Tools Talk 🎸 Guitars, Instruments & Maintenance
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Hi all, What with one thing and another it’s been a while since ive been able to do much of anything guitar related :frowning:

I had to wait for a couple of weeks for a new tuner for my Heritage (worked out great as they sent me an entire set, cant remember if I said that or not). During which a had to get over a bout of covid diring the heat wave, having a temperature during a heat wave is no joke.

Anyway I put the guitar in its case for now untill im fit for duty lol, during which i was reading about humidity and guitars.

The UK humidity is pretty high to what is recommended for guitars, so to the point.

From what I glean guitar humidity should be about 40-50 and the UK is around 80 so is it worth having just a touch of concern for my Heritage once and a while. ?

R

PS, sorry for all the guff lol :slight_smile:

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I think this covers it all
Have fun reading
Greetings

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This will draw all kinds of opinions. You’ll hear “Don’t worry about it; I pay no attention to humidity, and I’ve never had a problem.” Others (like me) will tell you that the risk isn’t worth it. By the time you realize you’re having a problem, your guitar could be severely damaged. Getting some humidifier/dehumidifier packs to put in the case is a very small investment. D’Addario humidipacks keep it stable, but removing excess moisture and adding moisture when needed.

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I think it very much depends on where you are in the world. In the UK humidity (indoors) doesn’t normally swing too wildly and should be much less than 80%. I’m in the UK and when I first got into expensive acoustics I bought a hydrometer and carefully monitored and tried and control the environment. I don’t bother these days.
In other parts of the world it can be a real problem.
If you are worried get a hydrometer they’re not very expensive, but I wouldn’t lose sleep over it in the UK.

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I’m in the UK and I got all worried about humidity when I got my first acoustic guitar so I bought a little humidity meter. I doubt that it’s 100% accurate but what it seemed show was the biggest change in humidity in my house was when it dips to maybe 30/35% in winter when the central heating dries the air. In summer it wasn’t a concern. In short I’ve decided that humidity in the UK isn’t huge problem and I don’t do anything about it… maybe some day I’ll regret that choice but not so far

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Agree. I’ve still got my first acoustic I bought in the early 90s and that’s been out on display for almost 30 years now ( :fearful:) and it’s probably aged better than me :roll_eyes:

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This post has particular interest to myself, as I had to leave my Taylor 114ce at a luthier for a neck reset, yesterday, due to humidity problems.

I live in the UK, about half a mile from the sea, in Sussex, so maybe humidity levels here may not be typical of other areas of the UK.

Within a couple of months of purchasing my guitar in August last year (2023) the action was becoming way too high. I contacted a Taylor certified luthier who recommended checking the humidity levels around the guitar. This is not something I had ever considered before. I have a (relatively) cheap Tanglewood acoustic, which has sat on a guitar stand in the lounge for around 6 years, without any issues.

When I checked the Taylor, by hanging a digital humidity meter inside the body, it was showing around 75% RH. By keeping the guitar in it’s case and using desiccant packs, I was able to bring the RH down to around 50-55%. I have subsequently installed a Taylorsense monitor in the guitar and purchased a whole house dehumidifier, which maintains 55% RH. This is running as I type, keeping the ‘guitar room’ at 55% whilst other rooms in the house are around 70%RH - we have windows open, it’s summer.

For various reasons, I have not been able to have the guitar looked at, until yesterday. The luthier (Taylor Authorised) said that, in his experience, Taylors were more susceptible to humidity issues than many other makes, and that he had 3 others in his workshop with the same problem. Fortunately, any work required should be covered by the Taylor warranty.

So to summarise; you might never have a problem with humidity but a lot will depend, I think, on your particular guitar and where you live. I would not ignore the issue, especially if you have an expensive instrument.

On a side note: I had assumed that if I had a problem with an instrument I could take it back to the store where it was purchased. I had not realised that Taylors need to go to an authorised repairer. This, it turns out, is not the same as an authorised seller! Not only was the store (a large national chain) not a Taylor repairer, they have also shut down most of their stores in the South East of the UK. My nearest Taylor service centre is 70 miles away.

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Larry @LarryR
Goodness I didn’t think we had a particular humidity problem in the UK, I am obviously not right about that.
Michael

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Where i live, Belgium, the humidity can range from 30 to 80% within a year. I used to have my guitars “in the open” in a rack, but that showed me that they were displaying problems with the neck. Just slightly though, the tuning going awry every day or so.

Having no humidtiy control system, allthoug i can monitor the situation in my “practice room annex man cave”, upon telling this to my teacher, he then gave me the advice to keep them locked in their cases, and only take out the one you will be playing that moment.

And i must say, that has helped immensly. The tuning stays great for longer periods, which indicates to me that the necks are much more stable then being out in the open.

Don’t know if this will help anybody, but it works for me.

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and where you store your guitar in your house

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Humidity swings sure have a noticeable short-term effect on my mid-range acoustic. I’ve taken it from the Nevada desert (15-20% humidity) to the foggy California coast (60-70% humidity) and have observed the neck swell, the action differ and guitar be out of tune and unstable. On returning home, it takes a couple of days for the wood to settle down. I use a home humidifier which keeps both me and my guitar more comfortable.

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What an idiot I am, I should have looked but, I’m sure my brain is just a little over cooked at the moment lol. :slight_smile:

TY

R

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:joy:

All the best and hopefully you recover quickly…being sick in the heat is double :confounded: :confounded: :confounded:
:ice_cube: :ice_cube: :ice_cube: :beverage_box: :ice_cube: :ice_cube: :ice_cube:

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Now, I had no idea the they made packs that maintained a ballance.

TY for this info :slight_smile:

R

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:ice_cube: :bath: lol

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The 82% is midnight and the peak at 91 and 92 % was 6 am today in my area of the UK. so 6 hours of pretty high saturation I think!. Although short lived its the constant wild swing that might make me pause for thought on this. !

I think in this instance I will err on the side of caution, I will put the guitar away on the weekends when my partner is home with the packs in.

R

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Hi Rachel @Libitina, maybe this has already been said and I missed it, but: just be sure you’re measuring the humidity in your house - best place is in the room you store your guitar in!

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@Libitina Rachel,

I don’t mean to scare you, but you might want to look at this topic, which describes my experience:

A few days of 70% or more humidity probably won’t hurt, but if it stretches into weeks you might have a problem.

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Yes, just looking a small hygrometer to test the house.

R.

TY

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Rachel @Libitina
As I said not aware I have in the NE of England a problem with humidity. As it happens we have one of those weather stations that measure temperature, humidity etc inside and outside. The inside sensor is in the study where my guitar resides not in case. Before I did the post this morning the inside was 57% outside 91% (it was raining outside). Tonight 57% inside outside 58%. As said not aware I have had any issue with humidity but with temperature, when I take it the guitar club particular in the winter as it is a church hall, much colder than at home it takes a while before it adjusts to the new temperature before it is worthwhile tuning.
Michael

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