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Guitar Humidifiers in Summer; what are you doing?


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I live right by Washington, D.C., where we get some of the most humid Summers this side of the tropics. You'd think there'd be no issue keeping your Guitars humidified, but for the fact that everyone runs AC all Summer long, which sucks the moisture right out of the air. I keep a small bucket on my front porch, to catch the drip from the AC, and use the overflow to water the plants on the porch. It's that wet . . .

 

For my Acoustics, I keep two different humidifiers in the case pick box; a Herco Guardfather, the round one with the clay insert, and a Planet Waves Guitar Humidifier, the kind that's supposed to hang between the strings. They're nothing fancy, basically a sponge in a plastic housing, but they're cheap enough. For my solid-body Electrics, I keep one Planet Waves humidifier in the pick box.

 

So far, this seems to be working for me, but I wonder if there's anything else I should be doing? I can't really run a humidifier in my Music room, although in Winter, I keep a pan of water under the old-school radiator. FWIW, all of my Guitars live in HSC's, and I don't tend to leave them sitting out of the case, unless I'm actively playing them, so they're pretty well protected.

 

We're in the middle of a long run of 90-degree+ days, with a heat index of 105-110, and more in sight. 2020 will probably be a record-breaking Summer, which is why I'm thinking about this. We usually get a break where we can turn off the AC and open the windows every so often, but lately, it's just been evil.

 

Given that we're all in slightly different parts of the planet, not just different parts of the U.S., what are the rest of you doing to humidify your Guitars, and what issues do you run into where you live?

"Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King

 

http://www.novparolo.com

 

https://thewinstonpsmithproject.bandcamp.com

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I have only one valuable all solid wood acoustic guitar, a Yamaha nylon string hybrid.

We usually get a warm dry spell or two during summer, so far it hasn't gotten hot enough for AC to not be optional. Somehow despite being so close to the coastal waters and surrounded by greenery - summers are not very humid. Winters it is typically pretty dry indoors, the heat goes on. I bought a crock pot last spring that I can fill with water and allow to simmer along, humidifying my relatively small space.

 

My acoustic 6 and 12 string are both Rainsongs, I don't have to worry about humidity or temperature to any degree with either of them.

Most of my guitars are solid bodies.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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I bought a humidity/temp gauge from Amazon and keep it in my music room. It has been a very useful tool in monitoring my music room and closet that I keep my guitars in. I leave both doors open so that the room stays temp controlled, like the same comfort as I feel in the house. I too keep all of my guitars in their HS Cases when not in use. In the summer, I have a swamp cooler that puts moisture in the house until the temp inside rises to 79 or 80, then I kick on the AC around 5pm. About 9pm I turn off the AC and fire the swamp (evaporator) cooler back on till bed time. The AC will dry things out in the summer as we already have a dry heat.

 

I monitor the humidity in the room year round and keep it between 30 and 50% (which it pretty much stays at without any help from me). If it's out of this range I leave the guitars in their cases that have solid spruce and cedar tops. I can take out my LP solid body or my Epi laminate top, or a Strat, if it's a little above 50. I worry more about my hollow and semi-hollow and acoustic guitars as I don't want them to crack. I will take them out once in a blue moon when the humidity is not in range for parties, gigs, open mics, etc. I try not to play out doors when any rain is possible or when it's hot. I live in Northern California in an area where humidity is not usually a problem. But, I still keep an eye on it. The humidity gauge is a great thing to have in your practice room and/or storage closet. A cheap worthwhile investment IMHO. :cool:

Take care, Larryz
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I live in the Sonoran desert, no need for dehumidifiers here, and I never used one even when I lived in a place where the humidity was always high, never had any humidity problems with any of my guitars.
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