Darcy H Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Just wondering if anyone has any solutions for higher action due to humidity in the summer months? My Taylor is only a year old so no doubt still settling in, and I do what I can to limit it's exposure to summer's humidity, but the action still pulls high enough to make playing something like Hendrix's "Wait Until Tomorrow" difficult, although the cowboy chord stuff isn't a problem. I check the relief but it hasn't changed much, it seems like the bridge or body itself is rising. I was considering making a second bridge for the summer months to lower the action, try lighter strings, tuning down a half or full step, until things start to dry out again. Just wondering what people do? www.myspace.com/darcyhoover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miroslav Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Run your A/C...or a dehumidifier. My studio is cooled 24/7, which keeps things pretty manageable/safe. Just yesterday I went down the row of all my guitars and checked their tuning...they were all on the sharp side (the effects of humidity and the wood swelling up). I tuned them all back down to keep the tension from building up. Yeah...these last couple of weeks, the humidity has been very excessive. miroslav - miroslavmusic.com "Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillWelcome Home Studios Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Just be sure not to go the opposite direction... the greatest accidental damage you can do to an instrument would be to allow it to dry out. you might contact a local luthier to have your instrument inspected and properly set up. Bill "I believe that entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot." Steve Martin Show business: we're all here because we're not all there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strategery Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Yeah, I live in the South and was wondering if I needed to buy a humidifier for my A/C'd studio. Any comments? Randy "Just play!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillWelcome Home Studios Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Guitars (and people ) like a relative humidity of at least 40% or more. I had a humidifier and air cleaner put into the studio when I had the (at the time, new) HVAC installed. I've got a whole house humidifier for my new place. You can check the humidity of your home with a radio shack piece (I bought a combo indoor/outdoor thermometer and humdidity gauge, about $40), and your luthier will have a moisture gauge to check your guitar. Bill "I believe that entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot." Steve Martin Show business: we're all here because we're not all there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fumblyfingers Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 I have that Radio Shack one also....atomic clock, hygrometer, thermometer, date, alarm etc...comes with the remote sensor for the hygrometer...around $40. I also have a small humidifier that I paid about the same for and set it to 50%. It works well other than having to remember to fill it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gifthorse Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 I never worry about humidity. I worry about dry air.. That will mess up everything. Especially if you let it get humid then it gets dry.. http://flagshipmile.dmusic.com/ http://www.myspace.com/gifthorse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darcy H Posted August 7, 2007 Author Share Posted August 7, 2007 Thanks guys, I live pretty much on the ocean, it's always damp, and I've never seen the humidity below 40% in the house, even in winter (I've got one of those Radio Shack deals as well), so I don't think I have much to worry about with getting too dry. Right now it's around 80%, and has been in that neighborhood or higher for the past month. I've sort of braced myself for the seasonal variance, but was wondering if anyone bothers with seasonal set-ups or anything to offset the effects, besides adding humidity when it's dry. My Tele on the other hand, is rock solid, it doesn't seem to care one way or the other. www.myspace.com/darcyhoover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darcy H Posted August 7, 2007 Author Share Posted August 7, 2007 ...and I have the dehumidifier running steady. Perhaps I need a bigger one, and central air...the whole kittenkabbodle! www.myspace.com/darcyhoover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillWelcome Home Studios Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 .. but was wondering if anyone bothers with seasonal set-ups or anything to offset the effects, ... This comes up in conversarion among my friends fairly often, because until 1990 or so, we didn't give a s%$t and our instruments were fine. Now, if we don't treat them with kid gloves, they disintegrate. (sigh....) The seasonal adjustment is not uncommon. Some guys have their luthier make a pair of bridges for their acoustics. (shrug...) I play my Washburn most, and it seems happy most of the time. I keep the Santa Cruz in the case and it seems to like to get checked out periodically. I don't play the J160e much, but it seems like a tank, nothing bothers it. Bill "I believe that entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot." Steve Martin Show business: we're all here because we're not all there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fumblyfingers Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 My friend Syd Kitchen took his guitar to Vegas,,,being from South Africa he had no experience with that kind of dry heat. It cracked his $7000 Maingard guitar right at the seam that runs through the center of the top of the guitar behind the bridge...he said there was a gap of like 1/16"-1/8" or so. He was so pissed it ruined his stay there, he cut that leg of the trip short and split back to LA. When he got there he opened the guitar case to look at it and the gap had closed back up.....he says it plays fine, he cannot notice anything. I am positive when he gets back to SA he will take the guitar to Marc to let him have a look at it. On the flip side....I took a guitar to South Africa once when I went there. When I got to my room I took the guitar out and leaned it against the bed and then left the room for a while. When I got back I about pooped. My guitar neck was sopping wet!!! It looked like someone had poured a jug of water on it...which is what crossed my mind right off. It was the neck giving of water. It is really humid there...perhaps the neck was so dry it kept absorbing water and it oozed from it. Trippy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strategery Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 WOW...unbelievable...on both accounts!! Randy "Just play!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darcy H Posted August 7, 2007 Author Share Posted August 7, 2007 Ordered a couple of bridge saddles today, I'll set one up for wet and one for not-so-wet. The guitar is actually noticeably heavier from the moisture. Ah the joys of living on the sea!!! On the bright side, I can be surfing in :15 minutes after work! www.myspace.com/darcyhoover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillWelcome Home Studios Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 ...I can be surfing in :15 minutes after work! I was talking to Jean Goodall about their shop (in Hawaii)... they don't have windows, they can hear the surf, and the guys often come to work with their boards on their vehicles. (sigh...) Bill "I believe that entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot." Steve Martin Show business: we're all here because we're not all there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warthog Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 I've posted these a few times before: The Effects of Low Humidity The Humidity Chamber The Humidity Solution Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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