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humidity and wooden instruments

stuartk

stuartk

Super Member
I've recently been reading a lot about the care and feeding of musical instruments, and one thing that comes up is the proper humidity for the guitar and other wooden instruments.

Does anyone here use a humidifier for their guitar? A dehumidifer?

Does it only apply to acoustic guitars, or to solid-body electrics too?

TIA
 
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Solid bodies generally have less problems with humidity and temp changes than acoustics, bolt on necks even less so than ones with set necks. Knew a guy that ruined a fairly expensive acoustic by sticking "silica gel" packets into the case where it stayed. Dried the wood on that sucker right out.
 
Celt said:
Solid bodies generally have less problems with humidity and temp changes than acoustics, bolt on necks even less so than ones with set necks. Knew a guy that ruined a fairly expensive acoustic by sticking "silica gel" packets into the case where it stayed. Dried the wood on that sucker right out.
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Taylor guitars makes a big thing out of maintaining the proper humidity, and they make it sound like most of the common problems with guitars are due to the guitar being too dry.

I think I want to get one of those digital hygrometers so that I'll at least know what things are like in my environment.

There are a bunch of them being sold for use with guitars, but I found one at Radio Shack that looks like it might be even better.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...kw=hygrometer&kw=hygrometer&parentPage=search

I could keep track of the humidity in my house in general, and stick the remote sensor inside the guitar case. :)

It costs more than what I paid for the guitar, but I think it will be useful to know what the RH in my house is, so it's dual-purpose. hehe

"It's for the house, honey, not just for my guitar!" :)
 
Solid-body electrics don't have much problem with humidity changes, because almost no raw wood is exposed. You had better consider your 'Country Gentleman', your ES375, or your 'New Yorker', to be just as vulnerable to a too-dry environment, as your D-18.
 
luvvinvinyl said:
Solid-body electrics don't have much problem with humidity changes, because almost no raw wood is exposed. You had better consider your 'Country Gentleman', your ES375, or your 'New Yorker', to be just as vulnerable to a too-dry environment, as your D-18.
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Are the finishes typically used on guitars, especially older ones, really impervious to moisture?

I know that a lot of solid-body electrics are (or at least were) finished with automotive lacquers. I'm guessing that those don't pass moisture to any great extent.

I would also tend to suspect that solid-body electrics _can_ dry out over long periods of time, and that it's then a real bear to re-humidify them, since there is little raw wood exposed as you point out.

The fretboard is often raw wood, so that would be an area that could dry out and cause the entire neck to change shape.

There is also some variance between guitars depending upon whether things like the inside of the control compartment or the recesses for a tremolo are finished.

I just found some info on lacquer and on checking. It evidently can be caused by humidity changes. Once you've got checking, it would seem that it would be even easier for the wood to dry out.

http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/finishes.htm
 
Checked lacquer will slightly increase the propensity for moisture loss, but still nowhere near the rate of loss in an acoustic or semi-acoustic body.

Fingerboards only really exert force on a neck longitudinally, as there is not enough force generated in the thickness or width to overcome the mass of the neck. Shrinkage of the length of the fingerboard could cause some bowing of the neck, but that is what the truss rod was put there to correct.

the nice thing about the hollow-body guitars is yes they do lose moisture content fairly quickly, but it can be restored fairly easily, as well. What you don't want to do is store them in a damp environment and have the wood take up too much moisture.

When joints swell, that can lead to all sorts of trouble.:scratch2:
 
Older electrics used more cost effective nitrocellulose finishes rather than automotive lacquers. Although humidity is a much more critical factor with acoustic instruments, it still has an effect (along with temperature) on the wood used in even more modern electric guitars. I find myself constantly having to tweak the truss rod on my Fender Jazz Basses one way or the other depending on the Weather D'Jour. One day it perfect and two days later there's fret buzz near the nut or it''s gone the other way and the action has increased so that you need gorilla fingers to play.

When I played string bass in the high school concert orchestra, one of the favorite tricks to ensure small string and woodwind instruments at least got some sort of moisture was to place a few fresh orange rinds in an old cut-off nylon stocking and toss it in the case. Even absorbing that little bit of moisture used to make a difference and keep the wood from cracking or warping. Nothing fancy and easily replaced when the rinds would dry out. (Folks use that trick to keep pipe tobacco moist too.)
 
Arthritis and guitars is a lousy mix!
I know (unfortunately) from first hand (no pun intended) experience.
I'd say my best shredding days are over.....except I never had any "best shredding days" to begin with!?

Steve
 
gearhound said:
Arthritis and guitars is a lousy mix!
I know (unfortunately) from first hand (no pun intended) experience.
I'd say my best shredding days are over.....except I never had any "best shredding days" to begin with!?

Steve
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I used to be a pretty good bass player, but arthritis and a mild stroke took care of that years ago. I still play, but my meter is off and the slop factor kicks in from time to time. It would help if I'd practice more.
 
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