mooseguy Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Short of hiring a Puka guide to fan a bucket of Himalayan ice over my vast collection of 3 acoustics, I am seriously seeking the advice of you Forum experts for the best found on board method of instrument humidification. Any and all suggestions regarding such will be greatly appreciated. Moose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertjohn Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 No problem Mooseguy, just ship 'em over to UK during the summer months. Mild and wet as you like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Pup Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I put a Herco Guitar Humidifier in each case, so far they've worked like a charm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumner77 Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Planet waves makes an inexpensive and effective sound hole device. In winter you need to refill the sponge every couple of days. Better than dampit due to the risk from dampit of putting water directly to wood. You can also get their in-case hygrometer; target 50% RH. But the best thing is to humidify the room the guitars are kept in. Depends on how fussy you are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Poor man's method: Take one of those plastic travel soap containers that snaps shut, drill some 1/8" holes in it....put a damp (not dripping wet) sponge in the box and snap shut. Wrap it with your wipe-down towel......and put it under the headstock in the case. Put your guitar in, close the lid, humidity will evenly fill the case, no need for a soundhole location....humidity naturally moves to areas of low humidity.....voila....you are humidified!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Pup Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Planet waves makes an inexpensive and effective sound hole device. In winter you need to refill the sponge every couple of days. Better than dampit due to the risk from dampit of putting water directly to wood. You can also get their in-case hygrometer; target 50% RH. But the best thing is to humidify the room the guitars are kept in. Depends on how fussy you are. I've used these before, they are good but you just have to keep an eye on them. Sometimes they start to mold, if you see a white fuzz in the holes get rid of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesLawrence Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Planet waves makes an inexpensive and effective sound hole device. In winter you need to refill the sponge every couple of days. Better than dampit due to the risk from dampit of putting water directly to wood. Yes, you do have to carefully wring out the dampits before use. BTW, there is an interesting series of youtube videos on restoring a humidity deprived damaged guitar using dampits. A very substantial crack was closed using the dampits for several days. Each part shows the progress each day. Interesting! Don't try this at home: Cheers, Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 drop of bleach in the water takes care of mold.....don't get it on your sunburst....lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Player Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 For tight spots in a case and less worry about scratching your guitar, putting a sponge in a baggie and punch several holes in the baggie. It works just as well as most humidifiers. I have used that in a past case that was very tight. Currently during the winter I use two humidifiers in each case. One by the headstock and one by the neck heel. I use the small plastic "Glad" containers with two small sponges in each case(I can cut 3 small ones from each large sponge I buy). Just rinse the sponge, wring it out so it is moist and not dripping, pop into the Glad container with holes in the top lid and put in the cases. I change them weekly during the winter and when it is really dry, I may even add a dampit in the soundhole. During the summer the humdity in my guitar room has been consistentantly between 45 and 55% RH which is perfect, but winter and furnace season is on the doorstep now. (It was 33 degrees above 0 this morning when I got up!) I always check each case during the winter with a small hygrometer I purchased at Walmart and they always are right around 50% RH. One last thing that is sure to help this winter is the addition of an aquarium provided by my son's girlfriend. I don't really care about the fish but I am helping to keep them alive as my wife has threatend to throw the thing away once the fish all die as she hates the additional electricity being burned by it. I like looking at them while I play some, but my guitars love the added moisture being thrown into the room from the tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooseguy Posted October 21, 2008 Author Share Posted October 21, 2008 To My Humidity Experts: Thank you one and all-I just fired the PuKa guide with the ice bucket and will try your very appreciated suggestions with the proper cautions as mentioned. Would it enhance the humidity problem if any material used was soaked in tequila? Regards, Moose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodSkin&Steel Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Just purchased 2 Oasis humidifiers - they sit in the body and look like a stiff dirty sock. Filled with gel crystals that look like one of my kids failed science projects. As it dries out, the whole thing shrivels up like a dead worm. It might not be humidifying my guitars - but it sure is cool to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodehopper Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I am a big fan of getting a smallish room humidifier. I have been using one similar to this one: Humidfier Makes your guitars happy and it helps nose and throat through the dry times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajsc Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I use a Planet waves when traveling with a guitar, & a room humidifier when at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 No problem Mooseguy' date=' just ship 'em over to UK during the summer months. Mild and wet as you like.[/quote'] It'll smell like limes when you get it back though... if'n you do get it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooseguy Posted October 21, 2008 Author Share Posted October 21, 2008 To All Kindly Advisers: I am overwhelmed by all your really appreciated advice. I shall pass on my experience with the method chosen. Regards, Moose P.S.To Johnt: I hope that you, yours and Fred are surviving the credit crunch. Now that I can retire on the interest on my debts, I shall not cease to search for the next impossible acquisition-a super rich nimpho with a to die wine cellar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suburude63 Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I use 3 of these they are the best I have seen! They use a Gortex style material no!! Leaks!! They shrink as they expell moisture. Very very good units! They are sound hole humidifiers BTW. http://www.oasishumidifiers.com/vg_review_2006.html suburude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarooster52 Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 It gets nasty dry in the winters here. I use a sound hole humidifier for the acoustic. I also humidify the whole room where all the guitars are stored or the fret ends will stick out like razors. It has been difficult to keep the humidity to about 45%. The controls on humidifiers are just way out and can't be trusted. I've got a Planet Waves Hygrometer that I use to monitor the storage closet and this year I will manually humidify the room as well as I can. All guitars are in cases so there is no direct exposure to the humidifier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthonyc007 Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I keep the PW soundhole humidifiers in all of 'em. And when the Santa Anas blow and RG < 30%, I flip on the small room humidifier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballcorner Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I'm no expert, but I use the following to keep a guitar room up (or down) to snuff: Summer - air conditioning and a dehumidifier set to 45% Fall - Dehumidifier set to 50% Winter (when heat gets turned on, which is October) - a Vicks cool mist humidifier monitored with a hygrometer and a room temperature of 68 F. In the spring when the heat comes on less and rain brings humidity up, I use the dehumidifier set at 50% as I do in the fall. When transporting guitars in dry months (November to May here in Nova Scotia) I use the Planet Waves sound hole model with distilled water. Distilled water prevents the mold someone talked about earlier. I keep the blinds closed in the guitar room during daylight hours so they don't get hot from direct sunlight and I try not to take them to many places where conditions are inappropriate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesLawrence Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Added links to my previous post about youtube videos from TaylorGuitars for those interested. Cheers, Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Walker Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I'm a user of the Planet Waves product myself, but really like the soapbox method described by onewileyfool. Very cool. The stuff I learn on here...wow Nice thread - thanks all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeebee Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Any second opinions??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertjohn Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 It'll smell like limes when you get it back though... if'n you do get it back. Hey Tommy. You supply the Tequila and sugar, I'll bring the De Kuyper Triple Sec and we're having a party! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajsc Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 "When transporting guitars in dry months (November to May here in Nova Scotia) I use the Planet Waves sound hole model with distilled water. Distilled water prevents the mold someone talked about earlier." I use distilled water also!! You are absolutely right about that one. Thanks for mentioning that!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 OH... Humidification... 35mm film canister (remember those), perforated, stuffed with a paper towel, suspended from the E and e string with 14 ga solid core wire with plastic insulation coating intact (no scratches). Drown in bathroom sink twice a week during winter months. Shake to remove excess, dry, hang. I gotta get a pic of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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