Humidifying Semi-Hollow Guitars

[JM2112]

I'm new to the world of semi-hollow guitars. What's the general view about humidifying semi-hollows, especially during the winter months?

[Aster1]

Semi-hollow like a Gretsch Duo-Jet or like an Epi Casino? I keep all my guitars in 45% humidity whether solid, semi, or Hollow. Electric or Acoustic. Seems like the neck relief does better if nothing else but why chance things I always say.

[JM2112]

Semi-hollow like a Gretsch Duo-Jet or like an Epi Casino? I keep all my guitars in 45% humidity whether solid, semi, or Hollow. Electric or Acoustic. Seems like the neck relief does better if nothing else but why chance things I always say.

 

I was referring to Gibson ES style guitars.

[JimR56]

Semi-hollow like a Gretsch Duo-Jet or like an Epi Casino? I keep all my guitars in 45% humidity whether solid, semi, or Hollow. Electric or Acoustic. Seems like the neck relief does better if nothing else but why chance things I always say.

 

The Casino is a hollowbody guitar, like a 330. Semi-hollow refers to instruments with a solid center block (Riviera, Sheraton, 335, etc). The term is often mis-used these days, as it doesn't make sense to use the same term to refer to a Casino and a Riviera, imo.

 

Unless your conditions are extreme, I wouldn't be worried about it. Humidifying is traditionally a factor primarily with carved, solid-top instruments where cracking along grain lines (spruce, etc) is a concern. The general rule of thumb is that if you're reasonably comfortable in the environment where the guitar is stored, the guitar will be fine.

[JimR56]

I was referring to Gibson ES style guitars.

Sorry, but this is another growing pet peeve of mine. "ES" should not be substituted for semi-hollow. For decades, Gibson has made models with the ES prefix which bear little resemblance to the 335-345-355 series of guitars. The ES-335 is so popular these days, everybody wants to shorten the description to "ES". I object to that, having owned and loved so many other ES models over the years.

 

End of rant. :)

[Versatile]

A lot depends on location and relative ambient humidity...

 

Temperature also plays a part in the equation

 

Personally I would be unhappy putting wet rags inside a guitar case...some people do...

 

Being mindful of electrics/corrosion etc...

 

Some arid regions require special precautions

 

Talking to local musicians with experience can be worthwhile...

 

V

 

[badbluesplayer]

Yes - Keep all your guitars in a controlled environment if you can. The semi-hollows aren't that sensitive. The only thing I worry about is making sure the fretboard doesn't dry out so badly that I don't get fret sprout or cracked binding. Most guitars will never have a problem with fret sprout, but some will and it's difficult to see that the problem is developing until it's too late.

[capmaster]

Yes - Keep all your guitars in a controlled environment if you can. The semi-hollows aren't that sensitive. The only thing I worry about is making sure the fretboard doesn't dry out so badly that I don't get fret sprout or cracked binding. Most guitars will never have a problem with fret sprout, but some will and it's difficult to see that the problem is developing until it's too late.

Sadly, the latter does apply in particular to those instruments where a cure is expensive, and the guitar will never be the same as before once the damage is done.

 

I am monitoring temperatur and humidity with six temperature/humidity gauges all the time, and the four portable ones are in some of the cases during transportation. These and the stationary one in the rehearsal room also tell me the minimum and maximum values afterwards.

 

There never has been a need of humidifying guitars or rooms during thirty-three years. When opening the windows during winter for a few minutes twice a day, and for a certain time thereafter, I keep all of them in their cases.

[BigKahune]

... The semi-hollows aren't that sensitive. The only thing I worry about is making sure the fretboard doesn't dry out so badly that I don't get fret sprout or cracked binding. Most guitars will never have a problem with fret sprout, but some will and it's difficult to see that the problem is developing until it's too late.

 

+1

 

 

.

[JM2112]

I've always kept an Oasis humidifier in my all my acoustic and classical guitars when it starts getting cold and dry, mostly because of the thin wood construction and exposed unfinished wood. When not being played I keep my guitars in their cases and the latches closed. I have two spare Oasis humidifiers, but they are too tall to place standing up in the case since these guitars are thinner. I may put one laying down in a zip lock bag and leave it open a bit with the temps they are calling for the next few days.

 

I've never used any humidifier with the electric solid body guitars, and I do a fret board conditioning and string change in the late fall and spring.

 

With a major cold snap coming in I was interested to hear how other folks treat their semi-hollows.

[BigKahune]

... With a major cold snap coming in I was interested to hear how other folks treat their semi-hollows.

 

When we get a cold snap - and man, it's been cold here in MI - I put an Oasis in the case. I just lay it that area under the headstock or between the heel/body and the storage compartment as I'm mostly concerned about fret sprout.

 

 

.

[JM2112]

When we get a cold snap - and man, it's been cold here in MI - I put an Oasis in the case. I just lay it that area under the headstock or between the heel/body and the storage compartment as I'm mostly concerned about fret sprout.

 

 

.

 

Yeah, you folks are really in the deep freeze right now! It'll be moving in my area tomorrow.

 

Thanks, that's what I'll do as well.

[L5Larry]

Once again we have an environmentally/geographically specific question, and the OP did not fill out the "Location" area of the profile page. A "major cold snap coming"... that's 50'F to someone in Miami, or -10'F in the northern US, not to mention the specific environmental conditions of our International members.

 

To ALL members.... Fill out your location, this information is REALLY helpful in answering MANY question that are posed here on the Gibson forums.

[Aster1]

The Casino is a hollowbody guitar, like a 330. Semi-hollow refers to instruments with a solid center block (Riviera, Sheraton, 335, etc). The term is often mis-used these days, as it doesn't make sense to use the same term to refer to a Casino and a Riviera, imo.

 

Unless your conditions are extreme, I wouldn't be worried about it. Humidifying is traditionally a factor primarily with carved, solid-top instruments where cracking along grain lines (spruce, etc) is a concern. The general rule of thumb is that if you're reasonably comfortable in the environment where the guitar is stored, the guitar will be fine.

 

I know a Duo-Jet is Chambered not Semi-Hollow, but I was wanting to know what was being described as Semi-hollow (with a wood brace thru the middle) or like a thin hollow as a Casino maybe.

 

Thanks for clearing up the info as sometimes it gets confusing whether or not F or close F hole electric are semi or hollow.

[capmaster]

Once again we have an environmentally/geographically specific question, and the OP did not fill out the "Location" area of the profile page. A "major cold snap coming"... that's 50'F to someone in Miami, or -10'F in the northern US, not to mention the specific environmental conditions of our International members.

 

To ALL members.... Fill out your location, this information is REALLY helpful in answering MANY question that are posed here on the Gibson forums.

Very good point, L5Larry.

 

For those who don't want to specify their location exactly, I think approximate geographic data will do for rating the climate. In my case, they are circa 48° north, 11° east, 565 metres above sea level.

[capmaster]

I know a Duo-Jet is Chambered not Semi-Hollow, but I was wanting to know what was being described as Semi-hollow (with a wood brace thru the middle) or like a thin hollow as a Casino maybe.

 

Thanks for clearing up the info as sometimes it gets confusing whether or not F or close F hole electric are semi or hollow.

Regardless of body design and construction, shrinking fretboards and thus fret sprout will affect all guitars with unfinished fretboards the same, and those with finished fretboards slightly delayed. So I think it is a good idea to take care for instruments of any make.

[Spoonful]

I just got done checking the Oasis humidifiers I put in my guitar cases in mid December. They all needed filling. I also run room humidifiers which typically give me between 42 - 45% relative humidity. I live in Ohio. It gets cold and dry in the winter.

 

I use the case humidifiers for my acoustics and semi-hollows. Interesting that even though the rooms where I keep my guitars are humidified, that the case humidifiers needed filling. Either the guitars are soaking up the moister or the cases are.

 

I do agree that this does help keep the instruments stable and prevents fret sprouts. I'm not seeing any downside so far.

[capmaster]

I just got done checking the Oasis humidifiers I put in my guitar cases in mid December. They all needed filling. I also run room humidifiers which typically give me between 42 - 45% relative humidity. I live in Ohio. It gets cold and dry in the winter.

 

I use the case humidifiers for my acoustics and semi-hollows. Interesting that even though the rooms where I keep my guitars are humidified, that the case humidifiers needed filling. Either the guitars are soaking up the moister or the cases are.

 

I do agree that this does help keep the instruments stable and prevents fret sprouts. I'm not seeing any downside so far.

Neither guitar nor case are soaking. Their humidity is not very different from that in the room. It's all about physics, in particular mass action law and thermodynamics. This way they make easy money selling humidifiers. Any humidifier will get dry under any reasonable circumstances, even if guitar, case, furniture, speaker cabinets or whatever are long rotten and moldered.

[budglo]

Neither guitar nor case are soaking. Their humidity is not very different from that in the room. It's all about physics, in particular mass action law and thermodynamics. This way they make easy money selling humidifiers. Any humidifier will get dry under any reasonable circumstances, even if guitar, case, furniture, speaker cabinets or whatever are long rotten and moldered.

I have 2 acoustics so I keep my guitar room humidified or dehumidified to around 45 percent. I noticed all my electrics are more stable and stay in tune alot better.

[JM2112]

Once again we have an environmentally/geographically specific question, and the OP did not fill out the "Location" area of the profile page. A "major cold snap coming"... that's 50'F to someone in Miami, or -10'F in the northern US, not to mention the specific environmental conditions of our International members.

 

To ALL members.... Fill out your location, this information is REALLY helpful in answering MANY question that are posed here on the Gibson forums.

 

 

Ummm, next time you quote someone, make sure it's the entire quote and not a partial one. I wrote: With a major cold snap coming in I was interested to hear how other folks treat their semi-hollows.

 

In other words, I wanted to hear what other people are doing.

[capmaster]

I have 2 acoustics so I keep my guitar room humidified or dehumidified to around 45 percent. I noticed all my electrics are more stable and stay in tune alot better.

This seems sensible because despite of the necks tend to behave about the same, hollowbodies react much faster to environmental changes. Massive or semi-hollow guitar bodies will always lag, typically with more delay than their necks.

[powerwagonjohn]

I humidify all my solid wood guitars and my laminated guitars. I have several older laminated guitars [56 ES225, 72 Guild Starfire] That have cracks in outer layer of the laminated wood so I humidify them also. The only ones I don't humidify are my solid bodies. I try to keep the whole house humidified up here in the MN winters, esp. with wood heat.

Thanks John

[Drog]

I keep my guitars at 45% humidity, for all of them ( including my Les Pauls). It not only saves them from fret buzz or sharp edges, but from cracks due to the guitar shifting. Too much or too little humidity is a bad thing. So get a humidifier or dehumidifier, depending on where you live and the season. The other bonus, your instruments will stay in tune longer.

 

Living in western Canada, I have have seen my fair share of the damage that humidity can have. Take care of your girls!!!

[Ohferchristsake]

I live in Northern Canada and have learned the hard way what damage zero percent humidity brings to ANY AND EVERY stringed instrument.

First hard lesson;

Humidifying a room does not adequately humidify the guitars in it.  It may be sufficient for solid bodies but for acoustics/semi acoustics it won't work unless you humidify up a point where mushrooms are growing out of your walls.

 

Second hard lesson:

The only way I've found that works is to use an oasis type humidifier that works with a gel and NOT a sponge. What a sponge gives, it also takes away a when it's dry. 

Third hard lesson;

The guitar must be stored in its case with an oasis O-H5 (the big one) humidifier. Even when adequately humidified, the guitar will still exhaust the humidifier every 5-7 days.

That's ok..you can't over humidify a guitar as long as you do it gradually as in the above mentioned strategy..do not use 2-4 humidifiers.

Fourth hard lesson

Case humidifiers don't work.

Humidifyinge headstock or dropping a humidifier in the case is useless. When you close the case, the soundhole is blocked by the case. Humidity can't get in. The result of a drying guitar that has its top under pressure and braced, is that the sound board in front of the bridge will drop and the bridge will tilt forward and down causing the notes to buzz as you ascend the neck. This will happen either shortly before or after the top sheet develops horizontal cracks.

There is zero benefit to humidifying the headstock..unless rusty strings are your jam.

Last hard lesson (so far)

Nobody makes humidifiers for semi acoustic guitars..or at least not ones that actually work.

What's needed is one that fits into the f hole in the top of the lower bout. (The f hole on the other side of the electronics). you'll have to make your own until somebody figures it out.

I would close by saying that a properly humidified guitar will resist drying out to the point out damage for a very long time..months perhaps.

So room humidification may act to slow the rate of drying enough that after a couple months, ambient temperatures rise high enough to carry sufficient water, depending on where you live..where I live, no..not a chance LOL

Edited November 1, 2020 by Ohferchristsake

[jdgm]

Excellent info, very good post. Thanks.