Moisture/Humidity Tester

[BluesKing777]

So is there a moisture/humidity tester that the techies use to see if, say, the guitar is over or under humidified?

 

Or do the techies guess and use the same unreliable plastic gadgets we have in our guitar cases?

 

 

I was just wondering if there was a gadget that you contact the guitar with, like a battery tester, but for humidity.

 

 

 

 

Here are some that they use for walls/floors:

 

http://www.woodmoisturemetershop.com/

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

[rar]

So is there a moisture/humidity tester that the techies use to see if, say, the guitar is over or under humidified?

I don't know about techies, but they have them at the Gibson plant. The main use is to check the moisture levels of woods in store to make sure they're ready for use. They also check whether guitars that have apparently been improperly humidified, based on the damage they exhibit, have actually been mistreated or not.

 

I remember a case a few years ago on the forum where someone swore up and down that his guitar had been kept between 45% and 50% humidity at all times, and so the problems he was seeing could not possibly be due to low humidity. The guitar was at the factory when I visited shortly after, and one of the guys showed me it's moisture level using one of the non-invasive hydrometers: it was at equilibrium level for a bit under 30% humidity. Instead of doing the neck reset the owner was demanding, the plan was to let it sit a month or two until the moisture was back where it should be, and then send it back. They figured the guy would wind up abusing it again, and so he'd eventually be just as unhappy again, but they just couldn't convince him that he'd simply let the guitar dry out too much.

 

-- Bob R

[BluesKing777]

Thanks RAR.

 

 

 

Do you know what the gadget was, and can we get one? I better have a look at StewMac.

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

[BluesKing777]

The ones I have seen so far are so expensive that.......ain't happening!

 

 

What set me going was the belief that my gadgetry was protecting me and my guitars, only to find some discrepancies in the readings, new batteries, more discrepancies.

 

 

As another matter of interest, I put the cheapo PW hydro in one of my guitar cases - it read 37% humidity ( I had the gas heater on ), when I put it in the neck joint area of the case. When I checked 8 hours or so later, it read 44% humidity straight out of the case......

 

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

[Dave F]

I believe the wood of the guitar plays just as big of a role

I had a J200 with the humidity problem but my other 20 guitars in the same environment did not including another J200 although it is rosewood and not maple. I do have a J185 maple with no problems

Gibson treated me great and replaced the guitar. No problems with the new one

[rar]

Do you know what the gadget was, and can we get one?

For "casual" use with guitars, I'd think you'd want a non-invasive hydrometer capable of measuring the moisture content of thin wooden plates (such as a guitar top). Most hydrometers are designed to measure the moisture content somewhat below the surface, which would mean that you'd have to measure at the neck block (or some other place that is relatively substantial). If I were in the market for one, I guess I'd check with the major manufactures -- explain the application and ask them what model, if any, was appropriate.

 

-- Bob R