Danielle Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Hey there every one I have a new acoustic Guitar in my collection now, its a "Gibson Hummingbird made in Montana, and it came with a Humidifier , I live on the east coast where the humidity has been running in the low 30 recently I have been refilling it once a week is that the recommended time or should I do something different . This is my first year caring for a valuable guitar. Any thoughts on the subject would be very welcome Danielle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Player Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Hi Danielle.... Welcome and big congrats on your new bird! What you need to know is what the humidity level in your house or more importantly, the room you keep your guitar in. I live in Minnesota and during the winter with the furnace running constantly, the humidity in my music room drops to around 20-22% RH. I keep track of it with a small $7.00 hygrometer I purchased at Walmart. (They are in the outdoor thermometer section). It is small enough to keep in my guitar cases or it has a magnet on the back and I can keep it out in the room. Every so often I will leave it in one of my cases to monitor the humidity for a day. If my guitars are above 40%, I am ok. At 30% you most certainly need humidity in your guitar. I also keep at least one or two additional humidifiers in each case (depending on space) and only that way can I get the humidity up to around 40-45% in the case. Again, during the winter, I keep my guitars stored in the cases as there is no way for me to keep my whole house between 40-60% RH which is where guitars are happiest and have the least chance to crack. I make my case humidifiers by using either a baggie with holes poked in it or some small plastic Glad containers with holes poked through in several places. I then put a couple small sponge pieces (cut from a larger sponge) in each container and put one by the headstock and one by the neck heel. That way the humidity also helps the fretboard and neck wood. It has worked well that way for years and I have not had any guitars crack on me. Make sure when re-wetting the sponges to get all the excess water out where the sponge is not dripping before putting it in the Glad container or baggie. I make it a weekly deal to refill the humidifiers. Sometimes the "Dampit" soundhole humidifiers need to be re-wet after 2-3 days which I also monitor as I play the guitars daily. Some people use only distilled water, but I have never had a problem using regular tap water. During the summer the humidity in my music room is usually in the 45-55% range which is perfect so I can leave my solid wood acoustic guitars out on their stands and not have to use any humidifiers. I usually leave my Strat and Laminate semi-hollow guitars out during the winter with no adverse effects. Here are a couple photos of my homemade humidifiers in my Gibson AJ case. (Just so you know, you may need to refresh your screen to see the photos full size. For some reason they show up tiny on this forum the first time they load many times.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryp58 Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Nice post, TP! 'Nuff said without over-indulging!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr newhaven Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 yeah i developed a slight finish crack in my LG-2 3/4 and after hydrating it for a few weeks straight...the finish crack closed up and the guitar sounds better than ever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodehopper Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 The other option is to simply humidify the room / house. Not only does that mean that your guitars stay at a constant RH but you will feel better too. Save yourself the winter dry skin and dry nose and throat. I have used a Honeywell QuietCare 11 Gallon Console Humidifier for over 2 years now and other than cleaning ad changing filters it runs and runs with out any problems. It has a digital control and I set it for about 45% RH and it monitors the RH and cycles on and off as needed. I also keep two Hygrometers near where I keep my guitars as a double - triple check. The humidifier seems fairly accurate and depending on season I see a variation between 42% during the hot dry summer and about 50% RH spring and fall, but with the advantage of no rapid changes. For a little over $100 it is a good deal and my Wife and I feel better in the house too. Definitely more comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Player Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I would love to be able to humidify my whole house, or even my music room but with vaulted ceilings, open door ways and over 3200 square feet of living area on 5 levels to fill, there is just no way to do it. That is why I use the case humidifiers. I like my music room too much to change to a small bedroom with a door I can close, just to leave my guitars out so I bite the bullet and do my weekly maintenance to keep the cases humidified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkharmony Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I make my own "humidifiers," as well, but I've found the glad containers to be too big. I use travel soap cases. Abotu a $1 each. Drill a bunch holes and fill it with a sponge. Done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Player Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Here is a great little tutorial put out by Bryan Kimsey on how to properly make a "Baggie" style humidifier. I use this in my LG1 case as it is too tight a fit for my "Glad" container style that I keep in my Taylor and AJ's cases. (Figures, it's a Martin hardshell case that came with my LG1 when I bought it...... ) How to make a Baggie Humidifier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkharmony Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CZJNFK/ref=oss_product http://www.amazon.com/Caliber-III-Digital-Thermometer-Hygrometer/dp/B0007W1EA6/ref=pd_sim_dbs_k_1 http://www.amazon.com/Little-Havana-Hygrometer/dp/B0009HHDSG/ref=sr_1_23?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1265743877&sr=8-23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerBuckeye Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Just a word to the wise--- Not all plastics are safe with nitrocellulose lacquer. It's best to use polyethylene (zip lock bags). Take a hole punch and make holes in one side of the bag and leave the other side un-punched. Put dampened sponge in bag, then place punched side of bag face up in case. This will allow the humidity to escape without the jeopardy of leaking into the case. Stay away from polystyrene or polyvinyl chloride (vinyl) containers. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Player Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Just a word to the wise---Not all plastics are safe with nitrocellulose lacquer. It's best to use polyethylene (zip lock bags). Take a hole punch and make holes in one side of the bag and leave the other side un-punched. Put dampened sponge in bag' date=' then place punched side of bag face up in case. This will allow the humidity to escape without the jeopardy of leaking into the case. Stay away from polystyrene or polyvinyl chloride (vinyl) containers. Bob[/quote'] See my post above for a pictorial on how to do just that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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