rdsmith3 Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I just bought an Epiphone Dot. I am returning to the guitar after many decades in exile. I previously played classical and acoustic, so this is a whole new thing for me. Wow, this guitar is a lot of fun and looks great, too. I don't think there is a lot of love for these guitars because I got it for $249 at Guitar Center. It seems like they were trying to get rid of it. Anyway, my question is about humidity. I do not yet have a case for it, and it sits on a stand. The humidity is very low in our house at this time of the year. With my classical and acoustic guitars, I keep them in a case with humidifiers. Do I need to do that with this guitar? I am concerned about sticking a Dampit humidifier in the F hole because of the electronics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deflepfan Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Welcome! And HNGD to you! As your opener you are probably going to upset a few people here . . . a gorgeous Natural Epi Dot for @249? Way to go! Do you happen to know what the actual humidity is in your house? If it is really low, you could set up the guitar in a room with a humidifier, just be careful not to run it too high, and don't keep the door to the room closed at all times. Ventilation would be key. By keeping the guitar on the opposite side of the room as the heat duct and humidifier, it would be safe. I'm sure that there are others here with great ideas, and they will stop by soon enough. Again, welcome, and nice find! Sheila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsmith3 Posted January 5, 2010 Author Share Posted January 5, 2010 Thanks. I have an office in the basement of my house. The humidity is roughly 40% now in the basement overall (there is a humidity indicator on the dehumidifier I use in the summer). The guitar is away from the baseboard heat and away from the window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deflepfan Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I think you would want to raise it to 45-50% humidity. Hope you have an understanding spouse when you explain that you need to buy the humidifier just for the guitar!! Sheila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsmith3 Posted January 5, 2010 Author Share Posted January 5, 2010 I think you would want to raise it to 45-50% humidity. Hope you have an understanding spouse when you explain that you need to buy the humidifier just for the guitar!! Sheila cough cough I need one for my breathing problems cough cough My wife is great but she does not understand the electric guitar fascination and mumbled something about me revisiting my adolescence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsmith3 Posted January 5, 2010 Author Share Posted January 5, 2010 One other question. This guitar seems sort of neck heavy compared to a solid body, and when I play standing up, the neck end tends to slide down. Would a suede strap help that problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deflepfan Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 One other question. This guitar seems sort of neck heavy compared to a solid body' date=' and when I play standing up, the neck end tends to slide down. Would a suede strap help that problem? [/quote'] Yup. I have that problem with the SG. Changed the strap and it helped. Sheila PS - You REALLY need to do something about that cough!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peeper Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 40% is a little low, but you won't do any damage to it. 45% is ideal, so I wouldn't worry about it. If I can keep my house at 40% this time of your I'd be ecstatic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcwillow777 Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Congrats, and welcome. Nice Dot for a great price! If you are looking for a case I will recommend two. I got an Epi case for my Sherry and a Gator hard case for my Dot. Both are good cases and worth the investment. I got the Gator casue my Epi case was backordered for like 4 months. I got impatient and got the Gator case. Now, how about some real pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsmith3 Posted January 5, 2010 Author Share Posted January 5, 2010 Here are some pics of the real one The humidity in my basement is now 20% -- eek! Could this be the back of my new guitar? No, actually it is a Spanish guitar I found in the neighbor's trash As a temporary measure, I stole this from one of the kids rooms to get the humidity up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarpBoy Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Welcome to the Epi forum, and congratulations on a beautiful guitar! $249 is a terrific price for that guitar. Regarding humidity, I would be concerned if my guitars were subjected to %20 humidity for more than a very short period of time. I would probably look at one of those Dampits, or some equivalent. Perhaps a humidifier that you could put in your case but not in the body of the guitar if you're worried about the electronics (I don't know if I would be, but it's a valid point). Just so happens my house has a 70 gallon marine aquarium with an open top. I keep a digital humidistat in one of my cases and it shows that my domicile is between %47-%50 all year 'round, which, according to Bob Taylor is about perfect. (However I do need to replenish about 1.5 gallons of water in my tank every couple of days). For a really insightful bunch of info re humidification, search Taylor Guitar's website (under "Factory Fridays") for a video series by Mr. Taylor on humidification. It is very enlightening and will probably help you decide what you need to do. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FineGuitarist Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I came across ebay and I found this Mascardo Guitars!! who makes them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peeper Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 20% is low. That guitar is laminate, so the chances of you getting cracks like that are very slim, even at 20% humidity. But what you will experience at that humidity is the fret ends protruding from the fret board due to the rosewood shrinking. As far as a humidifier goes, no steam. You want a cool air humidifier or you can wind up with a whole other set of problems. They're pretty cheap, I think I paid all of $30 for mine. Nice top on that one, I dig the color, almost butterscotch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swoop Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I know nothing about humdifiers or any of that, but I do know that that's a gorgeous guitar, especially for that money. That finish is beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xaj Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 I know nothing about humdifiers or any of that' date=' but I do know that that's a gorgeous guitar, especially for that money. That finish is beautiful.[/quote'] I second that! Really nice! Oh... wait... no... oh... G.A.S. attack... must go... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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