Humidity control, ay ay ay

[Mitch Stein]

Humidity has been the enemy at my last two gigs. Tuning issues have abounded. Hopefully next weekend's outdoor gig will be relatively normal conditions. Mando is just fine (now) though.

As far as winter, I worked with a guy who had a really clever solution. He had a 55 gallon aquarium and all his guitars sat next to it.

[cayuga red]

Humidity has been the enemy at my last two gigs. Tuning issues have abounded. Hopefully next weekend's outdoor gig will be relatively normal conditions. Mando is just fine (now) though.

As far as winter, I worked with a guy who had a really clever solution. He had a 55 gallon aquarium and all his guitars sat next to it.

I see you live in Chicago. I live close so the weather is the same. I bought a Frigidaire DeHumidifier for my basement . It’s easily the best one I’ve owned. If that’s an issue for you, I recommend it. Good luck.

[musicofanatic]

I have found "Grandpa's 1942 Gibson guitar in the attic" with seven cracks in the top and back and fret ends protruding from the edge of the cupped fretboard. Excessive dryness can cause damage and during the thirty or so years I operated as a guitar repair tech I saw it nearly every day. Humidify as needed...

[Jeff Mando]

... Excessive dryness can cause damage and during the thirty or so years I operated as a guitar repair tech I saw it nearly every day. Humidify as needed...

So, as a repairman wouldn't you recommend NOT humidifying?!!

[Mark Gunter]

So, as a repairman wouldn't you recommend NOT humidifying?!!

Lol, gotta love the cynicism, Jeff

[MontanaMatt]

No one has mentioned that the house and how and when it was built is likely a bigger part of the issue versus where you live and what type of humid/dehumidifier you use. Houses historically are not air tight, and if they are air tight they are likely not vapor open. Thus, the building is causing the temp and humidity swings to be dramatic. If the building is not a tight building envelope, there is lots of loss of heat, cool, humidity, wind/draft, and it’s difficult to adjust the indoor environment when it is only mildly separated from the outdoor environment.

Consider if your building would fare well in a more extreme location, like high elevation in the winter, or hot desert sun…
You house might be built like a (Hoffee, Calton), or perhaps it’s the tennis racquet bag…

[Joe Bartl]

Like the OP, I live in Maryland. My house is a Victorian Queen Anne built 1900. Air tight? I might as well be living in a tent. It is a large house and so I have a music room with pocket doors. The room is approximately 15' x 15' with ceiling at 9 ½'. I keep the doors closed. In the room are a piano, an organ, 4K LPs with their cardboard sleeves, my mandos, guitars, etc. After years of neglect followed by years of experimenting, I've settled on the following machines. During the summer I use an Emerson Quiet Kool dehumidifier set to 50% humidity (with pump and narrow hose exiting via window) running 24/7:



During the winter I use a Sears humidifier:



Like the dehumidifier, this is self-regulating and so after experimenting with various combos of fan speed and humidity levels, it now maintains the humidity at about 50%.

This has worked well over the last few years and provided peace of mind regarding the mostly vintage collection of instruments I play. I do not fret over keeping the instruments in or out of their cases.

[TonyEarth]

Nice to hear from someone in the area. I think the fact that my apartment is really not airtight may indeed be my biggest issue. I can't really modify things too much because I rent, though maybe I can come up with some kind of non-invasive seal for door and window cracks. I might try compensating with a humidifier and dehumidifier meant for much larger rooms, and if that doesn't work I may just give up on this quest.

[musicofanatic]

I stayed busy enough without filing fret ends and repairing cracks...I had important stuff to do like changing customers strings...