guitar storage - humidity and temperature fluctuation

mellowgerman

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Recently I made a thread regarding humidity concerns in regard to gear. After that discussion, I ended up buying some Boveda packs to help regulate humidity inside of my guitar cases.

My guitars are ALWAYS in their cases when they're not being played, but still, with it being the peak of summer weather extremes, I've been continuing to psych myself out over the matter... I live in an old house in central Florida, (most humid state in the country). We have window units instead of a central HVAC system. So the A/C runs until it's happy with the temperature, then it turns off and the temperature and humidity slowly rise until it turns on again and brings them back down.
Even if I have the humidity inside the case relatively under control, what happens when the guitar is regularly coming out of the case into a far less controlled environment of higher humidity and then being returned to the case. I suppose, at this point, temperature differences are less of my concern than humidity differences. SO...


In your opinion, what's worse for guitars?

(A) Relatively long periods of humidity extremes

(B) Daily fluctuations into and out of humidity extremes?

I know neither is good, but at this time there is little I can do to avoid one or the other. If regular fluctuations really do take more of a toll, would it be better to keep the A/C off more of the time, allowing high humidity, but at the same time making sure that there is less fluctuation?
Am I overthinking things?

On a side-note, we are planning to move when our lease is up at the end of November. One of the criteria for the new place will be a better insulated, temperature-controlled living space. My guitars are too valuable to me, the idea of wood-rot freaks me out, and I want to be able to keep them healthy and with me for the rest of my life.

Thanks for any and all input!
 
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dreadnut

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Well I live in what is arguably the 2nd most humid state, Michigan. The only time I use my guitar humidifiers is in the winter, when the forced-air heat is keeping the house up to temp. Otherwise, I don't worry about it. We have central A/C but I only run it when the humidity and temp are unbearable, like last week when the temp was in the 90's and the humidity hovering around 70-75%.

And my guitars are always in their cases except when being played, so I believe this makes them less susceptible to changes in temp and humidity.
 

adorshki

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Y'gotta remember it takes a while for a guitar to get "too wet" or too dry, like several days at a given steady state, at least.
"Good" luthiers will probably keep an instrument in a climate controlled room for about a week, maybe more, when they're doing stuff (like cleating a top crack) that affects long-term fit and finish.
They want to start a repair on a properly humidified guitar, where the guitar should be, and will likely coach an owner on how to keep it there for best longevity of a repair.
In other words I think you'd need to leave 'em out and exposed for at least a week for 'em to overhumidify, in Florida (or Michigan)
I also believe keeping 'em cased does a lot towards insulating 'em, and if you've got a "balancing agent" in the case then I think the short periods (couple of hours?) of playing exposure will do no harm.
Except maybe to uncoated strings.
:friendly_wink:
 
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Rayk

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My home runs in the 40 - 50 % summer in the winter it gets down to 27 - 35 % it’s hard to get the home above that but I’ve had no issues to date .
 

beecee

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Upstate NY, 13th most humid state in the country.

I leave my good stuff out a lot during the summer when the humidity in my "guitar" room ranges from 50-61%. No AC in this room, keep a sliding door partly open. It did spike to 64% once last week during the 90 degree ultra humid spell we got here but that was late in the day and only lasted an hour or so.


Winter time...20's% humidity. Everyone goes nitey nite in their case till I'm playing
 

mellowgerman

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Thank you all for the responses... certainly puts my worries at ease a bit. I guess then immediate humidity "shock" (like temperature shock, as I had to worry about during Buffalo Winters) is not really a threat?
Now that I write and reread that question it IS starting to sound a little silly! Maybe I'm just turning into an overly worrisome Guild parent? Can we all pitch in to have "GUILD ON BOARD" stickers made for our cars?

AIswx4S.jpg
 

chazmo

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MG, I think the issue is prolonged saturation, not what you were talking about. You needn't worry, based on what you're saying. Also, after many years, my conclusion is that dessication (too dry!) is far more of a problem than saturation (too wet).

Beecee, I'm surprised you're only dealing with humidity in the low 60% range. I definitely get into the 70%s here in central MA. I don't worry about it. The problem here has been the winter months with my baseboard home heating that gets extremely dry. I know firsthand as I cracked a couple of heirloom guitars because I didn't know how to care for them years ago.
 

adorshki

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Thank you all for the responses... certainly puts my worries at ease a bit. I guess then immediate humidity "shock" (like temperature shock, as I had to worry about during Buffalo Winters) is not really a threat?
Right. To qualify as "shock" it'd have to be something like a hose aimed into the sounddhole.
Or a blowdryer.
:glee:

Also Chaz's note about too dry being more dangerous than too wet seems to be borne out by my memory of reports here.
I don't recall ever hearing of an instrument whose glue joints gave out from being too hot AND too humid for an extended period.
I think Chris Cozad or Ralf mentioned this potential and I don't recall the exact numbers but I think it had to be like over 110 degrees and 90% humidity for a couple of months at least.
I think there are a couple of places in the Amazon that do that.
Or maybe it was Ton Le Sap in Cambodia.
:glee:
Now that I write and reread that question it IS starting to sound a little silly! Maybe I'm just turning into an overly worrisome Guild parent? Can we all pitch in to have "GUILD ON BOARD" stickers made for our cars?
AIswx4S.jpg
Nahhh. Like they say the dumb question is the one that doesn't get asked.
It's all about that new D40, isn't it?
Relax.
Try playin' "Ode to Billy Joe".
It fits right in with Spanish moss.
:friendly_wink:
 

idealassets

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If in Florida I would consider getting a dehumidifier in an enclosed room with my guitars. Here in Michigan I only have one cautionary step, which is to bring a cheap guitar to places where its outdoors, lets say 92 degrees, and humid in the summer.

I keep all my guitars in their cases and with humid-paks inside the case. In reality there have been a few temperature-humidity changes, such as during power outages. So far nothing adverse has occurred to any guitar wood.
 

mellowgerman

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Right. To qualify as "shock" it'd have to be something like a hose aimed into the sounddhole.
Or a blowdryer.
:glee:

Also Chaz's note about too dry being more dangerous than too wet seems to be borne out by my memory of reports here.
I don't recall ever hearing of an instrument whose glue joints gave out from being too hot AND too humid for an extended period.
I think Chris Cozad or Ralf mentioned this potential and I don't recall the exact numbers but I think it had to be like over 110 degrees and 90% humidity for a couple of months at least.
I think there are a couple of places in the Amazon that do that.
Or maybe it was Ton Le Sap in Cambodia.
:glee:

Nahhh. Like they say the dumb question is the one that doesn't get asked.
It's all about that new D40, isn't it?
Relax.
Try playin' "Ode to Billy Joe".
It fits right in with Spanish moss.
:friendly_wink:

One of my best friends bought his '64 Starfire around 2008 and the story went that it was owned by a jazz guitarist (can't recall the name) who lived in Brazil (I believe). It is an incredible guitar and anyone who played it seemed to quickly fall in love with it. A few years ago some kind of notable issue started with the neck. We thought it might need a neck reset or something along those lines, but the diagnosis was much worse.... apparently the neck block inside the guitar was rotted out and the guitar was beginning to collapse in on itself. The presumed cause was excessive exposure to hot and humid conditions and that whole part of the guitar would have to be rebuilt from scratch! Sad sad news. Ever since I've been worried about the elements, but recently it really hit hard when I started thinking about the fact that I want to be able to play the starfire and d40 for the rest of my life.
anyway, it sounds like you'd practically have to leave it out in a leaky shed in the swamp for anything that extreme to happen so I am grateful that y'all have taken some weight off my mind. Thanks!!
 

mellowgerman

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If in Florida I would consider getting a dehumidifier in an enclosed room with my guitars. Here in Michigan I only have one cautionary step, which is to bring a cheap guitar to places where its outdoors, lets say 92 degrees, and humid in the summer.

I keep all my guitars in their cases and with humid-paks inside the case. In reality there have been a few temperature-humidity changes, such as during power outages. So far nothing adverse has occurred to any guitar wood.

Thanks for the input, may look into getting a dehumidifier. The one we used to have back when I was in high school generated quite a bit of heat, though I'm sure modern tech has probably solved that issue by now?
And yes, I have an old beater steel string for camping and bon fires too :)
 

chazmo

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MG, it's best to keep an eye on such things. If nothing else, you should get a hygrometer for the rooms that you have your guitars in. Temperature inside a house is never going to be an issue. Humidity *could* be. You can certainly take your guitars outdoors as well, but avoid direct sun in your climate. Too hot. The humidity that you'd expose it to for a short while is not likely to matter at all as it takes a while for the wood to equalize. There's really no concept of "shock" in the humidity realm that I've ever heard of, MG. Thermal exposure is the real risk going from indoors to outdoors. Beware, always, the trunk of your car!
 

Mark WW

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I also live just north of Orlando. Hard to believe you are in a house with a window unit. Central AC will pull the humidity levels down to 40-45% pretty quick. I leave most of my guitars in cases and we only go 2 - 3 months without running the air and the humidity then jumps up to 50-65% as that is the least humid time of year. Florida naturally is a very hostile climate. DO NOT leave your guitars in a garage or for any extended periods in your car or truck for obvious reasons.
 

Westerly Wood

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While the Br seems impervious to humidity (or total lack thereof in Tucson), I always keep a Lifeguard in soundhole while it hangs on wall. I moisten it 1/wk. Never an issue. It's been since late 2015 here in desert, it has not been in its case at all for at least 2 years.

Now the Santa Cruz. I wish it was more like the Guild. that pup will need a neck reset one day, that pup just does not hunt well.
 

chazmo

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Well, wood, you're being smart to keep the humidifier in the soundhole, but keep a close eye on the fretboard. That could shrink and frets will start jutting out. Your neck/fretboard will not be getting any humidity from the humidifier outside the case.

Do you know what the humidity is in your room?
 

Westerly Wood

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Well, wood, you're being smart to keep the humidifier in the soundhole, but keep a close eye on the fretboard. That could shrink and frets will start jutting out. Your neck/fretboard will not be getting any humidity from the humidifier outside the case.

Do you know what the humidity is in your room?

i do not Chaz. i should look for a humidity app on my phone, i assume that tech is available for free these days :)
the Br is a sled. really, it has totally won me over with its consistency, tone, and aversion to feelings or emotion.
 

chazmo

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Wood, I'm just being circumspect here because I, firsthand, severely cracked two of my heirloom guitars - my mom's Favilla C-5, all mahogany, and my Ibanez AW-75 12-string, spruce/mahogany - both from overly dry winter conditions and baseboard heating in teh northeast.

I would spare you (and all LTGers) that un-fun experience. Really. I've been kicking myself in the patootie for 15 years because of my stupidity and ignorance about care.

So.... forewarned is forearmed, my friend!
 

Westerly Wood

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Wood, I'm just being circumspect here because I, firsthand, severely cracked two of my heirloom guitars - my mom's Favilla C-5, all mahogany, and my Ibanez AW-75 12-string, spruce/mahogany - both from overly dry winter conditions and baseboard heating in teh northeast.

I would spare you (and all LTGers) that un-fun experience. Really. I've been kicking myself in the patootie for 15 years because of my stupidity and ignorance about care.

So.... forewarned is forearmed, my friend!

I will find a way to test the RH in the room it hangs. Thanks Chaz for the encouragement. Btw, I see you are living in MA. I was born in Winchester and grew up in Southboro, off Rte 9.
great memories before we moved to RI when I was 12. I was so bummed. I might never have gotten over it. Rural Mass was awesome in the early to mid 70s :)
 
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