Why You NEED to Keep Your Guitars Humidified

[@lindcobbs4615]

I’ve had my two guitars for a few years and had no clue about this. Guitar manufacturers should include a notice with the guitar to make people aware of this.

[@MonteD1]

Dry guitars sound better, but you have to lower the humidity very slowly. Quick changes in humidity are the issue.

[@donfoster5576]

A "hydrometer" is an instrument that measures the density of a liquid. An example is the gizmo that indicates the charge of a lead-acid battery using a float. Another example is the floating thing that indicates the amount of alcohol in water and is used in brewing or wine-making. And yet another example is the thingy for measuring the amount of glycol in your car's antifreeze coolant. A "hygrometer" is the instrument you keep mentioning -- it's a device for measuring the humidity (%RH) in air. RH is temperature-dependent. (Other instruments indicate the actual or absolute moisture content of air, sometimes in lb per lb or as dew point. My D-18 suffered the same crack for the same reason. The humidifier from Martin works very well. I also use one in my D12-28.

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Thank you for that clarification! Sorry to hear about your D-18

[@dksouthpawatx]

Apparently you can soak the humidipaks in distilled water and they will be restored, might work faster than the sponge you mentioned

[@AlexPriceMusician]

I actually did that, and you're right it fills up faster. Eventually though the bags start getting flimsy. I was worried about them leaking.

[@larrycavallucci3258]

Thanks...Overall, a very good video. Some other thoughts/info for you and other readers. 1) I have two Crane humidifiers and alternate their use. We live in Phoenix, so it's dry except for now, during the "monsoon season". I only use Distilled water, which people should use if they have hard tap water. Otherwise, you'll get a whiteish/grey film all over your room, which is a pain to clean. Trust me, cause I tried tap water for awhile. I have D'Addario sound hole units, $9, I bought from my Luthier, who has 40 yrs experience. He also said it's best to use a hard case for acoustic guitars. I try to keep my Temp at around 45 degrees in my 12x14 music studio. I have some Kyser's that fit over the whole sound hole, but they only fit certain guitars with a normal sound hole. I have some AG's with smaller sound holes, so I use the ones that fit between the strings. But some of my guitars don't have much depth, like a slimline Yamaha 12-string A/E so people should check to see which IN-Case, between strings humidifier would work best for each of their guitars. I also only use Distilled water for the sound hole units. And I check them/refill the units once a week. I am a bit reluctant to use in-case units that are "free form" and just fit somewhere in a hard case, i.e. for a Mandolin. Any suggestions for those?

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Great info. You’re right about the tap water. I guess I’m lucky that our water isn’t hard. For my mandolin I use the Oasis system I mentioned in the video, but without the larger blue plastic piece that allows it to sit inside a guitar. I just put the Oasis behind the headstock.

[@alexweibel7807]

Great vid! My guitars live in their cases during the colder months and each of them has an in-case humidifier. Do you think there's a risk of over-humidifying a guitar with an in-case humidifier like that?

[@WarrenWest3]

Any issues or concerns relevant to the tech./electrical equipment in the room?

[@SD_Marc]

Is a "daily driver" as affected by environmental changes if you are tuning it everyday; alleviating big string-tension changes? I live in a pretty mild climate, and play my acoustic every day. I have a case, but only use it for transportation. I don't really ever store the guitar.

[@eliseovdev2129]

Yeah but only in country that is super low humidity