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Post by dreadnought28 on Feb 14, 2021 22:25:53 GMT
This winter, for the first time ever, I’ve had a bunch of guitars develop buzzing around the 12th fret. This is despite watching humidity levels and having large Vax humidifier working away. I wouldn’t say this winter was worse than others particularly so it’s a strange phenomenon .
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Post by Gregg Hermetech on Feb 15, 2021 9:02:02 GMT
Just checked my hygrometer records, got to 15.6% a few weeks back. After that we had a couple of rainy weeks where it went up to nearly 50% again, and I got the acoustic out, but the last week it's right back down. When it's this low I leave the guitar in its case most of the time, kinda scared to leave (or even take) it out. Hence been playing lots more electric recently, haha.
I've been wondering about this, there seems to be conflicting info out there, maybe someone can help and correct if any of these statements are in fact incorrect?
1) Very low or very high humidity is very bad for acoustic guitars 2) Sudden changes in humidity are worse than a gradual change 3) Long term exposure to very dry or very humid conditions is worse than quick exposure 4) When it's really humid or really dry, leave your guitar in its case and only take it out when you want to play it 5) The ideal RH for an acoustic is between 40-60% (i.e. around 50%)
My confusion lies between points 2 and 4. If the humidity inside my case is a nice 49%, and in the room it's below 25%, won't taking it out of its case be a very sudden change in humidity? But if I only take it out to play for an hour, that's short term, and therefore shouldn't be a problem? Just wanna know how safe it is to play my guitar when RH inside and out of the case are so disproportionate.
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Post by sweyne1 on Apr 9, 2021 9:31:46 GMT
So i've been doing the 'wet tea towel over the radiator' jobby for a while now. And it works. But the humidity is up and down as the towel dries and I don't fancy going through this performance for years. I've got one in a case at the moment with a Kyser soundhole humidifier but don't have enough cases for all four. Plus doing that's a pain as well.
So, can anyone recommend a normal room humidifier ? Is it as simple as just putting some water in and switching it on ? Are you able to set the humidity or just let the hygrometer measure it ? The room is 3/4 of a converted garage so is about 13' by 8'.
All suggestions greatly appreciated.
John
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Post by Gregg Hermetech on Apr 9, 2021 11:13:13 GMT
I've been looking into it recently. I heard they are expensive and noisy and you really have to make sure you get the right one for the room size. And if you get one with a smaller tank you might be constantly filling it up throughout the day.
Was down to 15% RH here two days ago... I have my Lowden out of the humidified case four hours a day for practise, a bit worrying.
My dad sent me this vid yesterday, which is pretty informative:
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minorkey
C.O.G.
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Post by minorkey on Apr 9, 2021 16:50:32 GMT
Not such a problem if you only have laminate guitars?
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Post by Gregg Hermetech on Apr 9, 2021 17:16:29 GMT
I would imagine so, but am not a wood specialist, hopefully some of the luthiers will chime in.
I had an online chat with Simon from Lowden today, he said it's impossible to say outright whether certain temp and RH will damage a guitar or not, but it's always best to err on the side of caution and use common sense etc.
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