Does EB have humidification recommendations?

[MrMusashi]

planetwaves makes a nice pack that looks like the moist absorber packs that comes with almost everything these days. the neat thing is that they both absorb and evaporates humidity as needed to keep humidity at 45%. if you got a good acoustic guitar and live in norway its a necessity!
2 packs.. one goes in the headstock area, the other one further down in the case.

we never sell a good acoustic without sending a case and this pack with customers.. at 20% and lower humidity during winter ive seen enough cracked tops and spikey frets!

MrM

 

[candid_x]

planetwaves makes a nice pack that looks like the moist absorber packs that comes with almost everything these days. the neat thing is that they both absorb and evaporates humidity as needed to keep humidity at 45%. if you got a good acoustic guitar and live in norway its a necessity!
2 packs.. one goes in the headstock area, the other one further down in the case.

we never sell a good acoustic without sending a case and this pack with customers.. at 20% and lower humidity during winter ive seen enough cracked tops and spikey frets!

MrM

These are case humidifiers but I don't see anything about 45% humidity control.

Buy Planet Waves Guitar/Violin Humidifier online at Musician's Friend
Buy Planet Waves Guitar/Cello Humidifier online at Musician's Friend

 

[dougiefresh]

It's this one -
Planet Waves - Instrument Care
They work really well -
I was starting to have "fret sprout" on my Axis(Sold to dkassenbrock),
and put one of these in the case.
Within a week it was back to normal.
There was a recall on them last year though....

 

[roburado]

I think I'm going to go to Home Depot to look for a humidifier. Thanks, Beej.

 

[candid_x]

It's this one -
Planet Waves - Instrument Care
They work really well -
I was starting to have "fret sprout" on my Axis(Sold to dkassenbrock),
and put one of these in the case.
Within a week it was back to normal.
There was a recall on them last year though....

Thanks, Dougie. May have to give this a try. I'm guessing they got the recall bug worked out.

 

[roburado]

I just bought a Kenmore Quiet Comfort 8-Gallon evaporative humidifier, which seems to be the right size for my apartment according to their recommendations on the packaging.

Hopefully, it'll work just fine.

 

[roburado]

Okay, I set the humidifier to 50%.

I have a little Radio Shack thermometer/hygrometer thingamjig. It's not reading anywhere near 50% humidity. It actually reads in the low to mid 30's. I'm wondering if it's because the hygrometer is old and has old batteries. I'm going to buy some new batteries to see if that will make a difference.

 

[candid_x]

I've had portable humidifiers before. They've worked fine for awhile, pain to keep filling up though, plus they didn't regulate very well. I've also had a central humidifier, tapped into the duct work. That worked great, of course.

Let us know how that works out for you, Rob.

 

[beej]

They are a pain to keep filling up ... but what can ya do if you don't have ducts. I've got rads (great heat, no sound through the house but awfully dry in the winter).

Rob, my humidity reads in the 20's if I don't have it running either. I set mine at 40%. Tried 50% but got too much moisture build up on the windows/poorly insulated walls. Anyhow ... anything is better than nothing.

 

[roburado]

Right now, I have it set at 55%. My Radio Shack hygrometer is reading around 40% sittting near the guitars, which I have taken out of their cases so that they can get a bit of that humidity a little bit quicker. The air feels pretty wet. I figured that I was going to have to wait and see if it's too much. I'm probably going to replace the batteries in that hygrometer just to take that variable out of the equation. Didn't get a chance to go do that last night.

The guitars seem to be soaking up that moisture. Or...maybe, I'm just imagining it.

 

[candid_x]

Does room moisture find its way inside a case?

Maybe if I just hose them down once in awhile......

 

[PugNinjas]

The thing that makes the home humidifer a non-option for me is that if I buy something that puts out too much humidity, it will seriously affect how my arm feels. The lack of humidity was one of the main reasons we relocated to Las Vegas in the first place.

So it's a catch-22, keep the guitars comfortable while at the same time adding more pain to my daily existence or vise versa

can't I just lick the guitars everyone once in awhile ??

 

[candid_x]

can't I just lick the guitars everyone once in awhile ??

Not gonna say it, nope, nope.

 

[PugNinjas]

Not gonna say it, nope, nope.

 

[roburado]

Just an update here.

I started this whole thing, because my BFR and other guitars were starting to sprout their frets. I'm happy to say that I've gotten my guitar room humidified enough that the sprouting seems to have gone away. The fret edges are seemingly as smooth as they were when I first got the guitar. I'll have to check my other guitars, but my BFR and my bare-bones, no-option JP6 are both doing fine.

The hygrometer on the humidifier kind of sucks. I have it set to 60%, and it believes that it's putting out 60%. However, another hygrometer in the room reads around 40%. Actually, it's usually a little less at times (usually around 38%), but I've been able to keep the room pretty close to 40%.

So, my Kenmore humidifier seems to be doing the job.

 

[roburado]

They are a pain to keep filling up ... but what can ya do if you don't have ducts. I've got rads (great heat, no sound through the house but awfully dry in the winter).

Rob, my humidity reads in the 20's if I don't have it running either. I set mine at 40%. Tried 50% but got too much moisture build up on the windows/poorly insulated walls. Anyhow ... anything is better than nothing.

I'm finding that I only have to refill my humidifier after about 2 or 3 days.

 

[PaoloGilberto]

Beej I saw you have MoistAIR MA1201 12 Gallon Humidifier

is this thing controlling the humidity ?

let's say you set it at 40 % and the MoistAIR MA1201 12 Gallon Humidifier keeps it at 40 % ?

thanks

I've got a room humidifier too. Set it at 40% and fill it constantly ...

Seems to do the trick. The guitars move a bit, but not too much. No fret sprout.

 

[lenny]

Thanks, Dougie. May have to give this a try. I'm guessing they got the recall bug worked out.

We sell aton of em and yes the problems is fixed ...it was a leaky package thing....And yes 1 in the headstock and 1 in the body ...they are made for acoustics...but my BFR AL was starting to sprout and its been almost a month now and its pretty much back to normal...

 

[beej]

Beej I saw you have MoistAIR MA1201 12 Gallon Humidifier

is this thing controlling the humidity ?

let's say you set it at 40 % and the MoistAIR MA1201 12 Gallon Humidifier keeps it at 40 % ?

thanks

I do indeed. My house is all radiators, so no central humidifier and why I use those ones. I'd love a bigger one, but that one is digital and easy to get filters for.

I have one in the basement, a few feet from the guitars. There's some airflow there (the boiler draws that air in, so it sucks the humidity out of the room), so it's always going. I fill it every day or two in the winter. I set it at 40%, usually stays around there.

I have no idea how accurate the gauge is, but my guitars usually don't need too much adjustment in the winter anymore so it definitely makes a big difference. Have one upstairs as well, does a great job.

 

[Stratty316]

Pug, I stored 2 Balls at my parents house in Vegas for some time while finishing school and the guy at the music store suggested that once every few months or so to put them in the bathroom, run a hot shower and get the room all steamy. Let the guitars sit in there for a few hours and that will help regulate them... of course, I wasn't playing them at the time so they were sitting in their cases mostly. I ended up doing it about once every 4 months when I went to visit and they seemed just fine. They needed a good set up when I got them back to Cali, but no fret spouting or anything of that nature.