Guitars vs Humidity | Guitar Tech Tips | Ep. 56 | Thomann 

Just to add to the humidity conversation: the percent humidity he is talking about is called "Relative Humidity". Depending on the temperature, air can hold more or less water. This is why it gets so muggy in the summer if you live by a lake, river, etc, because higher temperature air can hold more water, making the air feel dense and uncomfortable. At a given temperature, there is a maximum amount of water the air can hold (100%). If the temperature goes down, it cannot hold all that water anymore, and has to let some of it go (rain, condensation on a cold glass, etc). Humans are generally most comfortable when the indoor humidity is somewhere between 40% - 60%. Apparently, guitars are a little more fussy! Great video guys, it's a topic guitarists don't consider enough.

Kris, This show was very informative for me. I live in a very humid state in the US. I don't currently own a acoustic but I have plenty of electric guitars. Great information Kris. As always it was great seeing your show.

That intro is gold.

Thank you for sharing this information 😊

You can create a diy humidifier for your guitar cases by buying bar soap travel containers (soap sized plastic containers), drill 8- 10 .25” or 6 mm holes in it. Put a clean sponge inside and then add distilled water. Just enough the the sponge doesn’t drip when turning it upside down. Leave in case for a week and repeat as needed. I do this every winter and refill the sponge about twice a month.

1) your hard case needs humidity too. Never use a D’addario humidipak until your guitar and case are at normal humidity levels. Otherwise, the humidipak will dry out quickly trying to bring both the guitar and case to the optimal humidity level. 2) never listen to someone one the internet who say they never worry about humidity. They might live in a part of the world with perfect humidity conditions and totally different than your conditions. Always use a hygrometer and the advice of a local luthier. In fact a hygrometer is most important because you will never know if you need to add or remove humidity until you measure it.

This is a GREAT topic because FAR too many musicians do NOT truely understand what humidity can do to your instrument!!! People just don't take it seriously enough IMO. Humidity will reek Havoc on your instrument if left unchecked. "Why's my guitar fret buzzing all of a sudden?" or "Why's my acoustic cracking at the seam?" are just a few ????'s that pop up. Summer time is way to humid where i live, and winter time is usually dry as a bone. I keep my guitars (especially acoustics) in a case with proper controllers(humidifiers ,etc...) at ALL TIMES. I know alot of people say Keep it out because if ya see it you'll play it, but that;s simply not the best idea at all. Enjoying the series and a future show idea for me would be...what to do if your Truss-Rod is all the way adjusted out or in...many on making adjustments, but hardly any on this matter... Guess because i know the answer lol, but some may not!!! Stay Safe and ... PEACE

Phenomenal video man… some great information imparted, I have a Taylor Baby with terrible high action and it’s showing 75% humidity…omg!

the humidity in my bedroom where my guitars are hanging on the walls, changes drastically.. when i turn on the humidifier, it goes up very slow and when i turn off the humidifier, it goes down within an hour or less. either my room sucks dry or the hygrometer is lying. You can't always rely on hygrometers.

Good tip! I live in a humid environment and have to adjust my necks every now and then. Nothing extreme, but the action does raise a bit over time.

If high humidity would be so dangerous for guitars all my instruments should be destroyed in a short time. I live on Corn Island, a tropical island in the carribean sea. The relative humidity is normal between 60 and 85% with temperatures 26 - 32° Celsius. I have two renaissance lutes, two classical and four electric guitars. All instruments are outside their cases and working fine. I only needed to adjust the necks of the electric guitars. I spoke with different luthiers for the acoustic instruments before I went from Germany to Corn Island. They all told me the instruments will probably not be damaged, only the sound of the instruments would be a little bit worse and it's possible the neck comes a bit to the front (but this didn't happened). That may happen, but it probably doesn't. All luthiers told me it's very more dangerous for the instruments when the humidity is too low.

Cool subject Kris seen an acoustic crack left In a shed, banana fingerboard! Question A bridge on a tele appears to be causing string buzz can you file the bridge saddles where the string goes over? As always Thanks Kris

I ignored humidity and stored my Martin DX on a stand in a room with high humidity ( 70% to 80% frequently experienced ) . The top swelled in a bulge behind the bridge , and lifted the string action to 4.5mm at F12 ! Store it in a case with reuseable silica gel to maintain a drier ( 45%-55% RH) atmosphere . Mine is slowly flattening out on the top , and if I’m lucky , the action will return to something like normal and something like playable. At least it didn’t crack !

Great info Chris. This is often Overlooked, and can Ruin your guitar. My NYC apartment is Hot and Dry, so I need to run a room humidifier (constantly) in my guitar room during Winter. What is The Best "In Guitar Case" Humidifier? Oasis, Music Nomad or D'Addario Humidipak ??? - gotta Protect my babies !!!

Thanks for this Episode @kris and the Rest of the Thomann crew! I was really scared of the invisible monster...now I'm off buying a hygrometer to make the monster visible! 👻

One thing I never see mentioned is laminated top guitars aren’t as susceptible to humidity. I had two laminated top guitars in my house for 13 years no problems. Bought a Taylor this year a non laminated spruce top and it swelled up while the other guitars were fine.

Hey Kris! Thanks for this awesome series. I've always wondered what the ideal humidity in my "guitar" room/studio should be? Mine is generally around 51%... and generally 67°-70° F in temp... it's important to me because I keep many of my guitars hanging up on the walls. Which leads me to this question... is there any known negative effect to hanging guitars up on guitar hangers outside of the obvious finish issues?

DampRid is also a great cheap product for humidity. 👍

Hi Chris. I live in a humid environment with humidity around 60-65%. The action has risen a lot since I came to the new city (2 years now), almost not playable. I now put 4 bags of silica gel into my guitar case which brings down the humidity inside the case to about 30-40%, would that be too low and cause damage? My plan is to take out the guitar once a day and play it for a while and then put it back.

How can you control humidity if you're playing an outdoor venue? Thanks

Is it bad to use a Oasis humidifier in a gigbag when the home is dry? Does a gigbag leak humidity?

Because humidity is boring until you see something crack, I'll change topic a bit I don't know what smokes the editor but maaan, keep going 🤣

How do I fix the slight hump on the top of my acoustic

I would love to see more guitars made out of humidity-resistant / ultra-durable materials like Carbon-fiber. For hobbyists or people who just want less hassle, mitigation of environmental factors' influence on the instrument would be more useful than having a "perfect sound"

Maybe a silly question but I haven't been able to find any information on this, do you need to humidify solid body electrics at all? The humidity where I live was 90% today

Hey Kris! Honest question. I noticed the reading in your hygrometer showed 16 degrees C and 54%. Is the temperature still fine, even if it is much lower than the definition of room temperature (25 C)? I ask because I have my guitars in a basement room that is very constant at 18.5 C and around 45-50% humidity. I leave them all in the case because I fear it is too cold even in the humidity is fine…?

I am extremly lucky. I live in a condo that holds between 35-55% for almost the entire year. Only in the winter due to heating it falls on a few days below that 35% mark. I have sadly ;-) so many guitars I couldnt afford to put them in cases the are all hung on the wall.

Nice. I have two hygrometers in my house where guitars live. I have a dehumidifier in the entry way where most humidity comes into the house. Winter is humidified by the furnace and I have let a blanket finish drying over the bannister when a quick blast of humidity is needed in the winter. I have a large cast iron kettle on the wood stove that is always refilled after I burn. These simple things are now habit.

OK

"Metal doesn't shrink" is very 80s statement :D

can you fix fret sprout by humidifying a guitar?

Ich hätte grundsätzlich meine Wäsche im Wohnzimmer auf wo meine Gitarren hängen oder stehen. Luftfeuchtigkeit zwischen 60 und 80 %. Wenn es zu feucht wird, setze ich einen elektrischen Luftentfeuchter ein.

You have no idea how dry it is in Alberta, Canada. I have a mist humidifier in this room and its 29%

lmao...guess where my instruments have been in my house for the past 5 years? The Laundry room lol. That's no joke either.

welcome to harley benton guitars

Dear Kris good evening from Greece. Thank you for your video(s). Totally understandable what you told us. But I remember a part of a Jimmy Rosenberg's interview telling that, for better guitar tone you need to keep your instrument totally dry, suggesting to use the music hole as an ash tray. Do you have any comments on that? (Jimmy Rosenberg the gypsy jazz musician)

I'm guessing this applies for electric guitars too?

I've been putting silica gel packs inside my acoustics for years. I freaked out when you mentioned them because I was thinking of asking.

Future topics: best way to thin a fat neck and best way to reduce weight of strats and teles.

OK, listen up. The RH of your home, not the case, not the room, needs to be 50% every day and every night for your guitars to be healthy. You can accomplish this with affordable humidifiers in winter and dehumidifiers in summer. It is a waste of money and time to humidify in the case or in a single room unless you can play the guitar while it is in the case. Once you take it out, it is subject to the conditions of the room environment you have now placed it in. Honeywell and Pure Air make the most reliable humidifiers for winter, while Danby (in my experience) along with Toshiba (Danby, anyway) have been the most reliable dehumidifiers for me. If you manage humidity in the whole home, you can display, play and enjoy your guitars whenever you are motivated, rather than putting them in a case and hiding them from the world. This process of purchasing and maintaining proper equipment requires a minimal investment of money and time. Changing filters and paying for them can get a bit frustrating as they don't last as long as they should, but overall it is very easy to keep the RH at 50% every day. The amount of power these machine consume is nothing compared to the cost of humidifier filters in the winter. I have been caring for an extensive guitar collection my entire adult life. I have guitars as old as 1929, and instruments from the modern era. If you maintain the RH at 50%, you will also note that your cabinets and hardwood floors remain in mint condition, pretty much permanently, so it is not just your collection that benefits. Having stable humidity in the home also assists in maintaining good health, and being able to predict exact cooking times for items you roast and bake (seriously affected by humidity swings). If you allow wild fluctuations in your home's humidity, you will suffer the consequences. As a technician, I have seen guitars with their binding peeling from dryness, and guitars with domed tops from humidity. A guitar is a thing of beauty, and should be loved and cared for. Whole home RH control is the only way to ensure absolute safety for your treasured musical instruments. I will make a video on my channel covering the equipment you need in the next few days.

Hey Kris, what about electric guitars and humidity?

Ich finde es schon seltsam, dass ein deutsches Unternehmen in Englisch ein Video hinterlässt, weil sich Amerikaner oder Engländer nie die Mühe machen, ein deutsches Video zu hinterlassen. Wir haben doch so eine schöne Sprache.

Solid wood guitars need 70% humidity..... Dry air damages solid wood instruments