How To Humidify Your Guitar
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- Dave Stutts gives us a hands on look at humidity. What is it? What can it really do to your guitar? What can you do about it? Learn all that and more in this video.
Check out the corresponding Spotlight post for additional information and resources!
spotlight.samas...
I’ve been playing guitar for 12 years. And I have never done this. Lack of not knowing. I just got a Taylor guitar. So I do not plan on messing her up. Thank you for the tips
You got it! Congrats on the guitar. Enjoy it! Which model did you go with?
SamAshMusic thank you! I got 214ce DLX. I’m planning on switching the tunners to some gold plated from Taylor.
Dave Stutts has that same guitar in this very video! You may have noticed that. Great guitar. And those tuners will look sweet!
SamAshMusic yeah I noticed lol. Great review man. Definitely sent it some from friends that also didn’t have a clue a about keeping a guitar humidified
This is the link for Taylor’s in Guitar solution (iOS only for now). www.taylorguitars.com/taylorsense
When using the Oasis product, should you loosen the strings on your guitar first, before inserting the tube? It seems like there is too much tension on the strings to separate them enough to allow the Oasis tube to fit in between them unless you detune the strings significantly.
I wet a towel put it inside a thick soak and placed it inside the guitar. It’s been two days and it’s working. Thanks
Some things to note
- While it maybe humid outside, the humidity levels inside your house are significantly lower.
- Humidity is something that really only effects solid body guitars.
- The Planet Waves/Di’ Dario system uses the Boveda packs you would find in cigar humidors but geared for guitar humidity levels. It uses a silica gel that either takes humidity in or lets it out to keep things constant.
- what he’s using to measure humidity is called a hygrometer. DO NOT BUY TAYLOR’S! You’ll be overpaying.
"- Humidity is something that really only effects solid body guitars."
WRONG
First it affects every wood made guitar. Secondly, it does more damage to non solid bodys like acoustic guitars. In solid bodys you will probably notice the effects on the fingerboard. And taylors are good guitars. If you buy a low end taylor guitar you cant expect an high quality guitar. Wake up
@@Johnny_0706thank you
What about having a shot glass or two of oil of oregano or something in a semi-enclosed upright stand to keep the wood oleo hydrated? It would be most affecting the bottom of the instrument where the bass comes from which is the part that needs the most flex anyway… there’s gotta be some next level techniques out there for stands let alone cases.
where exactly should i put the humidify meter to measure my acoustic guitars humidify level?
the city that I am living is quite moist place, so should I use dehumidifier?
so if the city is wet or dry, generally guitar gets dry, and in both cases we should buy humidifier (dehumidifier) right?
keeping the acoustic guitar vertically is better, healthier than keeping it horizontal, right? but when humidifier is plugged, inserted, you can not put your guitar vertically, it falls down? what is the best scenario q1) keeping the guitar always in the case instead of a room? 2) should i keep it vertical or horizontal?
exactly which humidifier is your favorite?
whenever I am not playing my guitar, should I store it in its case or in the room? horizontal or vertical?
should i always/all the time put the humidifer? or when?
Hello, were you able to get the humidity care information you need ? The concerns you have are useful ( i.e. keeping in case horizontally or vertically, hanging it on wall, etc. )
What about the situation that I have no case for my guitars (Taylor Academy 12ème AND Yamaha NTX1 nylon strings)? And the humidity in my house is too low. Thank you.
get a case
living between two great lakes , we have a fair level of humidity all year round. I have an old Flambeau acoustic and have never given this a thought.25 years of playing it and never had a case for it. I suppose the humidity here is fairly consistent? I also keep my guitars in the basement, it is about 65 ° year round.
Awesome video thanks for sharing. I have a question! Why can't someone design a guitar case that you can plug into an electric outlet in your home that will keep your guitar at perfect tempture and humidity?? I know it can be done. I just don't know how to do it. A local Luther where I live has small show case about 5 by 11 feet. He has slideing patto doors on it. And it's inside of his shop. He keeps guitars at a perfect tempture and humidity. Why can't someone build that same room in the size of a guitar case? I am putting this ideal out on several CZcams channels like yours. In hope that someone will take my ideal and build it. Then put on the market. I will buy it. So will million's of other guitar owners. Thank you.
Great question, Thomas. I would certainly be interested in one of those! You could be the pioneer! But I also do not know how to get that done. But I'll bring it up to the vendors and see what they say. Stay tuned.
SamAshMusic Thank you. I and millions of others would be interested. I am very sure of that. I hope you have better luck than I have had so far.
This sounds great! I’M INTERESTED!
Hello, I saw specialized case similar to the ideal plug-in type you’re describing. It was on the market in late 1990s for classical guitar owners who travel world wide via the airlines.
@@robdonell9915 Thank you for responding to my post. Do you remember the name of that case or the company that made it? I would be eternally grateful if I could find a case like that. Please let me know. Thank you & I hope you have a blessed week.
High in summer and low in winter...not in Colorado lol lowest month on avg is July lol
Just took my Martin in for setup as my basement humidity was runnin at 60/70 % . My dehumidifier wasn’t working properly.bought a new dehumidifier and have it set at 50 % now . Do you think leaving it out of the case will be good enough now or should I keep it in the case with the 2 way system you recommend!
Hi.. Thanks for the video. My issue is that I can't find anyone who talks about humidifying a guitar WITHOUT USING A CASE. My guitars live on stands in a walk-in closet for easy access. I play every day. Should I be getting a humidifier for the closet rather than each individual guitar? Right now I use the sponge type sound hole humidifiers. Do they even work without being in cases?
If you keep your guitars out all the time, you should get a humidifier for that room
I have a Taylor and a Martin. The Taylor is in the shop, because after 20 years of un-humidified use in Arizona (5%-10% RH), the neck has partially separated from the body. Now I know better, but I still need some advice for the Martin. The guitar has its own room, and has a dedicated mister and a hygrometer, which sometimes shows 42% RH, which is in the ideal range. Also a D'addario Humidipak. However, I don't believe the Hygrometer, because while it shows much less than saturation, I found condensation (>100%RH) on most surfaces in the room, so I turned off the mister. Does anyone else dedicate a room to instrument storage, and if so, are there recommendations for automatic room humidifiers?
informative.....Does that 2 way humidification system hold good for electric guitars also?
Wish they answered this...
Good video, pretty comprehensive. I learned things here I did not on similar videos from other channels. 👍
Is there a difference to sticking the humidifier in the side of the sound hole or right between the strings? It feels invasive to stick the humidifier between the g and d string
I live in the DRY state of Arizona and the neck of my guitar has already just begin to pull away. Hope I can reverse it, but thanks for the very helpful
tips.
My Taylor guitar is at Atomic Guitar in Phoenix, for this exact reason. Taylor 110s are pretty good, when they aren't tearing themselves to pieces. Best of luck in getting this glued, and then stored properly. RH is usually about 5% here, so extreme measures are necessary to keep a beautiful instrument functional. In another post I've asked for recommendations for room humidifiers.
Can someone please tell me how to insert it without breaking the strings I don't get it
I have a black Takamine and the finish developed a white haze all over the body and patchy . Any ideas or advice on how to fix this issue.
If I have a sensor in my case and it reads between 43-55 at All times is that safe? I mean it’s usually on the lower end like 43-45 because I’m in Calif and I have the ac on offen. If I put a spongy device in the case that brings the humidity to like 60 and so I stopped using those. Thoughts?
does the coldness or warmness of the weather affect the guitar too or just humidity?
metal expands or shrinks at different temperatures, so you may find your steel strings being out of tune. you can just tune down your guitars if you're not using them frequently to prevent neck damage. Another pro for nylon strings imo
If the umidity is above 60% (my case) what should one do? Just put silica inside the case?
Marcus Vinnas put it in a bag of rice
Try this: www.taylorguitars.com/taylorware/guitar-care/guitar-dehumidifier
why the music in the background?
Did the solidbody electrics suffer as well?
That's a great question. They don't suffer as much, but yes, they are still affected. What you'll most notably see here is that your neck will dry out a bit and cause it to contract. The biggest problem there is that your frets are made of metal, so they stay the same length. Therefore, when the wood contracts and the frets don't, you start to get that sharp fret feeling.
@@SamAshMusic Can you re-hydrate a neck with fret sprouting, or is it necessary to file the frets?
Who is this guy? He is great!!!
That's Dave Stutts, fam. I'll tell him you said hey!
Thank you very much...
You halped me anderstand this topic!
Cant one use any one of these products without having to include the case all the time?
No, unless you put you wrap the body of your guitar in a plastic bag, which is fugly. Just leave it in the case in the winter. In the spring and summer, unless you live in a dessert, you can probably leave your guitar out of the case...but it is important to keep an eye on the relative humidity. If you love your guitar(s) you will take care of them, and making sure they are not dried out or too humid (I lived in Hawaii and humidity was sometime too high). Heed this advice and your instrument will greatly benefit. Buy or make your own humidifiers and smile.
@@cleve2323 I know a guitar enthusiast that owns many guitars and leaves them hanging on the wall with no case, some of them have these humidification devices in them and all his guitars are fine. I think it all depends on your climate
I live in the southeast, I have been playing for 2 years and have never worried about humidity only temperature. I have not had any problems. It it really that important? I feel like guitars should not be this high maintenance.
They're not. This video is modern consumer crap. I've been playing for 20 years. I live in ny state and have a woodstove. I keep two cast iron kettles on the stove humidifying the house at all times in the winter. I put my guitars in their cases at night most of the time. I've never had issues with any of them and some are pretty old. They all play great year round. They'll quench they're thirst come spring time. Trust me, woody guthrie, Gary Davis, skip James to name a few, didn't have smart phone humidity apps and Kevlar tubes running into they're soundholes and shit. At best they had a cotton bag or a rope over their shoulder and they play some pretty damn fine guitar. Now if you are really worried about it and want internal methods beyond jist keeping your house humidified, you can take two dish sponges, soak them and ring them put real good, (no dripping water but still wet) put one under the head of your guitar in the case, not touching the guitar. Put the other in the gap between the heel of the neck and the accessory compartment. Also not touching, and close it up. Just keep them in there with you git when you're not using it and wet them when necessary.
Gear is a huge market right now. Don't let them scare you into wasting money. All you need besides your guitar is love in your heart, truth on your lips, and an inspired mind.
Enjoy🙏
@@itsallaroundyou7085 That's one of the best things I have read in a long time, thank you for your wisdom. I hope you gave a great week, keep safe from the snow storms.
@@itsallaroundyou7085 exactly this! They’re overreacting with this marketing bs just to scare us of so we buy all their products. It’s the modern time of marketing at next level.
I just started hydrating my guitar. The soundboard started to look concave. I'm giving it 3 or 4 days to hydrate in a black construction bag with Oasis humidifier and a couple of sponges and hope that takes care of things. I am still confused though because my action was higher, not lower. Dry guitar is supposed to bring your action down. I thought it was my truss rod at first but I could max that out and still not be where it was when I first bought the guitar ten years ago. Do you think this could be a neck reset thing? Also, I'm using medium strings on a Martin Auditorium style stage guitar. Do you think that could have anything to do with it?
A dry guitar's soundboard starts to 'cup' into the body. This tilts both the fretboard and the bridge towards the soundhole. This causes the strings to 'lift' higher above the guitar than you'd probably prefer :-D
hey,i live in a hot humid area having a humidity of 75% average(it doesnt change much)...and i live barely 5 kms from sea..is this a problem for a guitar having solid sitka spruce top having laminated back and sides??
No
What if you don’t have a guitar case 🤷🏻♂️?
Can I just put a humidifier under the guitar if it’s on the wall ?
Serious question
Probably not because the humidifier could cause water damage if the humidifier is directly under guitars. I'm not an expert it could be fine
That's why I have all my guitars on the bathroom lol
Hello! With Oasis OH1 can I hold the guitar upright?
thank you
Yes you can.
Says nothing about the solution for high humidity and how to dehumidify.
Try this: www.taylorguitars.com/taylorware/guitar-care/guitar-dehumidifier
Planet Waves uses the Boveda Packs you would see in cigar humidors. The cool thing is that it’s 2 ways. It not only humidifies if it’s too humid the silica gel takes in the humidity to dry out the air in the case.
So with the Daddario gel packs, you need to somehow first get your case to the right humidity range before putting them in?
I've been wondering the same thing. I don't think that is accurate because it's difficult to change humidity. I'm just putting them in and seeing how it goes. The worst that could happen is that it either doesn't work or provides too much water. As long as you use your guitar often enough I don't think it will be an issue.
@@phantom_dagger4103 Based on other videos I've seen, it actually does seem to be the case. The maintenance packs are just for maintaining the level, not humidifying. I've went with just a regular sponge humidifier and hygrometer. If that proves to be low enough maintenance, I'll probably just stick with that. A lot cheaper than having to buy expensive gel refills every 3 or so months too.
Give the fret board a good drink of lemon oil too. I do it every string change.
bad idea. lemon oil dries out wood. Look it up. Besides, that's much too often. The best oil for wood is Fret Doctor. When wood is dry, oil isn't the answer-it's all about water.
@@riffs246 if it hurts your guitar why do they sell those lemon oil everywhere in any guitar stores? It makes no sense.
Save some money and use a damp sponge in a soap dish. I was able to level out a dent in the top of my acoustic guitar in a couple of days with the sponge in the guitar and the guitar in the case. Do this whenever there’s signs of dryness.
what about when you live by the ocean , do i still need all this crap?
You forgot to mention heel rise or the Colorado hump meaning your guitar is so dry that the body is pushing the neck up
In what way would it be handy to get informed if my guitar got a shock from a drop? If nothing happened I don't care and even prefer not to know. If something happened it's already too late and the damage is all the information I need.
Thank god the electric guitars aren’t as susceptible to temperatures and humidity as acoustic. Not that I don’t own a acoustic guitar, I own 1 and I always take really good care of it soon as I found out about this.
Best way is simply buy a home humidifier. It will protect guitars and our skin and breathing at the same time. If you keep guitars in a case then buy the ones mentioned. Mine hang on the walls so dont need it.
My guitar just texted me, good lord we are f#cked
America, you have the weirdest way of measuring temperatures lol.
I thought he’s gonna pull a bowl of water and a towel or a bag of rice xD
Me who lives in Florida: Haha, Suffer Normal People🤠
too much humidity is also a bad thing though
so do you see a sponge wet and wrung out and stored in a baggie in the case? No ... Ask yourself why not...
haha Sam Ashers! What's Guuuuuuccccciiii Jake Paulers!!!!!
Instead of sell products, you should have shown us how to use it.