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Posts: 3497
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
RE: What are members using to humidify? (in reply to machopicasso)
Regarding humidifying your guitar in a dry environment, instead of buying a humidifying kit or a case with built-in humidifying nodes, you might consider a simple solution my flamenco guitar maestro Paco de Malaga suggested. Buy a plastic soap dish with a top and an every-day kitchen sponge. Punch holes in the top of the soap dish and place the thoroughly soaked sponge inside. Put the top back on, and place the soap dish with wet sponge in the top of your guitar case under the guitar's headstock. Of course, you must keep the guitar case horizontal in order to maintain the soap dish in place.
I have been using this method for years with good results. Although the humidifying soap dish and sponge are in the headstock area of the case, the humidity produced is dispersed throughout the case.
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
Posts: 3487
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
RE: What are members using to humidify? (in reply to machopicasso)
I use this:
It contains a chemical that dissolves in distilled water, that is supposed to keep the humidity in the case around 40%.
There's one for each guitar. The guitar closet is in a small room next to the practice room. In a cabinet in there are a gallon jug of distilled water and the hypodermic syringe (minus needle) used to fill the humidifiers.
Been using them for maybe 15 years, see no reason to change.
Two guitars are in Visesnut cases, two in Karuras, one in a Mark Leaf. Two others are in good quality molded plywood double arch cases. The Mark Leaf is a monstrosity. It's very thick fiberglass, weighs a ton. There's a good reason they are no longer made. But the humidifier in it dries out far more slowly than the ones in the other "sealed" cases.
RNJ
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RE: What are members using to humidify? (in reply to kitarist)
Yes sir. I use a humidifier. Holds about 2 gallons of water. You can even add various scented oils like “lavender dreams” or “pumpkin spice laté” which helps the guitars relax when they aren’t being played.
RE: What are members using to humidify? (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
Cheap easy and convenient
I get that it's cheap. But I dispute its superior -- or even equivalent -- easiness and convenience. For the latter, it's hard to beat the sponge in the plastic cartridge hanging in the sound hole.
I'm guessing your ziplocked wet towel is in or near the sound hole. Do you do anything to humidify the neck?
Posts: 3497
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
RE: What are members using to humidify? (in reply to machopicasso)
quote:
I get that it's cheap. But I dispute its superior -- or even equivalent -- easiness and convenience. For the latter, it's hard to beat the sponge in the plastic cartridge hanging in the sound hole. I'm guessing your ziplocked wet towel is in or near the sound hole. Do you do anything to humidify the neck?
To repeat my post above.
"Buy a plastic soap dish with a top and an every-day kitchen sponge. Punch holes in the top of the soap dish and place the thoroughly soaked sponge inside. Put the top back on, and place the soap dish with wet sponge in the top of your guitar case under the guitar's headstock. Of course, you must keep the guitar case horizontal in order to maintain the soap dish in place.
I have been using this method for years with good results. Although the humidifying soap dish and sponge are in the headstock area of the case, the humidity produced is dispersed throughout the case."
You don't need to place the sponge near the sound hole. Keep the case closed and the humidity is evenly dispersed throughout the case, humidifying the entire guitar.
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
Posts: 15725
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: What are members using to humidify? (in reply to machopicasso)
quote:
I'm guessing your ziplocked wet towel is in or near the sound hole. Do you do anything to humidify the neck?
No zip locking as in plastic bag. The guitar needs to be in a contained environment that normal guitar cases don’t provide well. I realized that only a guitar case has a zipper (a rain bag outer case can do this as well) to trap the moisture inside the case with the guitar. If you drop a humidifier into the sound hole, the sound board and maybe back and sides get all the water, and if the case is not trapping moisture then the guitar body will be constantly expanding and contracting, the faster that happens the easier cracks will form the one time you forget refill your humidifier. I normally am concerned about the neck and fingerboard too cuz when that ebony shrinks it is causing lots of problems. To make sure the neck head AND body are all getting water the CASE needs to be closed and containing the water. The water source (sponge or whatever you use) needs to be in the air around the entire guitar and let ALL the wood drink it up. Once the wood has the water the case allows the humidity around the guitar to balance, but if the case is not sealed then the air will try to draw the water back out of the guitar. So you need to constantly monitor the sponge or paper towel or whatever. What I found long ago is that the paper towel dries out rapidly with a normal guitar case, but the cases with zipper/good seal allow that little paper towel to stay damp for over a week.
Again, be careful with OVER humidifying your guitar, something that at my first paranoia about a new guitar that had dried, is also not good.
RE: What are members using to humidify? (in reply to Ricardo)
Thanks, Ricardo. That's helpful.
I'm in a really dry climate and so don't think I need to worry about over-humidifying, at least with my current method. During winter, my sponge dries out daily.
Posts: 15725
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: What are members using to humidify? (in reply to machopicasso)
quote:
During winter, my sponge dries out daily.
.
Wow. So you are not isolating the guitar from your living environment. Try a rain cover with zipper for your guitar case if it doesn’t have a zipper already.
RE: What are members using to humidify? (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
Wow. So you are not isolating the guitar from your living environment.
Well, you're the first person I've ever heard recommend that! Even the local luthier with whom I spoke last January didn't mention a zipper. But maybe I'll give that a try.
Posts: 15725
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: What are members using to humidify? (in reply to machopicasso)
quote:
ORIGINAL: machopicasso
quote:
Wow. So you are not isolating the guitar from your living environment.
Well, you're the first person I've ever heard recommend that! Even the local luthier with whom I spoke last January didn't mention a zipper. But maybe I'll give that a try.
An extreme thing, and cheap, that works well is simply a large trash bag. Put the whole guitar case in that with the humidifier inside the case and for sure it won’t dry out in a day.
RE: What are members using to humidify? (in reply to machopicasso)
Here in Florida the problem is too much humidity. I could run a de-humidifier but they are noisy, need to be emptied all the time and it would run constantly. Some indoor climate experts say just make sure the air conditioning is running.
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