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UNPLANNED DOWNTIME: 12th Oct 23:45

Humidity and my acoustic

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simonhpiemansimonhpieman Frets: 643
in Acoustics
Welcome back to part 12 of simonhpieman's "I know nothing about acoustics"!

Got my Gibson J-100 a few weeks ago. Part of getting a decent acoustic was having it on a stand so I could pick it up and enjoy it's lovely sound whenever the feeling took me.

At present, it's sat on a hercules stand in my dining room/office area. It's about 8ft from a window my wife keeps open whatever the weather when she's working during the day and about 12ft from the back door which she also tends to leave open all day long.

It also gets some sun straight through the window for an hour or two in the mornings if the sun's out.

My cheapo hygrometer that turned up yesterday is showing 67%.

We also have little option but to dry our clothes on a rack indoors. The house is an old 1800s cottage with big thick walls, though the lounge etc seems to no longer suffer with damp, even though I'm lead to believe it did in the past.

ANYWAY... The guitar is about 8 years old now and I think has been well looked after as it was part of Gibson Artist stock and is well set up (even though it's toured and has a few knocks it seems to have at least been regularly attended to).

Is the guitar now old enough that I shouldn't worry too much about the high humidity? Should I just leave it in a case with a bag of that D'Addario gel and never play it (guitars in cases don't get played in my experience)? Should I tell my wife to stop leaving the door open if I want to leave the guitar out? Is there even a safe way to leave a guitar out without a dehumifier (and is all that work cancelled out if you leave doors and windows open?).

Apologies once again for my ignorance and thanks as ever for all your input - I did do a search and have read some old threads but fresh input is appreciated!
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Comments

  • digitalkettledigitalkettle Frets: 2587
    Too little humidity is worse than too much (unless we're talking about Nashville flooding).

    Dropping to around 40% doesn't happen that often in the UK, afaict...and it seems to be lowest in winter: windows closed, heating on, snow outside, etc.

    I would be concerned about direct sunlight though...for heat/UV effects rather than humidity.
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  • malcolmkindnessmalcolmkindness Frets: 151
    edited July 2021
    If your humidity is 67% and the guitar is left out on a stand then it will not sound its best. If this doesn't bother you then the guitar will not suffer much. As the previous poster has stated, low humidity is much more harmful to the instrument. Generally speaking, if the room feels comfortable to you then the guitar will be ok, but I'd try and avoid the direct sunshine if possible.
    It's pointless running a dehumidifier if you leave the windows and doors open.
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