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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Copied from the "Cult Of Lowden" Board:
Hi Everyone
Seeing I have to deal with the consequences of guitars which have become too dry on a regular basis here's my take on the humidifiers issue. Careless use of certain types of soundhole humidifiers will result in some water dripping onto the inside of a guitar. In my experience this has never been a serious problem in that it has never been bad enough to cause structural problems. It is important in dry areas or in centrally heated homes during winter, to pay attention to keeping your guitar reasonably humidified. If you don't, then you run the risk of cracking, lowering of string action and even the bridge "curling" slightly and popping off! If you can humidify the room where the guitar generally is kept and/or the guitar case itself, then that is a better option than a soundhole humidifier, but as a travel back up or if no room humification is available, the soundhole type is quite effective. Don't over fill them and they should not cause problems..... Safe Relative humidity readings are 45-60%. Below 40% will dry out your guitar. Above 65% will make it swell up a tad.
Another thing you can do is to use fingerboard oil twice a year or so both on the bridge and fingerboard. This will help and slow down temporary drying out of the bridge. Low tech ways of keeping the guitar humidified include cutting a potato in half and letting it dry out inside the case pocket. Also some plant life and small amounts of water to evaporate into the room also can help.
Hope that helps,
George |
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April 2006
Posts: 1138
Location: CT | I was always looking for a way to explain that potato in my guitar case. |
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January 2006
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Location: Thailand | Thank you so much for sharing the information, Jeff.
povation |
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Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Use an apple instead of the potato. |
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Location: NJ | or cashews
:rolleyes: |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | We have lots of potatoes if anyone needs them. |
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Posts: 2491
Location: Copenhagen Denmark | Clay/Potatoes or Genetically Enhanced ones..??... |
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Posts: 3410
Location: GA USA | What about French fries? |
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Location: SoCal | Chet Atkins always kept cigars in his cases.... |
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March 2005
Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | Actually we ship all the good potatoes out of state. The culls would probably work fine for those plastic guitars. |
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November 2005
Posts: 4832
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | I prefer a bouquet garni of fresh lavender, cinnamon, hemp, and saffron, tied with fresh green bunchgrass.
Humidifies and hides the smell of stale potato at the same time. |
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October 2006
Posts: 5575
Location: big island | Originally posted by Mauvais Beal:
Use an apple instead of the potato. those irish folks are into potatoes.
and if you get hungry doing gigs, just put whole pie in there. |
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May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | The good thing about the apple is that you'll always have something to eat. Sure it may get a bit shruken, but what the heck. |
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December 2006
Posts: 6995
Location: Jet City | We have plenty of apples and taters here in WA.
Not too much reason to humidify here though. |
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Humidifying Tips from George Lowden...