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Joined:
October 2007
Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | This has been in the back of my mind lately and I thought I'd through it out to some of you "Experts".
Say you have a Wood top Ovation (I know , we all do) and you have always kept it at the correct humidity level (45-55%). You go away and realize that you left you guitar out NOT humidified and the Humidity levels in the air are say at 25-30%. How long before your guitar starts having problems? I'm only looking/asking for a good educated guess and realize not every guitar is equal. Should one worry after a few day or do you think a couple of weeks?? Again, just something I've been "pondering" for a bit. |
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November 2009
Posts: 152
Location: Corpus Christi, TX | Wood stabilzes at EMC(equilibrium moisture content)when the water vapor pressure in the wood reaches the same pressure as its environment (relative hunidity). The drying time is determined by temperature and humidity with temperature being the most important as the hotter the surrounding air the the less moisture it can hold.
At a reasonable temperature (less tha 100) for your guitar to reach EMC at the 25 - 30% from it's ideal state of 45 - 55% would take several weeks if not months.
Having said that any moisture you lose would take at least that long to return to desired levels when the guitar is returned to a controlled environment.
I definately wouldn't be worried about a few days but my guess would be after two weeks you may be able to notice a change.
Just my 2cents worth |
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Joined:
January 2009
Posts: 4535
Location: Flahdaw | Originally posted by Glen C.:
I definately wouldn't be worried about a few days but my guess would be after two weeks you may be able to notice a change.
What kinda change would I be noticing? |
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Joined:
October 2007
Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | Glen, interesting and informative answer, Thanks!
My main concern would probably be the wood drying out to a point that the Bridge "pops".
Would this be a resonable concern if/when a top dries out? |
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Joined:
November 2009
Posts: 152
Location: Corpus Christi, TX | I would think and believe me I wish I could tell for certain (my ears just aren't good enough) that you amy notice a subtle change in the tone as the moisture in the wood drops.
I certainly wouldn't expect any appearance or noticable to the eye difference after only a couple of weeks.
As for physical damage like a lifting bridge my thoughts are that with the absence of high heat and large temprature fluctuations you wouldn't have that kind of thing happening.
From what I have seen and read a guitar in a low humidity environment for an extended period of time is suseptable to top cracking and neck shrinking (the frets stick out on the side of the neck).
Of course here in South Texas we can hardly get the charcoal to dry out enough to have a good BAR B Q, so I don't worry about humidity that much. |
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June 2008
Posts: 66
| Best thing for any guitar is to let it sleep in i'ts case when not in use.Oaisis humidifer thrown in.Best one around. |
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Joined:
October 2007
Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | Originally posted by rigger173:
Best thing for any guitar is to let it sleep in i'ts case when not in use.Oaisis humidifer thrown in.Best one around. Yes thats obvious and done all the time. Like i said Just something I've been thinking about. |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | in case = not played for me!
gotta keep them in the open so they all get equal attention. I humidify the room to about 45-50% so the problem is moot. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4075
Location: Utah | We used to live in Albuquerque, with % humidity in the single digits frequently. For a decade two old wooden guitars were in our house. Neither one suffered any permanent damage.
For a couple of years after we got "good" Ovations we did not humidify the house here in Utah, averaging humidity in the teens or 20's. Again, no real problems.
My eldest daughter has her 2078T in her apartment in Utah, and I have noticed that the frets poke out a bit at the ends. When she went away for a week and left the guitar here at the house the neck absorbed enough moisture to reverse the sharp fret ends.
I don't think that a low humidity is something to worry about in terms of permanent damage, at least for short periods. IMO a bigger issue would be frequent large changes, say going from very high humidity in south Texas to very dry in Albuquerque, and doing it often. Large temperature changes would worry me more, too.
I do notice that there is some seasonal change to the height of the strings on the acoustics. The top can change dimension slightly with a change in humidity, thus raising or lowering the action. |
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Joined:
March 2010
Posts: 370
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | For what it's worth, I think people tend to make too much about the humidity level a guitar is kept in.
Whatever environment a guitar is stored in for long periods of time tends to become it's natural state, provided it's a good quality instrument and the bridge is not prone to being 'lifty' or the top prone to cracking.
In most places (outside of the desert south west, of course), it's hard to get the humidity to drop to lower than 20%, even using a dehumidifier. I have one running 24/7 here and try to keep the relative humidity between 25-30%. Anything higher than that, I find wood-top guitars tend to start sounding 'mushy' and get unpredictable. At this slightly lower level, I've found that the necks are more stable and I have never had any cracking or separation issues, even with 12 strings.
The climate here in the Red River valley tends to swing quite drastically from dry to wet in the summer months, lately being VERY WET!! So the upward pressure is probably on keeping the tops from absorbing moisture, rather than drying out.
This, I think is the key issue... to keep the humidity levels from swinging back and forth drastically. That is more likely the cause of real damage to a wooden guitar... |
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Question re: Humidty or lack of?
