Humidification for Winter

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

I have several acoustic guitars, including my Every Day Player - Taylor 414CE. I am looking to see what humidification and monitoring solutions forum members have found to work best. We live in Michigan and have whole-house humidifier on the furnace, but I don't think it supplies the same amount that an acoustic guitar desires to keep from cracking. Thoughts?

You're getting some good advice here but I can't stress the importance of monitoring enough. Here in Southern California I can leave my guitars out without much worry, but I still keep several hygrometers, (which I check for accuracy several times a year) in my guitar room, as well as a Hunter whole room humidifier filled and ready. For guitars that are in their cases in my guitar closet, I use an Oasis soundhole unit which I check once a month. But keep in mind that my guitar closet is in my monitored guitar room, otherwise I would check weekly.

[Frettingflyer]

From FrettingFlyer:

Donlyn, I didn’t suggest “plastic” (CF) to replace our beloved wood instruments, but with my traveling job it has allowed me to more than double my playing time with no worry about taking care of or damaging my nice Taylor’s. Hope I didn’t offend anyone here, but it is nice sometimes to have a guitar out on a stand even in extreme humidity conditions, and some of these CF guitars sound great as well, a nice complement to my collection at least.

Hey Dave,

I wasn't dissing CF guitars. Didn't even know they were plastic based. Kind of riffing on the Graduate line when the guy says "I've got one word for you, Ben. Plastics". So no, I'm not offended, nor did I mean any offense. I was in a goofy mood, and if you check that youtube link, you'll understand the last line about the desert, relative to Oasis. Hint, it's got nothing to do with humidifiers.

I applaud any move that gets people playing more.

Besides, were almost neighbors I believe, and have similar humidification issues. Mine is compounded by a poorly insulated house, so I defaulted to an in-case solution. I even humidify a non-solid wood guitar like my Epiphone on general principle,  including having a solid wood top, fretboard and neck. In fact I got that one to 'accompany' me to Ireland, but gave up on the crapshoot of taking it on an airliner across the Atlantic. So actually a CF might have been an option I should have looked into.

Don

PS> Had a carbon fiber tennis racket once upon a time. Very nice to play with. Don't know if that counts for anything.

Don, now that you point it out I remember that line, sorry I didn’t “get it” in context. Some people refer to CF as “plastic”, usually in a derogatory way.
I, like you, humidify my family’s non solid wood guitars( Mini’s, Martin Jr.) because of this harsh environment we have, but it ensures they survive the winter.
I will check YouTube when the kids aren’t around, just in case:)
You should check out CF if you want to travel with them, they are hard to find, but I have 3 by diffen’t manufacturers, PM me if you wish to try them.

[EFG]

  Humidipaks ( Brevada ) work great
  I live in Georgia and we get high humidity in the summer and some cold winter weather
  This system works for both. A little pricey but I switch out twice a year and don’t have
  to worry about the humidity
      Ed
 

[doublescale1]

I got the Taylor Sense thing for my 322ce - so with a Humidipack and the Taylor Sense App, I can easily keep track of the humidity level of my guitar right on my phone.  If your Taylor cant take their Taylor Sense battery box then you can use a Planet Waves similar kind of sensor and app: http://www.planetwaves.com/pwhumiditrak.page?sid=68aee4a6-b679-40ea-8fba-adccfefbd729  This is the easiest way to not have to worry about the humidity levels of your guitar(s) winter or summer as the Humidipacks are two-way humidity systems, adding or subtracting according to need.

[Craig]

My room was getting down to 34% so I put a glass of water on the radiator and it's back into the 40's now.
I'm not sure if it's working or just a coincidence but the glass is only half full now.

Craig

[Craig]

So I decided that the glass of water thing wasn't working so I bought a Vornado room humidifier.
It's doing a good job of keeping my room where it should be.

Tonight I played my mandolin and one of the guitars for the first time since it was installed and they were both very sharp in tuning. maybe I'm wrong but that suggests to me some expansion in the wood.

Craig

 

[Der Geist]

i live in Cleveland with weather similar to yours.   I leave my guitars out all the time.   I use an ultrasonic humidifier and keep it on low 24/7.  If it gets really cold like it has been the last couple of weeks I will turn it up to medium until the humidity comes up.  The heat just sucks the moisture right out of the air.   I check it morning and night so it never varies by more than a couple of percent.  The white dust was a problem until I found out about the filters.  No more white dust now.