Moving to AZ Part II - Guitars in the Desert

[Strumming Fool]

As most of you know, I moved from humid Tennessee to dry Arizona recently. Relative humidity in my new home is 30-31%. I continue to use Oasis case humidifiers (topping them off once a week). On the advise of Taylor customer service, I ordered seven case hygrometers through Amazon. These Inkbird hygrometers were easy to install (Velcro included) in the cases, and their readings are pretty consistent across my seven Taylors. Relative humidity is between 40 and 43%, which assures me that the Oasis case humidifiers are doing their job. No need at this time to add a room humidifier as my guitars are always stored in their cases when not in use. I would recommend the Inkbird hygrometer as a relatively inexpensive path toward peace of mind.

[zeebow]

wowsers! dry over there. i went to vegas in the summer once, felt like i was literally getting baked

[Strumming Fool]

wowsers! dry over there. i went to vegas in the summer once, felt like i was literally getting baked

Yeah, when you're walking outside and there's a breeze, you feel like you're inside a convection oven! But at my age, the old bones and joints absolutely love it. My wife and I go biking at 6am to beautiful views of mountains, desert plants of all kinds and hot air balloons in the skies. It's quite breathtaking! My guitars seem to have adjusted well too - they're all playing and sounding great. Of course, the bamboo flooring and ceramic tile throughout the new house make for a very lively reverb wherever I play!

[Guitars44me]

 Try my non-patented budget sound hole humidifier idea, below

Take a Ziploc bag, preferably sandwich size. Poke about 1000 holes in it with a fork.   Take a new clean  cellulose sponge,  soak it thoroughly and then blot it almost dry with a towel.

You don't want it to leak, so make sure it is only moist, not wet! NO DRIPS WANTED

 Slip it between the strings, with the zipper hanging out.

 Bingo, you're in business. Nothing to leak, nothing to  scratch your instrument, should stay moist for a week or so at least, even in the driest parts of the country as long as it's properly cased.

 And, perhaps, best of all, if you forget it at a gig you're only out about $.50!

I've been using these for over 20 years and never had a problem. By the way, as far as I know it's my invention!

Cheers

Paul

[Strumming Fool]

Thanks- I'm actually having good success with a case hygrometer and two Oasis case humidifiers for each guitar. Current RH in the room where the guitars are case-stored is 35%. The case hygrometers register at 43-45%. I fill them once a week with distilled water. Works beautifully!