Restringing question

[Earl]

Chris, I mentioned silica gel desiccant packs specifically to dry out your guitar.  From what I've read (I won't use them myself in my guitar cases) the D'Addario / Planet Waves / Boveda Humidi-paks are about 5X more effective at releasing moisture than absorbing it.  If the packs are squishy (not crunchy) they cannot absorb moisture.  "Two-way" is a overblown marketing claim.  I'm not sure you are really accomplishing anything right now.  FYI.

[Chris_T]

Gotcha. Those were put in yesterday prior to your advice.

Does the RH inside the case give any clue to effectiveness? It is currently 51%.

[Earl]

51% or less inside the case is OK, but the RH could be lower.  You are trying to actively dry out a wet guitar, so I would shoot for a sustained 40% RH in the case.  All that is important is what your guitar experiences for the next couple of weeks.  Silica gel packs will need to be recharged by slow mild heating (about 150°F for an hour) in the oven once they are saturated.  Smaller packs will need drying more often, and bigger ones will last longer.  It is all about the amount of water removed.

[Chris_T]

Thanks again, Earl. I have some arriving tomorrow.

[Guitar Cowboy]

I am admittedly a novice here , but I keep all my Taylor’s in there cases with humidipaks. My situation is different, battling low humidity in the cold Midwest. But I would not think a relative humidity if 51 % vs the ideal 47% would be any problem what so ever. I see anything from 40% to 55% on my hydrometers  and I am a happy camper. Is there something else going on here?

I also keep silica gel packs on hand for humid summers , but wouldn’t sweat anything at 51 %.

Maybe I need some education here , how can +5 % matter that much?

 Just askin...

[Chris_T]

This is a bit of a unique situation. I am dealing with a swollen guitar so the goal is to reduce as much moisture as possible.

[Earl]

Maybe I need some education here, how can +5 % matter that much?

It won't really matter.  Our guitars are pretty safe anywhere between 40-60% indoor RH on a sustained basis.  The ideal is around 47% because that is the condition under which they were built in the factory.  I know a Colorado luthier that builds in an uncontrolled shop at 25% RH.  His reasoning is that most of his guitars are bought and live locally, so building in very dry shop conditions prepares them to live safely that way throughout the dry west region.  His guitars would probably swell and come apart in Honolulu or Miami.

My guitars - all brands - sound better to my ear at 40% than at 50%.  And these targets are longer term running averages (days or weeks) not hourly fluctuations.  My hygrometers show the house at ~37% in the morning having turned down the thermostat at night, but the house usually stays more like 42-45% once the daytime heat kicks on (or AC in the summer).  Several of my guitars live out on wall hangers, and even the ones living in cases only get humidifying devices during the heavy heating months.  It is nice living in a moderate environment after years in Alaska struggling to humidify.

Chris already explained above that he is trying to dry out an excessively wet guitar to remove some top swelling and improve the "dead" tone.  My further point was that the two-way Humidi-paks... aren't really.  They are good for adding humidity, but limited in their ability to absorb it again.

[Edward]

^^^
FWIW, I agree with all Earl has said here.  While RH is a necessary consideration for the overall "health" and playability of an acoustic, it need not be obsessed over, and it is about averages over time.  A hygrometer (whose accuracy from unit to unit varies, to be sure), showing an average of 40-50% is plenty fine, and the occasional spike into 30s or 50s isn't cause for alarm.  Again, it's about the sustained environment and what the guitar is exposed to on average.

Likewise, I personally feel RH into the 50-ish percentile deadens the tone a bit ...not drastically, but akin to old strings, if you will, IMO.  And my guits (acoustics and electrics) have all been on wall mounts for maybe around 20 years now: all play perfectly well and suffer only by my putting hands on them ...just as one data point. 
But that's just my opinion and experience ...take it with copious grains of salt

Edward

[Strumming Fool]

All my guitars seem to play quite well with case hygrometer readings in the 40 - 43% RH range.. They sometimes go higher or lower by a couple of percentage points, but these temporary excursions do not seem to cause any harm....

[Chris_T]

I have now achieved 40% RH in the case with the silica desiccant packs inside.

I’m now going to leave the guitar there for 2 weeks and see what happens.

[Chris_T]

Just an update of my experience with the Martin I was posting about-

Humidity issues were addressed and resolved and it still didn’t sound anywhere near good. I took it to a talented guitar tech who did a complete setup including lowering the saddle a significant amount.

It now sounds great and I’m very pleased. Thanks to all of you who helped!

[Earl]

Happy for the good outcome, Chris.  Most non-Taylor guitars need setup work.

[Chris_T]

Happy for the good outcome, Chris.  Most non-Taylor guitars need setup work.

He told me that Taylors are the only ones he sees that are perfectly setup right out of the box.