humidification?

[northfolk]

I live in the north central part of the country; winter is already upon us. I own many instruments and have always humidified them. I do however wonder if it is necessary to humidify my electric guitars and mandolin or my tenor banjo? I am looking for feedback and what others do? Thanks. ~o):mandosmiley:

[Steve Ostrander]

There have been many posts on this so try searching the archives. I make my own case humidifiers by taking a film canister or pill bottle and drilling a few holes in the top, back or sides, and cutting a piece of anti-bacterial kitchen sponge to fit inside. Dampen with water (don't overfill) and put it in the case with the instrument and you are in business.

[mandroid]

I may be an Outlier . since I'm At Most 2 blocks , line of sight from the Columbia River .

My issue in other apartments was cold rooms , that were making shipping in winter like issues .

My Guitar now has a few fine lines in the top finish, from opening the case.

[Folkmusician.com]

Electric guitars withstand drying out more favorably than acoustic instruments, but ideally they should still be humidified. The first signs of an electric drying out will be fingerboard shrinkage. Tenor banjo... again, you should, but not as critical as other acoustic instruments. For mandolin, it is very important that it be humidified.

[Frank Russell]

Elderly used to sell really basic humidifiers that I liked a lot. It was a film-type cannister, with holes in the top, full of some type of clay that you wet, it would absorb what it needed, then you poured out the excess and put it in your case. I would check mine about once a week, and they stayed moist for weeks at a time, but never made my case steamy or let out too much moisture. I've also had the finish crackle happen before, since I live in the desert, and some instruments were shipped to me from cold climates, and I couldn't wait to open and see my new toy. On a side note, a friend recommended that I use computer keyboard spray to get dust off my instruments, and I found out the hard way that the super-cold compressed air would put some serious crackling on a headstock. Frank.

[Billbass1]

I have humidity gauges around my home .
I am wondering , in what range , by the numbers ,
What the proper level is for mandolins ?

[Folkmusician.com]

Right around 50% is ideal for any wooden instrument. I have our humidifiers set at 47%. We run two large household type humidifiers. If you go this route, I highly recommend one that is rated for at least double the square footage you will be humidifying.

[Bertram Henze]

Time for my soap box with holes, containing a sponge with some cheap liquor somebody gave us for a gift we don't drink - this winter it's Grappa.

[haggardphunk]

i live at 8200 feet and NEED to keep my guitars and mandolins humidified. The dryness this time of year drives me crazy.

[Mike Arakelian]

I found a great little hygrometer on EBay...it's called the Caliber IV (NFI) and sells for around $10. It's actually made for cigar humidors, but works great in a mandolin case. It's very accurate, and is also able to be calibrated. I also use the pill bottle drilled with holes and stuffed with a sponge for humidification..works great!

[Mandobart]

My standard reply to this standard seasonal question:
I've lived in arid parts of the west most all my life except for brief periods of military service. I've rarely worried about humidification, even while living at 7000' in northern NM while heating my home with wood. My instruments did just fine for years there. I now live in a slightly less dry area, the Eastern Washington shrub steppe. I still heat with wood and still don't humidify. Here are some things to think about:

1. Humidifying a case is rather pointless, unless it is sealed tight enough to prevent the moisture from escaping. If your sponge dries out it is doing nothing. Every time you open the case the moisture is gone again. There is little to no air flow in a closed case, so even a damp sponge doesn't ensure even humidification of the neck, body, etc.

2. When we talk about humidity, we talk about relative humidity, the actual amount of moisture in the air compared to the maximum amount it could hold given the temperature and pressure. So 40% RH in Eastern Washington is not the same as 40% RH on the coast.

3. If you are really concerned about the RH in your instrument storage area, you need something like a humidor, where it will maintain a constant RH for the whole instrument. I don't have one, and if I did, I would still need to take my instruments out to actually play them. Sudden changes in humidity and/or temperature and wide swings in these do a lot more damage than sustained storage at a constant low or high RH or temperature, as Mandroid's experience shows.

But, this subject is like a tone-rite, you have folks convinced on each side. Do whatever gives you peace of mind.

[JeffD]

I have two friends who make humidified spaces. On made the entire upstairs bedroom into a humidified space, the other made a closet into a humidified space. Both had humidifiers that were connected by tube to the water supply of the house. Really cool.

If I had the guitar collection either of these folks have, I would probably do the same.

[Teak]

I agree with Mandobart and JeffD on this topic. Better to humidify an area: bedroom, study, living room, whatever, where the instruments are kept rather than the case. I also own teak furniture that was shipped in from the tropics so I needed to get humidifying anyway.

[bbaker2050]

I've have my mandolin hanging on an (exterior) wall hook in my bonus room which is relatively colder than the rest of the house. Is this bad? Should I keep it in the case with a humidifier. Should I humidify the whole room?

[Bertram Henze]

I think whoever uses humidification should state his objectives, which may vary under circumstances.

I am not concerned for possible damage to the instrument - I live in frequently rained-on country. I humidify in-case in winter merely because then indoor humidity is much lower than in summer, which lowers the action (one-piece-bridge), which I do not want. When I play, my naked steaming right forearm does much of the humidification, I guess, but I want the effect to go on through the much longer sleeping times inside the case. Since I do this, the mysterious "waking-up" of the instrument after 1/2 hour of playing no longer happens - it's awake from the start.