Visual clues for humidity

[slimey]

I'm sure this question has been asked before, but my searches turned up nothing relevant.
As a guitar player I know looking at the neck and belly of the guitar ( below the bridge ) you can see if the instrument is too dry or moist enough.
I'm new to mandolins and would like to know if there are similar visual clues you can see to check state of your mandolins moisture content?
Thanks for your help, sorry if this questions been discussed and discussed in the past.

[allenhopkins]

One good source of info about instruments vs. humidity (or lack thereof), is the Taylor Guitars tech sheets (http://www.taylorguitars.com/contact/customerservice/) on their website. Of course, they're specifically about guitars, but articles like Symptoms of a Dry Guitar and Symptoms of a Wet Guitar have content that's useful to mandolin owners.

Although there are definitely "symptoms" to look for in assessing your mandolin's humidity, one of the best things you can do is to buy a hygrometer and measure the relative humidity of the mandolin's immediate environment. That way, you can often head off problems before they actually manifest themselves by changes in the instrument.

[slimey]

Allen, thanks for your reply, so you're more or less saying the same visual clues you use to check a guitar will apply to a mandolin?

[allenhopkins]

In general, yes. The larger, uniform-thickness guitar top may show more readily-observable signs of sinkage or "swellage" than the smaller, stiffer mandolin top does, but you're dealing with acoustic instruments made of the same or very similar materials. One of the early signs of guitar dryness is a lowering of the action, so much so that some guitarists have a "summer bridge saddle" and a "winter bridge saddle," of differing heights. Mandolin probably doesn't show this as quickly.

I would re-emphasize that having a hygrometer to consult, may allow you to adjust humidity before it significantly affects the instrument. Which is a good thing.