Care and feeding of your instruments?

[Tobin]

Those that humidify without a hygrometer are like those that heat their instruments without a thermometer.

It's been said by many a luthier that if the air is comfortable for humans, it's comfortable for instruments. I do use a hygrometer to check humidity, but it always seems to confirm what I already feel in the air. At this point, I don't think I'd really need a hygrometer to know when to humidify. Or a thermometer to know what temperature is comfortable. But it's nice to have a number as a reference.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Tobin - "....Either that or just play the darn thing and don't fash yourself with trying to keep it pristine.". That would be ''The Monroe Method of Mandolin Maintenance'' i presume ?,
Ivan

[Bertram Henze]

I...if the air is comfortable for humans, it's comfortable for instruments.

I go by that principle also, but then I live in a moderate climate where extreme drouth hardly ever occurs. It may still hold if the instrument was made in the same climate it is kept in.
Hygrometers, OTOH, are difficult to calibrate and of no use if they aren't. I have one in my living room - it frequently shows more than 100% in summer, making me wonder why I can see it, with all the fog that should be there.

[Emmett Marshall]

This, oh and the string cleaner I use is Dr Duck's AxWax.

Hey Bertram, thanks for that link. It led me to your other videos. This was the first time I've had an opportunity to hear you play. I really enjoyed your music - especially "Kincraigie Revisited" and "Castle Kelly".

I use this and this to clean my strings and they seem to do a nice job pretty quickly.

[Mandobart]

Originally Posted by Tobin
"if the air is comfortable for humans, it's comfortable for instruments."

Well, probably. Where I grew up (7000' up in the Jemez Mountains) although the daytime temps were rarely above the low 90's, relative humidity was often in the teens. Most of us there never felt uncomfortable. I challenge anyone to be able to discern that level of humidity within +/- 10% "by feel." I've posted several times that old instruments of mine (my Grandpa's 1880's violin for one) lived in that environment for decades with no apparent damage. However I know several players and luthiers would gasp at prolonged exposure to such low moisture air and would predict damage.

[Timbofood]

I'm warned about High tides offering Salmon crossing the roads cautions , so Humidity is not a problem..

Here we can ask " Why did The Salmon Cross the road?"

To be grilled or, poached on the other side!
And I strongly believe the "if you're uncomfortable, so is an instrument" theorem! Instruments become members of your family, treat them accordingly. Being negligent of my guitar allowed the bridge to split, it's ALL my own fault!
I need to have that repaired one of these days. I obvious have not been playing that anywhere near enough! Mandolin is happy as can be! Next week I'll take it to the zoo!

[pointpergame]

Hygrometers, OTOH, are difficult to calibrate and of no use if they aren't. I have one in my living room - it frequently shows more than 100% in summer,

You don't have to settle for poor indoor weather data these days.
If you care, you can team up an Arduino with a thermometer/humidity sensor from Adafruit that can give you accuracy better than 1%...at least in the middle of the range, 3% out at the edges. I took one on vacation last spring with the idea of calibrating the thermometers and hygrometers for my relatives. Compared to the high quality reference, their inexpensive wireless indoor-outdoor instruments were quite accurate ( say, 2 or 3% ).

[Polecat]

A four-pound hammer is about right to knock off the stalactites that occasionally form. Having sworn off power tools, I no longer use a Husqvarna chainsaw for clipping off strings. If the soundhole calcifies, a 20% solution of formic acid usually does the trick. I'm still looking for a satisfactory grinding agent for the tailpiece.

[Pasha Alden]

Clean with a soft cloth. That is all. Will change the strings shortly.

[ollaimh]

humidify, humidify then humidify. drying is instrument death. a light dusting and a wipe now and again never hurts either. sometimes you can re humidify a dry instrument if it hasn't gone too far, but better to not let that happen. but watch for too much humidity if you live somewhere very wet--i don't. canadian winters mean very dry in doors, so humidity is essential. summers are often steady at 45 to 55 % and not too hot. this has been true this year right to today(with a little heat). but it will get cold and dry soon.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Every time i read a thread regarding mandolin humidity,i wonder just how much humidity was in Bill Monroe's Loar during allthe years he played it. A lot of folks refer to the tone as ''Dry & woody'' - would it have sounded 'dry' if it had been at it's ''proper'' humidity level (whatever that would have been). I'd bet a bunch of cash that BM never gave a thought to how 'humid' it was, any more than he was over careful in how it looked. I'm sure that the truth lies somewhere in between the 2 extremes - but just where ?.
From the photos. i've seen that were taken of the inside of the 'pokerised' '23 Loar that Charlie Derrington so wonderfully put back together,the wood looks like bone dry kindling,
Ivan

[Bertram Henze]

A lot of folks refer to the tone as ''Dry & woody'' - would it have sounded 'dry' if it had been at it's ''proper'' humidity level (whatever that would have been).

OTOH I have never heard anybody describing a mandolin to sound "soggy"...

[Tobin]

OTOH I have never heard anybody describing a mandolin to sound "soggy"...

No, that's not a term anyone uses, LOL. But I have had a couple of times where I dealt with very high humidity for extended periods, and my mandolins sounded tight, stuffy and dull. Almost muted, in a way. I'm sure all mandolins react differently, but that's the best I can do to describe what I hear when my mandolins stay in an environment greater than 55% humidity (the top end of the usually-recommended range).

Ivan brings up a good point that it's always good to remember when speaking of humidification. I know we all want to keep our babies safe and comfortable, but all the vintage instruments we love were built in a time before air conditioning or the modern comforts we have today. They went through temperature and humidity swings that would be considered brutal for modern instruments. And perhaps that is why they sound like they do. Not just age, but the cycling of environmental factors over long periods.

[multidon]

Still waiting for a recommendation for a specific "soft dry cloth" that you can wipe a gloss finish with without introducing new scratches. I had a very bad experience with Elderly brand cleaning cloths. We had one recommendation for old worn well washed undershirts but not realistic to keep these in a mandolin case. Also have read on other sites that you should not use fabric softener on instrument cleaning cloths. I've heard that makes them "scratchy". Well, I use fabric softener (doesn't everybody?) for all my underwear so if that's true so much for that idea.

You see a LOT of "cleaning cloths" being sold for instruments. They basically divide into "100 percent cotton flannel" or "microfiber". Bunch of brands there. As I said I feel the Elderly store brand added scratches. I would like to hear specific recommendations for a commercially available cleaning cloth that I can keep in my case to wipe off dust and fingerprints dry without introducing new scratches.

Those of you who have, both sarcastically and not, suggested I should just play it, I get it. I understand normal play wear. I think that's ok. Call me crazy for thinking you should not have to scratch your instrument while wiping it off.

Everybody, I mean everybody, including the manufacturers, recommends wiping with a soft dry cloth. But SPECIFIC recommendations are hard to find. And everybody who markets a cleaning cloth says it won't scratch. But my experience says otherwise.

[Tobin]

Still waiting for a recommendation for a specific "soft dry cloth" that you can wipe a gloss finish with without introducing new scratches.

When it comes to microfiber cloth, I've seen two types. One is a flat weave and the other is a puffy type with loops, like a bath towel. I had received a free flat-weave type from JustStrings one time, with an order, and found it to be as you say. It just seemed to grind in the dust and cause very small scratches on the surface.

But I picked up several of the puffy loop type microfiber cloths at a weekend acoustic camp, and I love them. I don't know who makes them or where they came from, unfortunately. But they look just like this style. They are VERY soft, and they tend to pick up any dust on the surface and lift it away without any scratches (at least, not that I can see).

Obviously, you can't just mash the cloth on the surface and rub it around. You have to use a light swiping action to brush away the dust and other particles that are too small to see. And I usually fold mine so that the edge stitching doesn't touch the surface. I shake them out and 'snap' them in the air to try to get rid of the dust particles that they pick up. And when I need to moisten them, I use distilled water (since my tap water is very hard and full of minerals that I don't want to dry in the microfiber).

[Carl Robin]

Living in dry, dusty Arizona, I have long ago decided not to worry about humidity levels. It was in the single digits here last spring. I need fresh air, and am not willing to keep the doors and windows closed for the sake of a humidifier. The dryness usually is a positive thing, in my opinion. My instruments do get dusty. I use a damp cloth for cleaning, and sometimes add a spritz of window cleaner to the cloth. Overly delicate, or fragile instruments don't come home with me. I have good ones, though. The biggest danger, I think, is travelling, in cars that can get very hot. That's were I will get protective, and even a little fussy. About positioning, insulation, parking places, ventilation, carrying it in when stopping for lunch, as an example--whatever is needed, convenient or not. No casualties, yet.

[slk]

When I lived in FL I never heard any talk of humidification. Since moving to MN that was the first thing out of everyone's mouths. The recommended solution was to get a bunch of those travel soap containers and some of those small antibacterial sponges. Cut the sponge to fit tight in the dish when moist. It worked for most of my instruments with regular style hard-shell cases. I have several Martins that have that 640 molded case that the Styrofoam was sucking up the moisture faster than the guitar could, so I had to add an in sound hole oasis in those cases.

As far as polishing cloths go... I am a furniture maker and restorer. The best cloth I have used is a baby diaper 100% cotton. You want to use all of the flat areas of the cloth avoiding any seams, or you could just cut the seams out. I use that cloth on all high quality antiques, and have never had a scratch appear. Now that being said you need to keep any cloth clean and away from any contaminants. Now polish is a different animal. If you use anything with silicon it would make refinishing more difficult, but not impossible. There are so many good polishes out there for instruments. On the fret board I have been using pure mineral oil. The kind you can get from any drug store. It is only a couple of bucks for a pint container that will last you your life. Martin guitars does not recommend lemon oil as it does have acid in it. Heck they recommend using 3 in 1 oil. That was surprising to me..

All of us have our little ideas on what has worked for us. If it is working for you then stay with what is working.

Steve

[allenhopkins]

Living in dry, dusty Arizona, I have long ago decided not to worry about humidity levels. It was in the single digits here last spring. I need fresh air, and am not willing to keep the doors and windows closed for the sake of a humidifier....No casualties, yet.

You have been lucky. We shouldn't be alarmist about the effects of low humidity, but I'd be worried about prolonged exposure to single-digit levels.

We should be clear: most instruments don't crack when dried out, and the precautions most people advocate are to avoid the minority of cases where low humidity causes damage. There are uncounted instruments that have survived decades of non-care, and still play fine. But there are definitely large numbers that have been damaged, to avoid this possibility, using in-case humidifiers would be a minimal precaution, especially in arid Arizona.

[Polecat]

Still waiting for a recommendation for a specific "soft dry cloth" that you can wipe a gloss finish with without introducing new scratches.

Seriously, this time, I use These, I bought a couple of them from a jewellers supplies shop maybe 20 years ago - they are the standard in the watch-making and goldsmithing industry (I live close to Pforzheim in Southern Germany, the center of both these industries), and I reckon anything that a jeweller or watchmaker uses cannot be bad. I've washed them probably hundreds of times over the years, and apart from a few stains which won't come out, they're still as good as new.

[Timbofood]

Selvyt cloths are wonderful! Nothing in them at all, washable, fairly cheap!

[Bertram Henze]

Well, I use fabric softener (doesn't everybody?) for all my underwear so if that's true so much for that idea.

Can't stand fabric softener. My instrument never complained about the hard rough fabric I use. None of my instruments

[Emmett Marshall]

On this care and feeding stuff, I found a pretty cool way to make the inside of my mandolin case and mandolin smell good that works for me. I get an old, tiny, eyedropper bottle. Stuff it with cotton balls, add about 10 drops of natural CLEAR vanilla extract so that it's all absorbed into the cotton. Then I cover the top of the bottle with some thin, cotton cloth and snap a rubber band around it to hold on the cotton cloth. Place the gizmo into my Calton case (well sealed), put in the mandolin, and wait till the next day. Yum! I guess other scents could be used, but I'd be cautious about anything that gives off a lot of fumes when it evaporates.

[multidon]

New Gibson guitar cases and even Martin cases smell very strongly of vanilla to me. I've been trying to get rid of it. Now Emmett is telling me how to add more vanilla smell!

[Emmett Marshall]

New Gibson guitar cases and even Martin cases smell very strongly of vanilla to me. I've been trying to get rid of it. Now Emmett is telling me how to add more vanilla smell!

[Timbofood]

Bacon?