Solid wood guitar storage

Zonular

Hey guys

Saw a faith slope shoulder all mahogany going for a great price. Picked it up, sounds great, only worry I've never owned a all solid wood guitar before 
Other than watching humidity (bought a cheap meter) and keeping in a case, what do I need to do other than play it?
Keeping the case upright is ok? 

munckee

My all solid acoustic is on a wall hanger in the lounge and I don’t seem to get any issues, apart from the occasional feedback from the sound hole. 

crunchman

munckee said:

My all solid acoustic is on a wall hanger in the lounge and I don’t seem to get any issues, apart from the occasional feedback from the sound hole. 

I have a Furch out on a stand full time with no issues.

Unless you are up in the wilds of Scotland and/or have your central heating on "cook me" settings, it shouldn't be a major issue.

Mellish

I use a D'Addario Humidipak in the case. In summer I'll run a dehumidifier to keep the RH in the room at 50%. Other than that, all I have is an Oasis Caliber lV hygrometer in the room  

TINMAN82

Guitars in cases get played less, so my Martin is on a wall hanger. 

Unless the case is humidity controlled it doesn’t make a huge difference, so I’m told. 

As long as humidity in the room is around 40-55% and temp 18-22 degrees without fast swings it should be fine.

Devil#20

I got a couple of Inkbird humidity monitors off Amazon for about a tenner each and just throw one in the case with the guitar. It gives the current humidity and temperature but also stores the min and max that the guitar has been exposed to. It's never varied too much when it's in the case at all. I might re-deploy them with my camera gear instead. I think they are prone to getting fungus on the lenses if the humidity gets too high. I did have quiite a large dry cabinet but it got damaged in transit and no longer controls the humidity at a constant lever. I've not replaced it as they are a bit expensive to buy one the size I had now and not sure they are really that necessary in NW England (even though it seems to piss down rather too much for my liking).

bertie

in the UK, unless you live in a pond,  or have central heating on full blast with no ventilation,  there's nothing to worry about 

Zonular

@bertie in the case from faith, it specifies storing the case flat? Never heard of that before

TINMAN82

bertie said:

in the UK, unless you live in a pond,  or have central heating on full blast with no ventilation,  there's nothing to worry about 

In modern houses yes. In damp areas (like Scotland) with older houses the humidity can get surprisingly high, eg 60plus without active dehumidification.

Jez6345789

 I have never done anything special in the uk and my acoustics are solid wood sit on stands in the spare bedroom/music room radiator off but other than that been all good.

here in Spain I don’t have anything expensive so do not worry too much but I was given a couple of these as a Christmas present. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Govee-Thermometer-Hygrometer-Temperature-Greenhouse/dp/B086YYL439/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1PR9JW3C81Q5&keywords=Humidity&qid=1642548698&sprefix=humidit%2Caps%2C329&sr=8-5&th=1

Like they have an app as welll as Max min being on the coast it can really do four seasons in a day but two years in nothing seems to complain inside house at the moment seems to be running between 35/40% but summer it can run from 30-80% but it’s sort of cyclical and never stays high day in day out so far everything seems to have adapted.

if I had a high end guitar then I would approach it differently but nothing I have is not replaceable. 

Tannin

Jez6345789 said:

here in Spain I don’t have anything expensive so do not worry too much

if I had a high end guitar then I would approach it differently but nothing I have is not replaceable. 

If you had a high end guitar you would be in Monaco instead of Spain.

bertie

TINMAN82 said:

bertie said:

in the UK, unless you live in a pond,  or have central heating on full blast with no ventilation,  there's nothing to worry about 

In modern houses yes. In damp areas (like Scotland) with older houses the humidity can get surprisingly high, eg 60plus without active dehumidification.

we do have older houses in England too   

Mellish

Storing with the case flat is, I suspect, their idea of safety. I store upright and no issues because of that  

more

The damage is mostly done with low humidity, and even then it would take time to dry the wood so badly for it to crack . I have owned guitars for years , I have lived in unheated and centrally heated houses . I have guitars in every room in the house , including the attic. So far not one has been damaged by humidity changes . I think as long as your sensible, don’t lean guitars against radiators or hanging in a south facing window , your be fine.

Lewy

Managing your guitar's humidification isn't just a matter of damage, it's a matter of sound and playability too. You can pay no attention whatsoever to humidity and there every chance your guitar won't suffer structurally. But there's also every chance your guitar won't be sounding or playing to its potential. 

more

Lewy said:

Managing your guitar's humidification isn't just a matter of damage, it's a matter of sound and playability too. You can pay no attention whatsoever to humidity and there every chance your guitar won't suffer structurally. But there's also every chance your guitar won't be sounding or playing to its potential. 

What you are saying is true , however . It's not  guaranteed, but most decent guitar makers will store  wood and keep  their workshops to about 45/50 % humidity. The UK is actually a humid country that  doesn't change much thought the year . For most soundboards to  swell up and become flat sounding  they need to be in about 75% for some time . The average  humidity in most   houses is well below that, Houses that have a  average humidity above 70% will have peeling wall paper and   mould  

Lewy

more said:

Lewy said:

For most soundboards to  swell up and become flat sounding  they need to be in about 75% for some time .

 Not my experience at all. 

Things start getting noticeable with my guitars after time spend in the low 60s and unmanaged RH in my house would stay above that for 3/4 of the year.

sev112

This summer was really moist - all of my acoustics suffered for the first time. Sounded dead, and much higher action

Zonular

Any tips 

sev112

In humid times, and in modern houses which are (too) well sealed - open your windows, or don’t close them fully, buy some cheap hygrometers off eBay (£10 for 3) and see what your guitar rooms range are.  If you hang tour washing out in rooms, buy a dehumidifier and use it.  It’s astonishing the amount of water that mine takes out 

drofluf

sev112 said:

In humid times, and in modern houses which are (too) well sealed - open your windows, or don’t close them fully, buy some cheap hygrometers off eBay (£10 for 3) and see what your guitar rooms range are.  If you hang tour washing out in rooms, buy a dehumidifier and use it.  It’s astonishing the amount of water that mine takes out 

With the cheap hygrometers (or probably expensive ones too) it’s worth calibrating them. I’ve got 2 cheap ones; one’s spot on, the other out by 8%. Of course even if uncalibrated it will still show relative changes. 

This article explains how to: https://www.famous-smoke.com/cigaradvisor/how-do-you-calibrate-a-hygrometer with “simple kitchen items” it’s a a cigar site, probably a smokier version of this place, but humidity is humidity.