Guitar Humidification, what’s the fuss anyways?
Like many guitar owners, I had no real idea how much guitar humidification affected the playability of my guitars.
I would leave it out on the stand for ease of play and of course it looked awesome sitting there.
It shouldn’t have surprised me that nature was reeking havoc on my instrument over time.
Depending on where you live you can have wild fluctuations in humidity levels all of which affect the guitar.
Even if you live in a relatively stable climate area or if you are living in a space which is relatively stable humidity wise, it is still a challenge to keep the guitars stable.
I’ve been fortunate in that the lack of guitar humidification has only cause me setup issues and not actual damage.
Others haven’t been so lucky, from tops and backs cracking to necks actually splitting all of which has led to costly repairs.
Now it doesn’t matter if its an Electric solid body, Hollow Body or Acoustic, they all end up having challenges due to lack of humidity or to the other end of the scale of too much humidity.
All guitars should be kept around a relative humidity level (RH) of approx. 45 – 55% .
Maintaining these levels, in a case, ensures that your guitar doesn’t end up with avoidable issues.
So what’s the solution?
There are a host of products in the marketplace that will assist with this.
All involve different levels of interaction and monitoring as you will add water to whatever holding device comes with the product and then you will either add more when it gone or use a hydrometer to try and maintain the best humidity level possible for the instrument.
I use the above approach in my workshop when I am rehydrating guitars that are in need of it as I am setting them up.
That being said I was horrible in maintaining my own, I would eventually end up forgetting to check the hydrometer only to find out that it was back on the dry scale again.
Boveda – A set it and forget it product!
I stumbled across a company called Boveda who has taken the thought out of the whole guitar hydration process.
Their products are manufactured to keep the humidity level at a set level, in the case of guitars between that 45 – 55% RH level, either releasing humidity if needed or in the reverse, removing it if there is to much.
“Boveda patented 2-way humidity control makes it easy for you to protect your wood instruments with precision. Wood instruments should be kept between 45% and 55% relative humidity. Boveda eliminates major fluctuations in temperature and relative humidity inside the instrument case. Boveda 49% RH stabilizes the environment to prevent damage that happens to wood from exposure to fluctuations.”[1].
Its what I like to call a set it and forget it system.
Check back in a couple of months and if the refill packs are hard, just replace them.
No muss no fuss and best of all it removed my memory out of the mix in trying to remember to check it every few days.
Regardless of which method you choose, keeping your instrument at the correct humidity level will ensure that you will be playing that treasured instrument for years to come.
