-
This is why I don’t baby my guitars- they get too finicky
But a quick adjustment on the truss rod should take care of that.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
12-10-2018 01:11 PM
-
I've certainly BTDT!
And my experience with the phenomenon is simply to give the guitars a couple of days to readjust. And readjust they will! I try to avoid tweaking truss rods when I've goofed up on humidity control. Unless the dry period lasted a long time, no damage should occur. And I know the guitars are set up properly for my normally 40% room. It's just temporarily inconvenient to wait for nature to fix itself.
-
It will bounce back. As rpguitar said, leave the truss rod alone unless an adjustment is necessary. If you still get fret buzz after a few weeks with proper humidity then I would tweak the truss rod. All will be fine either way.
Ironically, I am in Massachusetts, and I have not needed my humidifier much this season. In November we had a short stretch of cold weather, so I fired up my Essick. I ran it for less than a week when temperatures rose to the point where humidity was 38-42% without help, so I allowed my humidifier to fully dry out, and I shut it down. It wasn’t until about 4-5 days ago that it needed to be restarted, and now with the warmer temperatures again I anticipate my humidifier will be nearly full of stagnant water when I get out of work and will need a good cleaning. The next few days will be near 30, but then it will be near 40 for 5 days, so I will be shutting my humidifier down tonight until the cold weather returns next week or beyond. I’ll simply keep my guitars cased for a few days with case humidifiers, then the house humidity should be back to 40% by Friday. I’m loving this!
-
That happened to my AJL last winter. As hard as it is to wait, that's what you need to do.
If you had the guitar set up the way you like it before this happened, by readjusting the humidity levels and waiting it out, it should go back to where it was previously.
-
As RP says, just give it some time. The primary purpose of the truss rod is to adjust relief in the neck to suit a players playing style. In my case I like an almost dead flat neck because I play fingerstyle with .12 gauge strings and a very light touch. When guitar is subject to extremes in humidity, the whole guitar is affected not just the neck so depending on the condition the top of the guitar could also rise under wet conditions or sink under dry conditions. So just give it some time then adjust to suit.
-
Thanks everyone for all the responses and assurances, I very much appreciate it.
I did put my Eastman 503 in its case with a case humidifier which I'm happy I did as it is a solid wood build throughout and I imagine would be even more susceptible to the effects of the low humidity.
I will leave it be for a while and check back.
Thanks again!
-
I didn't forget to turn on the humidifier, and my Heritage still Buzzes! The guitar is not drying out. No fret poke, no sinking of the grain on the top. The neck just knows its Winter time. And I keep the Guitar room a consistent 45% Humidity.
The only guitars that I didn't have to tweak the bridge and/or the truss rod on were my Gibsons (Johnny Smith, Tal Farlow, 175's and L5's). The GJS and L5 were notorious for staying stable. They wouldn't even go out of tune from season to season..
Some guitars just know its winter time. Just like my knees.
Joe D
-
This is one reason why I like carbon fiber guitars.
-
When it's a very cold winter day in Michigan, it is hard to get the humidity up past 40%!
-
You could actually put your guitar on a stand in your bathroom after a shower or even running a hot shower for a few minutes with the drain closed, then put the guitar in and close the door for a couple of hours. I've found that this is a pretty good way of getting the moisture content of the wood back to where it needs to be, sometimes, it needs to be done more than once, but it usually works pretty well.
-
I don't have a dehumidifier, and we got more rain in one day than we normally get in the entire month of December. I had some necks swell a little, and had to tweak the truss rods in a couple. Not the end of the world, I have to do it fairly often because I keep the action so low. It only takes a minor tweak, maybe 10 degrees, but I have to do it every now and then. I could avoid that by raising the bridge, but I choose not to. When necks are affected by humidity changes, you can adjust the bridge, the truss rod, or both, and I tend to adjust both. I usually start with the bridge, raising or lowering it by a half turn of the wheels or so at a time, and see if that does the job. If not, I check the relief and adjust the truss rod if necessary. I set the relief to almost zero, just barely enough relief to tell there is some, and then the bridge as necessary. It's easier to just put more relief in the neck and live with higher action, but that's not my preference.
-
I was curious about that but was worried that may be too much of a "shock to the system" with all that saturated air too quickly.
Originally Posted by ronjazz
-
Ditto what Joe said. I also have room humidifiers on 24/7 and the apartment is around 45% all the time and all my guitars still have some buzz. Every year I go through this and every year when the weather and humidity comes back, the guitars recover and the buzzes pretty much go away. No big deal. As long as you keep the humidity at home to a safe level where no actual damage can occur, consider it a temporary inconvenience.
-
I remember the Taylor guy (Taylor guitars) saying that 50% humidity was ideal for a guitar.
I don't need a humidifier where I am but can you guys keep it at 50%, and can you keep your guitars in their cases?
-
How did your humidity get to 21% in NJ? Originally Posted by DMgolf66
It's been way higher than that. Currently it's 60-70%.
It didn't get anywhere near 21% so far this fall.
-
My guitar room is kept at 55% +/- a few percent year round - and I find that range to be ideal for sensitive Martin Flat tops, Archtops and Classical guitars. I have noticed movement in the tops below around 48%.
I’d rather keep them slightly hydrated then dried out. In fact , it adds a little warmth of tone as opposed to crispness- which I kind of like with the Archtops - and I’ve never experienced any shrinkage or Fret buzzing.
-
I don't know. All I know is that the monitor I have in the bedroom (with fresh batteries) stated that. Originally Posted by Drumbler
The dry heat pumping out of the vent I'm sure doesn't help and regardless of the fact that I had have the vent closed off it still comes through.
-
It's not critical to have a specific absolute humidity - 40%, 55%, etc. It's more important to maintain a fairly constant humidity to avoid a repetitive drying/humidifying cycle, with the wood movement that accompanies it.
Naturally there is a range that's generally considered safe for wood, fret, and glue integrity, so aim for what you can reasonably maintain in your climate.
In NJ, my humidifier has been set to 40% during the cold months for nearly 14 years now, which I consider a worthy data set. In summer, it rises naturally to a peak of 50% with the AC on. My guitars seem happy and truss rod adjustments are rare.
-
True. Consistency and avoiding the extremes in humidity are most important. Heating systems typically dry the air to the extreme, or close to it, for many of us, and humidity control a particular challenge often solved by assigning a small piece of the home's interior real estate that lends itself to a fair degree of environmental isolation to the task of a guitar oasis. I struggle to maintain a target of 40%, +/- 2% throughout the heating season, and during the seasonal summer drought using a Vornado humidifier and pumping approximately 6 gallons of water into a 140 square ft room every 3 days. I also have to monitor daily and make occasional fan speed adjustments as conditions change with the weather and heat demand. It's part of the daily rythm around here. If I forget, and the reservoir goes dry, I'm going to have to tune a bunch of guitars, and kick and curse myself.
After enough years of this routine, and the expense of wick replacements every 3 months or so, I'm looking into a) a water filter that removes minerals from the supply to extend wick life, and b) a whole house humidifier with automatic water feed that goes into the home air filtration system.
That's my story.
-
What is the best humidifier for an arch top guitar? I use an Oasis in my flat tops. It's ok now, but the house can get very dry during the rest of the year. Canadian winters are brutal.
-
Check out the Oasis magnetic versions if you like Oasis and also the Dampit brand flexible tube styles.
In practice I only use case humidifiers when leaving the house with a guitar. I keep all of my guitars in one room with a large room humidifier and carefully watch room humidity levels.
-
Great post Danielle.
If I might add..
The humidifier I use in my guitar room is this
AIRCARE 831000 Space-Saver, White Whole House Evaporative Humidifier 2700 sq. ft Sorry! Something went wrong!
It’s very easy to fill. It has a very high output.
It is efficient. Filters last a month or 2.
JD
-
Dampit brand flexible tubes were what I used when I had an individual need. When I lived in the UP of MI I had a whole house humidifier installed on the furnace. This was after having a bacterial/mold outbreak from a stand alone humidifier. If you own the house, this is the best option. If you don't than the humidifier Joe proposed is fine. Now that I live in FL, I have an entirely different problem in winter.
-
As a guy, I would prefer a hermidifier over a himidifier.
-
Ive used the Boveda systems with good results. (Daddario makes something similar) I think they work best in a Calton type case, a wooden case needs an extra 'seasoning', and not sure how effective they are in gig bags.
2-Way Humidity Control For Wood Instruments - Boveda
PK
Reply With Quote
Pickup Suggestions For Blonde 89 Emperor
Today, 07:27 PM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos