Humidity And Fret Sprout

We have not humidified our house in recent years. In the middle winter to early spring some of my G&Ls have formed fret sprout. It always straightened out come spring. This year I have decided to monitor the humidity and do something about it. I am posting this as useful information for those interested. As you know, I live in Minneapolis MN and we have cold weather and low humidity in the winter.

A week ago I purchased a Hygrometer that measures both outside and inside humidity. The humidity has been running from 31 to 34 % in the last week. People will tell you that the humidity drops considerably when the leaves have drooped ( relative to the season). Today I went to Home Depot and purchased a room humidifier (Mist Type) and installed in the room. It is a Bionaire model and I will monitor and report on the success of this unit. If it isn't large enough I will go to a larger humidifier. The humidity in the room has risen 2 points since I plugged it in 45 minutes ago. We will see-- Darwin

it's not large enough. go to se4ars and get the kenmore whole house. much better. mist type is bad for guitars. you want the evaporative kind.

Thanks for your input Louis. I wanted to wait a day before responding. This unit does use an evaporating pad and does not give off the ionized mist. Keep in mind that I still only want to humidify that room. I had concerns about the size of this unit also. This morning the humidity has reached 40% and that is where I want it. I am trying to avoid moisture on the windows and yet prevent the guitar woods from shrinking. You can really notice the humidity when you walk into the room. If I can maintain 40% for the rest of the winter I will be happy. The humidifier is placed in the opposite end of the room relative to the guitars. I will let you know how this is working later this winter.-- Darwin

Thanks for your input Louis. I wanted to wait a day before responding. This unit does use an evaporating pad and does not give off the ionized mist. Keep in mind that I still only want to humidify that room. I had concerns about the size of this unit also. This morning the humidity has reached 40% and that is where I want it. I am trying to avoid moisture on the windows and yet prevent the guitar woods from shrinking. You can really notice the humidity when you walk into the room. If I can maintain 40% for the rest of the winter I will be happy. The humidifier is placed in the opposite end of the room relative to the guitars. I will let you know how this is working later this winter.-- Darwin

how big is the room? doors always closed? did you measure on the guitar end what the humidity is. guitars usually like 45-50. what is the daily capacity of your humidifier? what is the water tank's capacity?

A humidifier update. The humidifier that I originally purchased ran all the time and maintained at 38 to 40 %. I returned it and picked up a larger one for that room. This one maintains 40% easily while running occasionally. This has been in for 3 weeks and the guitars seem stable, no fret sprout and it is much easier to breath in that room. I didn't realize what a difference humidity makes in the winter.-- Darwin

A humidifier update. The humidifier that I originally purchased ran all the time and maintained at 38 to 40 %. I returned it and picked up a larger one for that room. This one maintains 40% easily while running occasionally. This has been in for 3 weeks and the guitars seem stable, no fret sprout and it is much easier to breath in that room. I didn't realize what a difference humidity makes in the winter.-- Darwin

now put it at 45. you'll like it even better

It's easier to humidify your guitar when it is in the case. Humidity drops in the winter time when the heat is on. I have an Oasis humidifyer in two of my accoustic guitars and the Planet wave huimidi paks in 4 other acoustic guitars. Each guitar case also has a hygrometer to mesure the humidity. I also use two sponges in soap case in each guitar. Humidity stays at around 47-50% in the case. Outside of the case it is 32% humidity or less. The humidi pak by Planet wave controls humidity with out having to check every 3 days. Once the humidi pak dries out you just replace it. The Oasis System I have to check evry 3 days and fill with water. I have never had a problem with fret sprout with any guitar that I keep in the case. I only have fret sprout problems on guitars that I have kept out on a guitar stand. One time I had fret sprout on my Taylor GS mini. I would bring the guitar in the bath room while I took a shower. After 6 showers the fret sprout was gone. If you go to the Taylor guitars web site you can down load "Tech Sheets" about humidifying your guitar. A room humidifyer makes everything damp. I keep all of my guitars in my bed room in there case. Each case has a humidifyer and a hygrometer.

It's easier to humidify your guitar when it is in the case. Humidity drops in the winter time when the heat is on. I have an Oasis humidifyer in two of my accoustic guitars and the Planet wave huimidi paks in 4 other acoustic guitars. Each guitar case also has a hygrometer to mesure the humidity. I also use two sponges in soap case in each guitar. Humidity stays at around 47-50% in the case. Outside of the case it is 32% humidity or less. The humidi pak by Planet wave controls humidity with out having to check every 3 days. Once the humidi pak dries out you just replace it. The Oasis System I have to check evry 3 days and fill with water. I have never had a problem with fret sprout with any guitar that I keep in the case. I only have fret sprout problems on guitars that I have kept out on a guitar stand. One time I had fret sprout on my Taylor GS mini. I would bring the guitar in the bath room while I took a shower. After 6 showers the fret sprout was gone. If you go to the Taylor guitars web site you can down load "Tech Sheets" about humidifying your guitar. A room humidifyer makes everything damp. I keep all of my guitars in my bed room in there case. Each case has a humidifyer and a hygrometer.

no, a proper evaporative house humidifier does not get everything damp. it is not any different from the regular moisture in the air. i keep the humidity between 45-50% in my house. not just for the guitars, but for myself. i breathe much better. if i didn't the humidity would be around 9% right now. no thank you. i want my guitars out so i can play them. keeping 20+ guitars in cases in an exercise in itself, and trying to get to certain ones to get them out can be frustrating and time consuming at least. i have no fretsprout in any of my guitars.

Thanks for this useful thread guys. Humidity was something that never really concerned me until now. Despite having three G&Ls. I always have one of them out of the case and on the stand. No problems experienced to date. Touch wood. But, I've recently purchased myself an acoustic guitar (Taylor 412CE Fall 2011 Limited), so 'humidity' concerns have been foremost in my mind right now. I've ordered myself a digital hygrometer to check the humidity levels in the room where I keep my guitars. It will be interesting to see what the figures will be. I've ordered myself this model from Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003TJLMSS. I'm keen to ensure that all of my guitars don't suffer from problems with humidity levels outside the 'normal' range. This humidity chart might be of some interest to you: http://www.ryanguitars.com/NewsandEvents/Guitar_tech_tips/Humidity_Chart.htm.

Thanks. Bill (Shrewsbury, UK)

Bill, just a final note on this and yes, you have good reason to watch the Taylor as you have thin wood that can shrink and crack if it gets too dry. A side note on humidification and Louis has already mentioned it. I have been experiencing winter allergies for several years, sneezing uncontrollably and many times in succession. After humidifying the room (and house), the sneezing and allergies are gone and it is so much easier to breath, especially in the room where the humidifier is located. What a surprise as I have been putting up with this for years. Hows that for some luck!-- Darwin

Thanks for this useful thread guys. Humidity was something that never really concerned me until now. Despite having three G&Ls. I always have one of them out of the case and on the stand. No problems experienced to date. Touch wood. But, I've recently purchased myself an acoustic guitar (Taylor 412CE Fall 2011 Limited), so 'humidity' concerns have been foremost in my mind right now. I've ordered myself a digital hygrometer to check the humidity levels in the room where I keep my guitars. It will be interesting to see what the figures will be. I've ordered myself this model from Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003TJLMSS. I'm keen to ensure that all of my guitars don't suffer from problems with humidity levels outside the 'normal' range. This humidity chart might be of some interest to you: http://www.ryanguitars.com/NewsandEvents/Guitar_tech_tips/Humidity_Chart.htm.

Thanks. Bill (Shrewsbury, UK)

if you are getting the really cheapo digital clock thingies, they are pretty inaccurate. up to 20% +/-. you need to borrow a sling hygrometer to calibrate it. you might want to get something a littme more accurate. like this. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Taylor-Galvan ... 0003260350

Darwin, thanks for putting this out here, I have followed from the beginning. I don't humidify, but have always thought about it. I think the MN test case is tougher and more important than the MT case, because of the lake effect that you get. My guitars (and everything else) are dry all the time! The delta between summer and winter absolute humidity is lower here, so I have never experienced major problems.

Bill, Taylor uses pretty thin tops (very thin for production guitars), that is one of keys to really broad overtones, so they tell me anyway. (go figure). So I sure think you are wise to pay attention to humidity. Having said that, I have never seen any major damage, even here in the high dessert--so don't loose any sleep!

Bill, Taylor uses pretty thin tops (very thin for production guitars), that is one of keys to really broad overtones, so they tell me anyway. (go figure). So I sure think you are wise to pay attention to humidity. Having said that, I have never seen any major damage, even here in the high dessert--so don't loose any sleep!

Thanks for that. Yeah, I don't want to get too paranoid about this. I accept Louis' advice though to get a decent hygrometer to check the Relative Humidity. I haven't bothered about humidity with my electrics and they are fine. I will check the Relative Humidity though and maybe invest in some product. I reckon the Planet Waves HumidiPak offering looks ok for my purposes. We don't get real extremes of temperature / humidity here in the UK, so I guess things should be manageable.

Thanks folks. Bill

20 guitars. Wow, that's a lot of guitars. If I had 20 guitars I would have a didicated room just for my guitars and I would use a room humidifyer too.

20 guitars. Wow, that's a lot of guitars. If I had 20 guitars I would have a didicated room just for my guitars and I would use a room humidifyer too.

see. btw, the ones they call room humidifiers are not really up to the job to humidify a whole room. you want the whole house humidifiers, those do not get everything wet. most of the little room thingies work on heating the water, not fan based. those will cause wet surfaces.