Humidifiers

Images Borrowed From Aprilaire and Dampit Websites

Acoustic Guitar enthusiasts all know that you must maintain a relative humidity (RH) of approximately 47% RH to safeguard the guitar. Too dry and the wood can crack. Too damp and the wood can swell.

Taylor Guitars has a series of videos which address the issue of humidity far better than I can describe here. I encourage all guitarists to watch these. Click here. A tech sheet can be downloaded by clicking here.

To aid in giving more moisture to a guitar, I recommend using a Dampit. I actually use two with my Taylor GS guitar. It is a simple device made of a rubber tube which has holes in it to allow moisture to escape from a wet sponge inside the tube. I hang two moistened(not dripping) dampits between the 2nd and 3rd strings and the 4th and 5th strings. My guitar always goes back into the guitar case and is closed until I'm ready to play the guitar again. And, I make sure the dampits are moist by re-wetting them at least once per week. Sometimes more.

Recently, we had a whole-house humidifier installed on our new furnace. After 19 years of service, our furnace finally gave out and we needed to replace it. So as an add-on to the new furnace, we added an Aprilaire Series 600 automatic humidifier to the furnace. With this new humidifier, we will be able to maintain a relative humidity that should help both our wood furniture, my guitars and also our bodies. The effects of being too dry in a home can dry out woods as well as skin. How often do you wake up with a dry or bloody nose or dry cracking skin? Well that's from low humidity in your home.

I encourage everyone to consider their RH levels in their homes and adding a whole-house humidfier if you need it. If you are an acoustic guitarist, always humidify your guitars with a dampit or two during the winter months.