I have just moved into a new house a couple of months ago and I have set up my guitar space in the basement. We have noticed that it seems a bit damp down there. We decided to buy a dehumidifier. I ran it constantly for about 16 hours yesterday. I went to turn it off this morning and I thought to myself "I have an electric and an acoustic on the stand there. I wonder if this did anything to them?" I didn't have time to check them out before leaving for work, but I was wondering if I use this dehumidifier on a regular basis, will I cause any harm to the guitars?

I also have 3 more guitars in cases in the storage room. I put one of those dessicant packs in their cases, maybe a month or so ago. Is it ok to leave those packs in there?

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Good question.

The answers are here: http://tinyurl.com/3lexlok

Cheers

David

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"Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons."

Why waste your time with this sort of response? If everyone turned to Google for answers, there would be no need for this forum. Plus, where do you think Google finds answers? Forums like this, for one.

To the original poster, you should try to keep your guitars as close to 50% humidity as possible. This is more important for the acoustic. But, even with electrics, constant flucutations in humidity can be harmful. It would be best if you could set your dehumidifier to keep humidity at a constant 50%. If your only choice is cycling between high and low humidity, it would be better to go with constant high (or, better yet, find another way of maintaining proper humidity for your guitars).

I hope you don't believe everything you find on google.......

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I tried Googling already, but I figured there would be some people here who would have an answer for me.

Thanks

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Hi Yoda!
My thoughts are, keep your guitars out of that room for the time being.
If you could sense right away that it is damp, then within just a few days it will impact your instruments.
I am guessing that bringing the room back to normal will take some weeks, perhaps you should buy a meter to tell you how you´re doing, for relative humidity.
One can lower the humidity improving air circulation and so forth, but it may be difficult to solve the root cause, for which the building is holding humidity down there.

Keep us posted on your very interesting thread! Many of us will benefit.

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FIGHT!

Dont keep them in your basement. I have a very damp basement too with a dehumidifier and it does not work so well, still damp as hell even though the unit runs all day long. So much that my cabinets are getting moldy over time if I dont wipe them down. For that reason I bring my guitars down there when I play and back up when I'm done. Amps and cabs I cant carry with me up and down and they can take the abuse but I'd never subject my guitars to that. My basement is unfinished, concrete floor and I get infiltration in there. I need industrial size desiccant packages.

This is what I use to keep my camera gear mold free. To reactivate it, simply dry it out in the kitchen oven and use it again.

http://www.amazon.com/Pelican-1500D-Pel ... B0018O035O

That's cool but that's only good for stuff you store in cases no? My cabinets are 4x10s with amp heads on top, it's always in open air, would that work?

I have a number of them in a room out of sight and a safe in my house. If I put all my camera gear and other stuff that excess humidity would damage into cases, the room would look like a UPS warehouse.

A given block protects a given sq. ft. area, so I figured the cubic footage of the room and bought enough to cover the size.

That could work really well for me, even though I am moving soon thank you for the idea. The thought of my vintage gear getting slowly ruined is making me sick to my stomach.

I have my guitars in my basement and also have a 50 pint dehumidifier set to 50% humidity. Depending on the daily humidity levels, I will have to empty the unit up to twice a day. This time of year (summertime).

Within the next few weeks the humidity will go away ( I'm in Massachusetts ). I'll have normal humidity levels for a few weeks until Winter comes in and the humidity levels plummet at which point I'll bring out my Humidifier to keep some moisture in the air.

What I have noticed in the Winter is "fret-sprout". where the neck shrinks due to the low level of moisture in the air. And the ends of the frets become more pronounced.

As long as you keep the humidity levels within a normal range, I don't think you'll have any issues with the guitars.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Stephen Wright once said that he put a dehumidifier and a humidifier in a room together and let them fight it out.A general rule of thumb is that if the air and temperature in a room are comfortable enough for you they are suitable for your guitar too.Where I live close to the ocean a dehumidfier is a necessity. I have found that string longevity and guitar set up have lasted much longer since I installed a dehumidifier and wouldn't be without it.Anyone living in a temperate climate should have a dehumidfier as the humidity fluctuates most in that and the tropical climates.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Check out the forums at http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/index.php

There are quite a few threads there on humidification with lots of great information.

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Bob

Fender CD280S NAT, Recording King RO-127
Squier Classic Vibe 50s Telecaster BSB
American Special/Highway One Telecaster hybrid Partscaster
Fender 60th Anv Am Std Telecaster, Natural/Rosewood
http://community.webshots.com/user/rjstaaf

You live where you live. Your going to do Moore harm screwing around with the humidity than if you just let mother Nature do her thing. Guitars are like all other wood things. They have to BREATH and the natural humidity changes are by and large NOT HARMFULL.
----Danny,