does low or high humidity affect an electric guitar the same way it affects an acoustic guitar

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Dave
T&T

Not as badly due to the fact that an electric is clear coated just about every where.
But an acoustic has no finish inside the soundbox on either the top, back or sides, thus they are porous and humidity affects an acoustic greatly. The trick is to acclimatize an acoustic when moving it from indoor to outdoor and vice versa....In other words leave it in the case for a half hour.
The electric will still be affected as the higher the humidity, the more the neck will swell from absorption, but again it's all about taking care to not shock a guitar with extreme temperature and humidity changes...

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I seem to get fret sprout on many of my electrics, possibly due to low humidity.

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Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Temperature and humidity affect any wood guitar to some extent. The important thing is to try to keep the guitar away from excessive change.

would excess change be between 55-65
or is this ok

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Dave
T&T

In your location excess would be from outside into an air conditioned structure, air conditioning dries out a room or house and also the temperature change from say 95 degree's to 75 degree's is a drastic change. We can adapt instantly but wood does not it needs time to acclimate. That is the downside of musical instruments made of wood.....

Which is why whenever playing anywhere the first equipment in to the house should be the instruments, so that as it takes you an hour or more to set up your equipment is acclimating.

Did you mean 55 to 65 percent humidity... That is not a big number but it affects a guitar not so much an electric but semi acoustics and hollow bodies and acoustics will react by not wanting to stay in tune for quite some time.

This is one of the main reasons many musicians retire their prized instruments from the road.

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The company I work for wants to relocate some of us from St. Pete Florida to Denver, CO. Now THAT is a change of humidity!!

I am working hard at avoiding that move altogether.

Art

If I lived in Florida I would have my bags packed and be at the head of the line.....

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I would consider that change in humidity or temperature to be marginal.

I mean drastic... from like 110 degrees to 70 and then back to 110. Or leaving it out in a uninsulated garage that gets cold at night and hot in the day....

Moving from 80% - 100% humidity to an area with 4% -10% would be guitar-icide! Not sure a bout the spelling,

Art

No..The guitar would be fine over a bit of time to adjust, It's the instant change from going indoors to outdoors that wreak havoc with guitars, wood needs time to expand, contract, lose moisture content or absorb moisture content....

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I'm new here, but I'd like to share my thoughts on your question, Trini.

I agree that a solid body electric guitar isn't as affected from humidity as an acoustic or hollow bodied guitar. With that out of the way, I think there are some things to consider about humidity.

First of all, in my experience, excess humidity can cause some hardware to rust! That includes jacks, tuners, strings, bridges, etc. Of course this is also a concern if you live in an area with salty air (especially right by the beach!).

Second of all, I've noticed a lot more guitars with "checking" in humid environments. I hope someone will shed light on this- but I've heard that checking comes from drastic changes in the environment. Basically the wood and finish both react to the change by expanding or shrinking. The wood might react faster, causing the finish to crack, or "check" as a result. Of course this might be a desirable characteristic of a vintage guitar. So for some people it's a non-issue. However, with more modern finishes, it might be a non-issue by default.

Speaking of changes in the environment, in humid and cold/frozen places it's typical to blast an AC/heater. I think this plays a big part in wood shrinkage and expansion. I'd imagine that might affect your frets, your binding, and any other things glued or pressed into place.

Personally, my biggest concern is neck warping!

I think one way to combat such changes in temperature or humidity is to keep a guitar in it's case when it's not in use. Similarly, f you're transporting your guitar from, for example, a cold car to a nice hot & warm room, you might want to bring the guitar in first (in its case) and let it stay that way to sort of ease your instrument into the totally different environment.

At any rate, this is a great topic and I hope some more experienced people jump in and educate us .

Even with an electric guitar, your neck is essentially the same as an acoustic neck. At least those with non-finished, non-maple fingerboards. So, moving from humid to dry, with rosewood, ebony, etc... you are guaranteed to get fret sprout unless you have humidifiers either in the case or use a room or whole-house humidifier.

The debate over acclimation goes on. Most agree that wood that is acclimated to an area such as Denver, and THEN formed into a guitar, will remain glued in place (these will swell in humid environments.) Guitars that are constructed in more humid areas routinely have problems when moved to dry areas. Primarily, acoustic guitars and other acoustic instruments.

Rule of thumb, keep the guitar, or other instrument, in it's case. Use a humidifier if needed. The case, not the gig bag, will keep the humidity semi-stable while traveling as well. Also keeps dust and stray aerosols, infrared/ultraviolet light off of the instruments. All things that will affect that pretty Sonic Blue finish.

Let's face it, those who can afford it, keep their car in a garage or at least a car port. Why? It is a big investment and looks purdy when kept in a garage. Your instruments are a big investment, sometimes, the tool that you make your living with. If you don't take care of that tool...

Just sayin'

Art

How can you say this? Wood will "shrink" when moved to a area with extreme low humidity. Frets will pop out of the neck. And this "extreme" shrinkage does not happen over night. Yes, frequent and fast changes in temp and humidity will have adverse effects. But the long term effects of moving a wood instrument from one extreme of humidity to the other, and leaving it there, can be devastating and in many cases permanent. Again, I am pretty much avoiding the issue of an electric "solid-body" which will have less drastic effects.

Art

Simply because the discussion is about an electric guitar. An amalgam of sectioned 1-3/4" wood covered in a thick Poly or Lacquer coating, a neck that is bolted/screwed to the body and therefore will not be as affected as a set neck in an acoustic or semi acoustic.....

There are very few places on earth with a humidity of 4 to 10%, at the very least not populated by many....

I have moved from living on an island 14 miles out to sea to 60 mile inland and have never had a major problem with either my Strats or my $4,000 Larrivee acoustics. Granted they are always in their case with a humidifier but the reality is that a large number of people take their guitars in an out without a case which is the major problem or leave them in the sun, in the car on a hot day anywhere that the sun beats on the case or worse....

The moisture content of an electric is significantly lower than which is required for an acoustic, regardless of where that acoustic was built....Acoustics need to be at a certain moisture content when created and afterwards. Hence why unless the luthiers shop is climate controlled then building does not happen during the dryer winter months, but this is also dependent on geographical location. It does take some time for wood to absorb or repel moisture, it is not an instant process...Much more critical is the temperature change when going from indoors to outdoors....

For our purpose here and really the OP's, all that is needed is an understanding of how to take care of an instrument ( a solid body electric guitar ) as so many have done for decades...
Fret sprout is not such a big deal and is easily remedied with a bit of fret dressing.
Then again if the frets are literally popping out than I would venture to say that that guitar is probably not a Fender bought recently......
Not saying that old guitars are prone to this but the older the guitar, the more attention has to be paid to see how it is aging and what is required for upkeep......

As a wood worker I have a pretty good understanding of wood and it's myriad of properties and how to prevent catastrophic failure, which for the guitars we are talking about, One would have to call Pete Townshend over to help out...

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