winter guitar storage

Started by docrach1, January 09, 2014, 02:57:19 PM

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So today I reviewed the care and feeding site at Larrivee (a new L-10 45th Anniversary is coming soon!) and noted something I had missed before. They advise that in the winter you don't hang the guitar on a wall at all. The concern here is that the hot air from a furnace will rise and cause aberrant humidity levels. I have always thought that my small guitar room with the humidifier and humidistat running at 50% was the way to go. Does that mean that every guitar store with hanging guitars needs to bring them down in the winter? Hmmm. What do you guys think?
docrach1

I've had a guitar, that hung on the wall, crack when the hygrometer said the humidity in the room was 45% so there's probably something to it.   

An interior wall would be best to hang on.  I've been doing it for a couple years but I rotate the guitar every few days and use a Kyser Lifeguard at the sound hole.  I wouldn't just do it without doing something to add to the RH range though.
bluesman67
HOGTOP CHARLOTTE

www.reverbnation.com/hogtopcharlotte

Music stores usually take extreme measures to properly humidify their showrooms. Obviously they aren't going to sell many guitars in their cases so they must put them on display. Also their spaces are much bigger and, therefore, have a buffer against abrupt changes. The best protection (both humidity and physical) is to keep your guitar in its case with proper humidification measures. If you must display your guitar(s) make sure your whole house is kept at a RH of 45-50%. The other solution is to move to a location where the outside temperature is room temperature all the time and the humidity is in that 45-50% range ALL THE TIME. That way you don't have to worry. Remember: guitars don't like extreme swings in their environment.
Larrivee L-03 w/Gotoh 381 tuners (African Mahogany/Sitka)
Collings OM2Hc (EIR/Sitka)
Schenk Ophirio (Sapele/Cedar)
Bourgeois 00 Custom (Mahogany/It. Spruce)

I agree keeping them in the case is best, no matter how they are humidified.  The trapped air around the guitar has a "stabilizing effect" in that the guitar won't respond quite as quickly to sudden changes.  I would think the case material itself would also act as a "humidity sink".  Also, where furnaces are running frequently, the lower in elevation, the better.  Down on the floor is much better than hanging on a wall, in that respect.  The driest air is at the top of the house.

That's why I keep my guitars on the floor in the basement in the winter, here in Edmonton.  :guitar
"Badges?  We don't need no stinkin' badges."

Became a Shooting Star when I got my 1st guitar.
Back in '66, I was 13 and that was my fix.
Still shooting for stardom after all this time.
If I never make it, I'll still be fine.


:guitar

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