Only tuning and cleaning your guitar won’t keep it working at its best. Something that we usually tend to forget is that the moisture inside the guitar can also harm it. Guitars can easily get damaged if the air around them is too dry or too humid.
Dryness can develop cracks in the wood and humidity can make it warp.
Both acoustic and electric guitars need to be kept at an optimal temperature to extend their longevity. Excess humidity can damage your guitar in the form of fret buzz, crack in the tonewood, high action, and so on.
So when you ensure that the air around the guitar has just the right amount of moisture, you can keep your guitar healthy and sound like it did out of the box.
When in search of the best acoustic guitar humidifier, there are only two types you can get. So let’s dive into the world of guitar humidifiers to show you how useful they can be and why you need one right now!
Key Points
Maintaining guitar health can go a long way when you live in temperatures that are not ideal for it. The ideal temperature to store and use a guitar is between 18 to 25 degrees Celsius with a humidity level of 40% to 55%.
Using a humidifier is the most ideal way to humidify your guitar. You have a choice of either using a soundhole humidifier or an in-case one.
Soundhole humidifiers are inserted into the soundhole to maintain optimal levels of moisture inside the guitar.
In-case humidifiers are placed inside the guitar case to maintain the overall level of humidity within.
If you don’t have a humidifier right away, you can use alternative methods to maintain humidity in your guitar. You can use a damp cloth or sponge in your guitar case and monitor humidity levels with a hygrometer.
Best Temperature and Humidity for Guitars
Just like us humans, guitars also need to be kept at a certain temperature to have them working well. The optimal temperature for storing guitars is usually 18 to 25 degrees Celsius. Within this, the ideal humidity level must be between 40% to 55%.
When these conditions are met, the structural integrity of the guitar’s tonewood will remain unaffected resulting in perfect sound reproduction. Extreme temperatures can adversely affect the guitar. So it is wise to maintain your guitar so that it stays healthy over time.
How To Humidify A Guitar Without A Humidifier? (3 Step Process)
If you do not have access to dedicated humidifiers, you can check out some of these alternative methods to maintain humidity.
Use a Damp Cloth or sponge: Pick any clean piece of cloth made of cotton and dampen it with distilled water. Once done, place this cloth in your guitar case. What this will do is that the cloth will release moisture which in turn will humidify the guitar. Make sure the cloth is not too wet as excessive moisture isn’t good either. You can even do this with sponges too.
Use a Hygrometer: A Hygrometer is a device that you can attach to your guitar to see humidity readings. This can let you know what the actual situation is like inside your guitar.
Investing in a Room Humidifier: When you own more than two guitars, it is difficult to separately tend to each of them. Instead, you can get a room humidifier that will maintain humidity in the room you store your guitars in.
How To Humidify A Guitar With A Humidifier?
Specialized humidifiers are readily available in stores nowadays at a fraction of the cost that they used to be. To maintain your guitar’s true tone and sound, you can invest in two types of humidifiers.
Sound Hole Humidifiers
A sound hole humidifier is a small device, as you can guess, that is inserted into the sound hole of a guitar. Its purpose is to release moisture directly into the interior of an acoustic guitar. This helps maintain an optimal level of humidity to prevent the wood from drying out.
These devices are usually made of sponge or gel that absorbs the water and releases it into the air. They are easy to use but may require frequent refills every few days or so. This is heavily dependent on the humidity levels in the environment that the guitar stays in.
Using a Sound Hole Humidifier
Prepare the Device: First, fill the humidifier with distilled water or a solution. These solutions will come with the device itself or can be found over the counter.
Dampen the humidifier: if needed you can also dampen the device by soaking it in water and wring out any extra moisture. Make sure it is not dripping wet.
Insert the device in the soundhole: be careful when inserting the device into the soundhole. Make sure it sits securely between the strings. Try to not have it touch the guitar’s body or other electrical components.
Refill and monitor: It is wise to regularly monitor the humidity levels inside your guitar with a hygrometer. Refill the humidifier in a few days.
In-Case Humidifier
These humidifiers are designed to be placed inside your guitar case. Using their sound hole counterparts, these devices aim to maintain humidity levels in the guitar case as a whole. Think of it as a smaller version of an in-room humidifier.
These humidifiers come in different forms such as refillable gel packs, clay packs, or sponge. They work the same way as the other by releasing moisture into the air inside the case. These humidifiers are even less complex than their counterparts and require refills every few weeks.
Using an In-Case Humidifier
Choosing the right one: You should choose which humidifier to use according to what sized guitar you have and the typical level of humidity in your area.
Prepare to humidify: Depending on what type of humidifier you get, you can fill or dampen the humidifier. Some may just need a refill of water while others need to be soaked.
Placing inside the case: Position your humidifier in the case so that it has no direct contact with your guitar. Place it in such a place where moisture can circulate freely.
Regularly Monitor: Use a hygrometer to check whether the guitar case has the right level of humidity you’re looking for.
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Humidify Your Loving Guitar Today!
Choosing the right acoustic guitar humidifier is an important decision when you live in extreme conditions. Having said that, regular conditions may also require you to use a humidifier for good practice. The choice honestly depends on you at the end of the day as you probably spent a lot of money to buy your guitar. Why not spend a couple more to maintain it and keep it sounding great in the long run? Humidifiers are a great addition and every guitarist must have one in their arsenal.