Guitar storage climate

[Mentalo]

What’s your strategy when it comes to maintaining the right climate for your guitars?



Over the past two weeks, we’ve had a pretty intense heatwave here in Western Europe, with temperatures exceeding 40°C (104°F) and extremely dry air (<25%). Thankfully, it has rained over the last couple of days and cooled down, but now the humidity has climbed to over 65%.

My guitars are hanging on a slatwall display. In theory, I could put them away in their cases or gig bags, and I also have both a humidifier and a dehumidifier. However, none of those options seem particularly practical when these kinds of weather extremes occur.

How do you deal with situations like this?

 

[fitz]

What’s your strategy when it comes to maintaining the right climate for your guitars?



Over the past two weeks, we’ve had a pretty intense heatwave here in Western Europe, with temperatures exceeding 40°C (104°F) and extremely dry air (<25%). Thankfully, it has rained over the last couple of days and cooled down, but now the humidity has climbed to over 65%.

My guitars are hanging on a slatwall display. In theory, I could put them away in their cases or gig bags, and I also have both a humidifier and a dehumidifier. However, none of those options seem particularly practical when these kinds of weather extremes occur.

How do you deal with situations like this?

My guitars (16) are all on hangers or stands - except for that acoustic I keep in the case in a closet full of the other cases...

I do supplemental humidification in the winter when the furnace is running and drying out the air.
This can usually keep the relative humidity in the house around 30%.

For the heat and humidity of the summer, the air conditioning takes care of the de-humidification well.
Right now, I'm around 50% humidity inside and it's been unseasonably hot and humid here lately.

Wood will expand and contract with the changes in temperature and humidity - more so in width (across the grain) than length (with the grain).
For a guitar, this will change the tuning and to some degree, the intonation.
Gradual changes are much better than drastically quick changes.

Constant retuning and an occasional truss rod adjustment may be annoying, but if you want to seal up the guitar in some kind of pristine environment, the shock of a drastic change in temperature and humidity when you take it out to play may be more harmful than letting it gradually acclimate to the changes from the weather.

 

[Mentalo]

Air conditioning in homes is still pretty uncommon here in Germany, although I suspect that will change in the future. A few years ago, my PRS Santana SE developed loose frets after a period of very dry weather, so I’ve become a bit more cautious about keeping my guitars in a stable environment ever since.

 

[Eric'45]

Excessive Humidity is not so good obviously, but generally, it's not as bad as a very dry climate.
To be honest, I never paid much attention to where I store my guitars. They are all out of their cases on stands, and I try to keep them out of direct sunlight from windows, etc. I have used a Room Humidifier for the winter months, but just putting a small cup of water on top of the Radiator works, too.
But it's very true- the recent heatwave has got me thinking about solutions for this, and maybe we will need to take precautions in the future.

 

[PelliX]

I keep my 12-string Hofner in the hall outside the studio which is less affected by the weather/outdoor cimate, from time to time I've checked the tuning as an indicator and it stays as true as it ever does. Seemingly not an issue so far. The other acoustics I don't really pay specific attention to; my Epi Hummingbird is not exactly an extremely valueable instrument and the Yamaha certainly isn't. The other couple of acoustics fall in the same category. Electrics - in my experience - don't really mind, just the tuning and intonation change a little. Annoying but not problematic. I've never seen guitar shops pay any attention to this for anything except acoustics or special prized vintage instruments - probably relating more to the paint/finish than the structural integrity. When you think about what many electric guitars go through in transport and all the sudden changes when going from one venue to the next or in and out of the van - meh.

Air conditioning in homes is still pretty uncommon here in Germany, although I suspect that will change in the future.

Strange, really. Just a few km West and they're everywhere here in NL. I did recently hear that using AC was prohibited in Berlin during the heatwave, presumably due to energy shortages which are getting more and more frequent across the country. Here you're actually encouraged to heat and cool using electricity.