One of the most important things to think about when considering guitar care and maintenance is humidity. Most guitars are made of wood, which means they can warp and become damaged in a variety of climates. Whether you live in an area with constantly changing weather, a consistently dry atmosphere, or a commonly humid air quality, it is important to consider the humidity level within your guitar case. Bobby Davis, The Guitar Answer Guy, shares some of his suggestions to combat humidity in his article, “Humidity Control Solutions for Guitars.”
Priority #1: Measure Your Humidity
Before you can know what you need to do (if anything) about humidity you need to first buy a hygrometer to measure the humidity where you actually store your guitar. Don’t just rely on the daily weather report, because the conditions inside your house–or wherever you keep your guitar–can be quite different, especially if you run the heater or air conditioner.
I really like the point Bobby makes here. It can be 100 degrees and humid outside but if you keep your air conditioning set to 68 and have a dehumidifier running, it is likely that the atmosphere inside your house is very different than the atmosphere outside. You want to make sure you are treating your guitar properly for the conditions of where it is being stored, not the conditions outside.
Bobby Davis, The Guitar Answer Guy, is an Air Force Vet that has been playing guitar since 1987. His site, guitaranswerguy.com, is designed to help guitarists of all levels learn about proper care and maintenance for their instruments, and also provides some guitar lessons and theory information. To see his full list of suggestions on products to help with humidity control, please visit https://www.guitaranswerguy.com/humidity-control-solutions-guitars/
