Humidity and Guitars

[-TIM-]

Will the steam from my humidifier be enough to warp the neck of a guitar? The air is really dry in my apartment and I've got the humidifier going with the door shut so my room feels good when I go to bed. Is this bad for the $1,400 Peavey I've got out?

[RickTheDestroyer]

I'm afraid you should ask an expert in guitar construction and maintenance for this one.
Lucky for you, that's me.
But seriously, I doubt that it will warp the neck if it's in its case. If the finish is nitro (which I doubt- I think they use some sort of UV-cured polyester) then it may crack like a mofo if you DON'T humidify.
Humidity is much more of an issue for acoustics, only because there is so much exposed wood inside the guitar. For electrics the only real fear is cosmetic finish checking (as is the case with my lake placid blue frankenstrat that I did with nitro, and then left in my room in a gig bag while I slept with the windows open all summer).

EDIT: I realized that you said "out" as in probably not in its case. I still don't think it's much of an issue, but I keep my guitars in their cases for protection, and to soften the blow of humidity and temperature fluctuations, which I think are potentially much more determental. Some humidity, especially in the winter with the heat on, is a very good idea.

[The_Brick]

Guitar case.

[-TIM-]

Good deal. The guitar is not in its case, it's on a stand. I'm a little cautious after warping the neck on my custom Warmoth. $400 neck, down the tube. I forgot that I put it in storage and left it there over the summer. By the time I retrieved it, the strings were nearly touching the frets. No action is that low.

[Organichu]

Good deal. The guitar is not in its case, it's on a stand. I'm a little cautious after warping the neck on my custom Warmoth. $400 neck, down the tube. I forgot that I put it in storage and left it there over the summer. By the time I retrieved it, the strings were nearly touching the frets. No action is that low.

Welllllllllll... -glances at my old classical-

Some things are too precious to throw out, poor action or not.

[mrelwooddowd]

One rule of thumb my dad taught me is to never expose the guitar (mainly acoustic) to extreme temperature changes. Like, don't bring it in from a cold car to a warm room and just open up and play. Leave the case sitting for ten minutes or more to let the guitar slowly acclimate to the temperature change. I kinda use that as my guide concerning where I leave it stored, and where I take it. So far, so good.

[pusher]

Guitar case.

and a guitar humidifier.

[The_Brick]

You're all crazy.

[Shane]

Denim is correct.

And put the thing in the case already. I don't leave any of my guitars out ever since the "Jackson" incident.

[RickTheDestroyer]

Good deal. The guitar is not in its case, it's on a stand. I'm a little cautious after warping the neck on my custom Warmoth. $400 neck, down the tube. I forgot that I put it in storage and left it there over the summer. By the time I retrieved it, the strings were nearly touching the frets. No action is that low.

You can probably fix that Warmoth Neck. The strings might have gone slack and the truss rod then pulled the neck straighter over time (which is why you leave strings on guitars). If it's of modern warmoth construction (and not vintage) then it should have a double-action trussrod, in which case you ought to be able to pull a little bit of warp out of the neck over time.
It's only really screwed if the neck is twisted (hold it with the frets facing the sky, and then look down from one end of the neck to the other along the tops of the frets, you probably know this already). Although I had a cheap Epi sheraton which I loved that I bought at a pawn shop- the neck had broken off, been re-glued and warped slightly, so that if you looked from the first fret to the last fret, they dropped off to the left around the 15th or so. It was a pretty smooth transition, and it ended up being really playable, although the action there was a little messy.

As I said above, I'm a little wary of leaving guitars out, but that's more because I don't want them to get knocked over and effed up, or I don't want people to help themselves and pick up my guitars without asking, this being because most people are not as careful with them as I am.

[bassman09]

As I said above, I'm a little wary of leaving guitars out, but that's more because I don't want them to get knocked over and effed up,

Good advice. I learned the hard way when my cat knocked my Les Paul Custom off the stand and snapped the headstock off! It was only 2 weeks old.

[RickTheDestroyer]

Good advice. I learned the hard way when my cat knocked my Les Paul Custom off the stand and snapped the headstock off! It was only 2 weeks old.

The luthier/repairman that I learned from said that he repaired at least one of those a month. Talk about a silly construction technique for a neck/headstock joint.

[-TIM-]

The neck is not twisted. Hopefully I can salvage it. As for leaving it out. I live by myself and I don't have pets. Nobody to knock it over but me.

[RickTheDestroyer]

Nobody to knock it over but me.

Trust me, **** happens, and you'd be kicking yourself forever. The only guitar that I leave out is the ugly POS first guitar I ever built. It sounds great unplugged, but never sounded too good with an amp (I was a little "experimental" with pickup placement). I leave it out so I can pick it up and play whenever. It doesn't matter if it gets dinged up and the mofo won't stay in tune anyway.

[-TIM-]

I bang the s**t out of my Ibanez JX70 It's a sweet little addition to my collection. I bought it for open mic nights and to get in girls panties. But my Wolfgang, my stand wraps around the neck, and it's in a place where you can't get to it. Wait a minute, why am I defending myself on this??? I'm gay.

[bassman09]

The luthier/repairman that I learned from said that he repaired at least one of those a month. Talk about a silly construction technique for a neck/headstock joint.

Funny that is what my tech said when I brought it to him. He fixed it nicely and it is probably stronger in that spot then ever before but it's like having a vintage corvette without the original motor, still awesome but not quite the same.

You would be hard pressed to find a ****tier design that is for sure. The wood is so soft too, it makes for a beautiful sounding guitar but you would think for the price tag on those guitars you wouldn't have to be so careful with them. At the very least they should come with a warning sticker or something.

I was doing sound for a buddy of mine on night and while we were packing up our gear his Les Paul tipped over on stage and busted in the exact same spot. The bass player and I both knew the instant it touched the ground that it was busted. When the owner picked it up he literaly turned green right in front of us, he was just sick.

Awesome guitars but way too fragile, and heavy!

[RickTheDestroyer]

Mahogany isn't too fragile for a neck if you build it right. The neck on my baby is mahogany, but it's quartersawn, and well over an inch thick. I barely needed to put a truss rod in there because it's so strong. Of course, I put the truss adjustment at the body end of the neck (it's a bolt-on). The two I'm building now will be headstock adjustable (and glued in), but I'm going to build up a bunch of wood around the spot (I think it's called a volute, but I might be wrong as hell), so it should be fine.

[bassman09]

I think part of the problem is the weight of the guitar and the angle of the head stock. If they didn't weigh so much it wouldn't be such an impact when it hits the ground.

Sounds like you have some good knowledge about building/repairing guitars, cool. I have a buddy that owns a music store that does a lot of repairs, it looks very interesting.

I like playing them more. Have you ever heard of a Dingwall bass?

[RickTheDestroyer]

I think that the most satisfying part of building is that I'll never have to buy another guitar again, because I'm confident enough that I could build one that suited me better, probably for less money, and with tons of tone and perfect comfort for me.

I have heard of dingwall basses and seen pictures, but I've never seen/heard one in real life, let alone played one.

[bassman09]

Ya no doubt, it would be nice to make a guitar from scratch made to your own specifications. Brian May and his dad built his guitar from scratch and it sounds awesome, he has incredible tone.

Dingwalls are made in Saskatoon, Canada. I know the guy that makes them, Sheldon Dingwall. I took lessons from one the artist that helped him design them (Hank Insell), they are amazing basses. I own one and wouldn't trade it for anything. I have a very expensive Warwich as well but everytime I go for a bass I grab the Dingwall.

Sheldon got the rights to the fanned frets from a guy in the states that started making the fanned frets for 6 string electrics. http://www.novaxguitars.com/

If you ever get the chance to try one don't pass it up, they look weird to play but they feel great, just don't look at the frets for the first little while. lol

[RickTheDestroyer]

Yeah I've always been intrigued by the fanned frets. Seems like a smart idea (as does the dual core body or whatever they called it), but I imagine it takes some time to get used to. I bet it's also a pain in the nuts to build, and this is coming from a guy who considers fret jobs to be one of his specialties.

[bassman09]

Ya I would imagine there is alot to putting one together. Once they are tweeked they stay setup for a long time. The have very solid, precise adjustments. I still haven't had to take mine in yet since I bought it 2yrs ago. I do most of the small adjustments myself though. The only complaint I would have is that the frets are very soft. They use banjo frets. I love the tone, feel, shape and the extra low action the is achievable with them but they do groove pretty easily.

You would be surprised how quickly you get used to the frets though. It's just a much more natural way of playing.

[Shane]

Funny that is what my tech said when I brought it to him. He fixed it nicely and it is probably stronger in that spot then ever before but it's like having a vintage corvette without the original motor, still awesome but not quite the same.

You would be hard pressed to find a ****tier design that is for sure. The wood is so soft too, it makes for a beautiful sounding guitar but you would think for the price tag on those guitars you wouldn't have to be so careful with them. At the very least they should come with a warning sticker or something.

I was doing sound for a buddy of mine on night and while we were packing up our gear his Les Paul tipped over on stage and busted in the exact same spot. The bass player and I both knew the instant it touched the ground that it was busted. When the owner picked it up he literaly turned green right in front of us, he was just sick.

Awesome guitars but way too fragile, and heavy!

That's crazy. I've knocked my Jackson soloist over a couple times and my heart always skips a beat but nothing ever happened to it. I didn't realize Les Paul necks were so fragile. That's pretty f-ed up for a guitar that costs 2k+

[bassman09]

That's crazy. I've knocked my Jackson soloist over a couple times and my heart always skips a beat but nothing ever happened to it. I didn't realize Les Paul necks were so fragile. That's pretty f-ed up for a guitar that costs 2k+

Sure as hell is! They are even more pricey up here. A new Les Paul Custom goes for about $3000.00 canadian w/out a case.

[Shane]

That's jacked. I guess it's good the only Les Paul style guitar I have is just an LP body but the neck is one I got from Warmoth.

I'm planning on getting a PRS next year so I hope they don't have that same problem.

My strat and soloist are both solid.

Too bad everyone lives so far apart or we could have a mass WBB jam session.