Contributed by Todd Farnsworth
You’ve felt the effects of low humidity – perhaps dry, itchy skin, bloody noses, or general uncomfortableness. Now shift your attention to the guitar hanging on your wall (just please don’t tell me it’s part of your mantelpiece aesthetic) or sitting on the stand in the corner: it’s suffering just as much. Alaskan musicians face a constant battle against low humidity, and the effects can add up to high dollar repairs VERY quickly. Don’t get me wrong – fixing guitars is my jam, but many humidity problems are avoidable with some basic understanding of how your guitar reacts to relative humidity.
First and foremost, you need to understand that even if you buy a guitar brand new (from my shop or elsewhere) it’s very likely at least a year old. Unless it was crafted in the good ol’ US of A and you purchased it fresh off the showroom floor, chances are it came from overseas. It shipped in a Conex Box (weeks in transit), sat in a port, trucked to a warehouse for distribution, trucked to whichever retailer and hung on the wall for however long before you purchased it. That’s a lot of shock for a guitar in its infancy. And I would bet in all of its young life adventures, it was never kept humidified (amongst other problems) and is already showing signs of unchecked changes in humidity.
Now let’s get more specific: its final destination is in your home, somewhere in Alaska. There’s a lot of great things about The Last Frontier, but stable, comfortable humidity is not one of them. Nonetheless, you pick up your new lover, hold her in your arms, tune her up to pitch, and strum that first, beautiful chord… And you get bit by sharp, buzzy frets. Ouch. So much anticipation and then she lashes out. You’ve now felt and heard firsthand signs of low humidity.
So let’s talk about some symptoms of low humidity: Sharp fret ends, unplayabley low action, excessive buzzing, a hump in the neck, cracks in the finish or wood and failed glue joints/bracing. Most of these are avoidable with routine maintenance and diligent humidification. As an Alaskan musician, you must understand that dips in temperature or spikes in heat will require immediate attention to your guitar. It’s what we signed up for, living and playing in this state. Now let’s talk about some simple steps to maintain proper humidity (and hopefully prevent future trips to the guitar ER):
1. Store your guitar in its case. A lot of people struggle with this, so if this is you, you’re not alone. But the case will help protect your guitar through many extreme conditions. I realize that guitars are functional art and you want them close at hand, but a stand or wall hanger is not the best place for them to live unless you are diligently humidifying your entire house.
2. If you choose not to store your guitar in its case, at least put it in there for ten or twelve days a month with a guitar humidifier (longer if we dip into negative temperatures). Think of it as a week at the spa or a split custody arrangement - whichever analogy works for you. Believe me, your guitar will thank you.
3. Keep a digital hygrometer in your case or in your home and look for 40–50% readings. They’re inexpensive (same goes for guitar humidifiers) and they certainly beat paying a luthier to fix the resulting problems.
I love an excessively played, well-worn guitar – I sincerely do. The more faded the paint and worn the fretboard, the better. Especially on a maple neck. But neglecting your guitars humidity is needlessly damaging and expensive, especially when you compare a luthiers’ bench rate versus a humidifier. Alaska has a unique climate and there are inherent challenges therein, regarding humidity and your guitar. Make no mistake – I repair guitars for a living, so I’ll gladly take on your neglected instruments to pay my bills. But why do that when you’re now armed to battle low humidity?
