The Experts Agree, You're Destroying Your Acoustic Guitar | Debunking Myths at NAMM 2024
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- Опубликовано: 26 июл 2024
- Join us as we shatter the most enduring myths surrounding acoustic guitars. We asked a team of experts, including renowned luthiers Dana Bourgeois and Richard Hoover, to unveil the truth behind common misconceptions.
From the myth that you don't need to humidify your prized instrument, to "Do guitars 'open up'?" We're here to set the record straight.
We're also shining a light on sustainability, a cornerstone of beloved brands like Martin, Santa Cruz, Bedell/Breedlove, and Collings Guitars. Discover their unwavering commitment to crafting instruments with an eye toward the future.
At The Acoustic Shoppe, we're not just about selling guitars, but about sharing knowledge and passion. Our experts are here to guide you through the acoustic world.
So whether you're a seasoned strummer or just starting, let's demystify the myths and celebrate the craftsmanship. The Acoustic Shoppe - where expertise meets your musical journey.
Discover more at www.theacousticshoppe.com, your one-stop shop for premium acoustic guitars and accessories.
#theNAMMshow #NAMMShow #bourgeoisguitars #richardhoover #santacruzguitars #bourgeois #furch #furchguitars #danabourgeois #collingsguitars #martinguitars 
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"Should you humidify" seems like the not quite the precise question. The right questions might be: what is the ideal humidity range to keep my guitar at? What happens if I go above that range? What happens if I go below it? Which is worse? I like to keep my guitar out of the case so that I'll play it, so ideally there is an overlap (or compromise) between what is best for the guitar and what is a comfortable humidity for my living room.
You are correct. Those are the right questions. Plus, wood for guitars has been seasoned in conditions that are comfortable for humans before and during being made into a guitar. So if the environment where your guitars are stored is kept, on average, within the the human comfort temperature/humidity range, your guitars will be safe. The most hazardous time is when heating the air in your house because warming air causes the relative humidity to decrease. Generally, humans are more tolerant to low humidity because we can get hydrated by drinking. Guitars can get hydrated only by absorbing water vapor from the air that surrounds them. And that happens only when the RH of the air is sufficiently high enough compared to the moisture content of the guitar's wood.
Early on someone says 45 - 55%. Outside of that range, "You're Destroying Your Acoustic Guitar"
Exactly
Exactly! The title of this video is typical click bate.
My house has a good humidity control system, so it stays around 40-45%. I don’t even have any humidifiers and don’t keep guitars in their cases, and mine are all perfect. But if my house wasn’t so stable, I’d definitely be keeping them in cases with humidifiers!
I think I agree with pretty much all of this, especially, monitor your humidity and play your guitar to break it in.
Great information! I moved to the Sonoran Desert in 2022, where humidity is often under 10%. So, bought carbon fiber RainSong 6 & 12 string jumbos, that I leave on stands…. I love the sound and the fact that each wooden guitar has it’s own “personality”, but the zero maintenance graphite guitars works for me.
Dang, sounds like a worthy investment for anyone living in such an environment who wants to play an acoustic guitar.
I have owned and played my D-18 for 51 years. About 10 years ago, the bridge started pulling off. The top had slightly warped. I was told it was not worth fixing. My son took it to the Martin factory in Nazareth, PA. They kept it for several months. Most of that time it was kept in a humidity chamber. They re-attached the bridge, did a neck reset, and re-fretted. Now, I keep a humidity noodle in it with a sound hole cover. I play 5-10 hours a week. It’s never sounded or played better as a result.
Thank you for adding your real-world experience. There’s no substitute for that. Cheers
Oh my gosh to have that much experience in one place. So great
BEST TAS video to date. y'all are constantly improving upon your content. much love from taos, new mexico!
Ayyy hell yeah. Hobbs, NM 🤘🏼
Thanks a ton!
You guys rock! Great video.
Excellent idea and execution. 🙂
Great interviews and thoughts/opinions.
What I found interesting is that all of the people were on the same page with most of their answers.
The only real exception was the topic of relicing.
IMHO, Your best program to date! THANK YOU!!!!
Thanks so much!
Excellent 👍Now bring on the Mando Myths! 🤔😮🤔
Really good video that I’m sure I’ll reference a lot while bickering with know it alls on the internet (yes they exist). I would be interested to hear the take of guys at Atkin and Pre War about relicing and finish checking. It seems to be part of their guitars secret sauce and I’m a believer in the finish aging to help with tone - though I have not empirical evidence
Excellent information …. Most important thing is to humidify that guitar. I have learned my lesson in the past with some tops splitting on a really nice Ovation.
I had the same problem with my ovation. I bought a deluxe balladeer in 1971. I kept it for 43 years. I did humidify it on and off but used the kind you had to add water to regularly and frequently forgot. As a result the top began to crack and finally the bridge pulled right up off of the top. Goodbye ovation.. gave it to a friend whose father was a luthier.He repaired it and she still plays it ovr 10 years leter.
Nice panel.
This issue is dear to my heart. I have done videos on it. In Sydney Australia we need to dehumidify. In any case that range 45 to 55% humidity is optimum.
I have too many guitars and violins and mandolins, and bouzoukis to humidify individually in cases, so I created a music room that I humidify with a couple of sunbeam warm mist humidifiers with control boxes. It requires a little daily maintenance, but is worth the effort. I live in New England so I do the reverse in the summer with a dehumidifier.
Great video.
Genius idea of a video 👌🏼
Acoustic Remedy’s! My favorite company!
Wow! You guys really do kniws people!
I'm fine with relicing as long as it's done while playing the guitar.
Bought my acoustic in California year 2000. Never humidified with no issues. Moved to Colorado front range 2018, 2020 the top was cracked and because of unique design of bracing and bridge/saddle it was unrepairable. I humidify my new guitar.
Mine all live on hooks in a house that runs 45-75 % (mostly 45-55 with rare excursions) humidity in my room depending on season (deep south near ocean). Once acclimated to my house I set them up and they rarely need even minor adjustment. Been here for 5 years and every one seems to be fairly stable. Everything from cheap to expensive stays pretty good. My J50 I have had for 53 years and no cracking or even neck reset needed, but has had a refret from playing a long time. Truss rod only adjusted twice since new.
I've owned MANY guitars that were from the 30's, 40's, and 50's that were NEVER humidified, and had zero problems. Of course, they were likely not kept in the desert, or in severe cold for long periods of time. HOWEVER, I've seen lots of guitars badly damaged by heat. Letting a guitar get hot is is the very worst thing one can do to it.
My wife and I are professional musicians, and are on the road much of the time, and in the Pacific Northwest as a home base.
As we live in our Travel Trailer, we don't have the luxury of keeping our (handmade, very expensive) guitars in conditioned areas, or even in a house for that matter.
I built and installed an insulated vault in our truck (in a camper shell, with lots of locks), and our guitars have held up great over the seven years we've been on the road. I think the most important thing is letting them acclimate when bringing them to a warmer or colder venue. Yes, finish checking (lacquer) is a little accelerated by temperature differences, but the wood itself shows no signs of distress. The vault, being insulated, keeps the instruments temperatures from changing too rapidly.
We wouldn't even be able to tour at all if we had to worry about keeping constant humidity!
As far as "opening up", they "close down" as well if not played! I have played very old D'Angelicos, early Gibson L-5's & Super 400's and New York Epiphones, among others, that quite noticeably came to life within even a half hour of playing!! It's mind blowing other them come to life!!
I live in FL we have no problem with humidity. I have my acoustics sitting around house. Some are 18 years l
Old . No problems
Never had a problem with it. If I'm not comfortable, my guitar is not comfortable. My room stays between 45 to 50 degrees of humidity. I don't put my guitars away. They play fine and they seldom need more than minimal tuning tweaks.
Humidipacks leak. Do you have an air tight case? It’s the Changes in temp and humidity that age the finish, if you’re in the new retail business of course preserve the factory environment.
I used to work in a small shop and *I* was the only player there... So when the guitar was on the hook in the spray booth, and the boss was happy with the amount of laquer on it--it became "mine". So I buffed out the box, got the masking tape off, made a nut and a saddle... Then I played it. And I tell you true--new guitars do NOT know **what** they are! I played one, it thought it was a credenza! Took a bit to get it vibrating and going. (My boss said, "NO more than two hours of playing. I want the new owner to enjoy the guitar opening up.") But the change during that two hour session was amazing! But it is a curve on the graph, first changes are quick, but the rate of change slows through time, to the point of decades being the measurement scale. I have a 100 year old guitar, and 83 year old, a 32 year old. And I have a 10 year old that sounds GREAT. It is the box, but age sure helps.
I use a soundhole humidifier and I have a humidifier in the room while needed. I have a gage that I put near my guitars that I check several times a day. Here in Richmond, Va. it doesn’t get that dry but in the summer it gets real humid. I have a dehumidifier I run when needed.
Why do you have both a sound hole humidifier and a room humidifier? Are they insufficient by themselves?
Why do you check your gauge several times per day? Is your gauge inside the guitar case?
Do you keep your sound hole humidifier in the sound hole when you run your dehumidifier?
@@jimwing.2178 , we have a old house with radiators. It’s a very dry heat. The humidifier is small. I check the gage to make sure the room is at a proper level. The sound hole humidifier also keeps the case humidified. In the summer the humidity soars .
my question is how they know humidity is causing the issues they're seeing in older guitars.
wood can shrink and expand within the humidity range 40 to 60 percent.
if they're keeping their guitars in cases for weeks at a time then apples and shit are better than nothing.
but I'm opening and closing that case once a day because I use these tools.
I have a fairly cheap acoustic guitar I bought used about ten years ago. I never keep it in a case. Recently it started buzzing on the high strings around 8th to 12th frets. One day it worked great. The next day it was buzzing. Weird.
I can only speak from my own experience with my 1956 martin D18. I keep all my guitars in a room at 45% humidity. The Martin will tell me very quickly if it is not getting enough humidity. It starts fretting out and buzzing if it gets too low. Same humidity for summer. I don't like too much humidity either. My classical gets less responsive with too much humidity.
Great content!!
I hung a 1990s Taylor next to my shower, over my bathroom electric base board heater for ten years (so I could jam on the toilet)
Guitar is fine.
I have 50yo cedar top flamenco and 120yo mandolin hanging on my wall for decades.. they're fine.
In 50 years I've never had a single instrument crack and warp from lack of humidity.
If you live in the dry desert like I do, do NOT Humidify
Fascinating video John. Well done.
enjoyed that, thanks.
humidify packs are worthless. Oh BTW I live in FL and run the AC 12 months of the year to keep humidity (relative humidity) down to 50%.
Great vid 👍 Thanks 🙏
Merci.
Not a fan of relic acoustics. Best sound for me at low end of 40% RH. Good break in 6-12 months.
I learned a lot!
How about this question, assume humidity is accounted for: Should I leave my guitar out on a stand or a wall hanger full time for UV light to do its thing...or keep it in a case to shield it from UV light?
UV is typically not good for guitars except for yellowing the top. Ideally most things should be shielded from UV Light, including guitars.
That's some funny intro...
What if there is too much humidity? How do you dehumidify the guitar? Interesting discussion!
Very slowly. I left mine in a case. I would open it daily for an hour at a time every day. It took a good year for the top bulge to come down. I leave it in the case now when it’s not being played. Just remember - the case needs to be dehumidified also - the foam protection in the guitar case can hold moisture as well as the guitar.
Buy a dehumidifier and set it at 45%
Well, we don't humidify or dehumidify guitars. We humidify and dehumidify the air that surrounds our guitars. The moisture content of the wood 'wants' to be in equilibrium with the air that surrounds it. It happens slowly, so don't stress if your hygrometer occasionally reads a high or low RH.
@@jimwing.2178 doesn’t a sound hole humidifier humidify a dry guitar?
@@lilycat1694 A sound hole humidifier humidifies the air that surrounds it. A dry guitar will absorb moisture from humid air until the wood reaches its equilibrium moisture content (EMC). There is much actual information on the net about this if you are curious to learn more. It is not difficult to understand. With a little knowledge of the science, a person can simplify guitar-care and eliminate worrying about it.
Love the way everyone has bought into the sustainable timber effort but only one person even touched to the slightest degree that guitar making, even by the largest US factories, represents the tiniest fraction of hardwood use. The main uses are (roughly in order): land clearance for housing and agriculture; firewood; low cost mass produced laminate furniture. Changing guitarmaking practices wouldn't even dent these amounts.
So guitar manufacturers should do nothing until those industries do something.
@@johnchapman4232His point was it doesn’t matter.
What is the rule for dehumidifying? I live on the Florida gulf coast and of course it gets quite humid. I keep my guitars in the case overnight but like to have them out during the day. Feedback appreciated.
Humidipacks are absolutely the way to go, they all around maintain the humidity in the case weather the environment needs humidified or dehumidified. We also recommend using a hygrometer to always know what level you're environment is at. If you keep your guitars out during the day, it's kinda hard to maintain humidity levels in the room compared to the case, that's why we recommend keeping your guitars in their cases if you aren't playing them and just always make sure the case is shut even when you are playing your guitar.
Thank you. I didn't realize the Humidipack worked for both humidity and dehumidifying conditions. I have them ordered. @@AcousticShoppe
When you air condition your house, the indoor relative humidity will be in the safe range for guitars. If you heat your house, you might have to humidify the air in the room where you store your guitars. If you are not heating or cooling your house, you probably have nothing to worry about - the RH will go up and down diurnally but the average will generally be in a safe range. I don't trust humidipacks - the ones that I tried failed. There's no way of telling if they've filled up or emptied out without monitoring the RH inside the guitar case. What a hassle. Plus, they are only effective for so many cycles - good luck keep track of that. That and the packaging for regular Humidipacks says. "This product is not intended for dehumidification in high humidity environments."
@@jimwing.2178 Humidipacks are safe and great to use for the small environment that is a guitar case. Also if you put multiple in one case, it kinda takes the load off of just having one pack in. Like Dana Bourgeois said, he puts 4 in a case and doesn't have to worry about them for a long period of time.
Also, if you store your guitar in it's case, inside your house, that is a temperature controled house, your guitar should never really hit a very "high humidity" or a very low humidity level.
we can attest that you just need to keep the humidipacks in the case and all is good. When they've dried out, it's time to get new ones.
I absolutely love this channel.
I keep a humidity gauge in my guitar room. The only time I've ever needed to humidify is when i use wood heat during the gnarly winters. I bought into the bullshit of keeping a humidifier in my guitars. Id go grab one, and the action would be way high. Took the humidifier out, and low and behold, shes perfect again.
Or you could do nothing.
Play it. Dry in Colorado. Low humidity. Nothing happened to any of my guitars in 48 yrs.
So. You could do nothing. Including put them in storage!
It's wood. If it's quality. It may last . It may not.
Do you not need to humidify when you use any other method of heating your guitar room?
My whole house clocks in between 45-50% RH year round. I have some fairly rare and expensive guitars so a stable environment is paramount. I have a hygrometer in my rehearsal space for peace of mind. I do keep them all in cases for stability’s sake in case any of our climate devices fail. Some of my guitars are decades old and none of them have any structural issues. Of course none of them are Martins either.
I just started noticing my 35 yr old Yairi goes way out of tune if left out of case. Both sharp and flat. The wood must be moving. The humidity here goes all over the place…
Relative humidity everywhere goes all over the place diurnally. But what happens outdoors does not matter. Control the relative humidity inside the room where your guitar is stored and keep them out. It's easier than using in-case gadgetry.
@@jimwing.2178 Yeah, I’ve been keeping it close to the back door, so when we open and close the door it’s a wild ride. In the case it didn’t do this so badly. Guess it’s back in the case girl.
It depends on the humidity where you live. You don't want your guitar sopping wet. I have never humidified my acoustic guitars. One of them is an 85 year old Gibson and it's fine.
Actually, it depends on the relative humidity of the environment in which the guitar is stored. If it is kept indoors, the outdoor humidity is irrelevant.
Sounds like NAMM is the place to go for opinions.
Such a great video
Thanks so much!
A RUclips famous
luthier that has been on your show before would dispute your views on humidity for an acoustic. I’ve been playing for over 30 years and I have learned that the biggest and most important part of humidity is that it doesn’t change fast.. that if you’re guitar is really dry and kept really dry, you will not have any problems, but if it gets into a high humidity situation, and the humidity raises fast, or vice versa, you will have major problems. Just my two cents… and that is all I have 😂
Humidity is just like politics and religion. We don't have to agree about it to be friends.
Talk to your buddy Jerry Rosa. Not needed. You should do a show interviewing him. He is adamant!!
Bob Taylor and Andy Powers would have added so much to this conversation. I believe the guys Acoustic Shoppe have personal vendetta for Taylor Guitars.
See this section of our "Best Guitars at NAMM" video. We had no access to Bob Taylor or Taylor guitars. ruclips.net/video/R0N4nksnebk/видео.htmlsi=31teOYM_Lh16GbRh&t=142
Actually big fans, just can't get access to them.
On the "playing-in"/aging effect, they are just repeating what has been the conventional wisdom in the industry. The problem is that there is little evidence that it's real. If there was, they would be able to produce objective data. Those that have tested it have failed to find any effect, either with spectral measurements or blinded hearing tests by experienced players. If you listen to the few builders who actually measure their guitar's physics (none of the ones here as far as I know), they will say that the guitars change in the first few hours or days after stringing up to full tension for the first time, but not really after that. And the guys here are mostly just saying "yeah I think it does". Not exactly convincing. One manufacturer gives the example of vintage violins. Firstly, Strads are a lot older than any acoustic guitar. And secondly blinded studies have actually shown that experts can't pick Strads from modern masterbuilt instruments, and actually often prefer the sound of the modern ones.
I’m thinking wide temperature swings are about as dangerous as humidity extremes to an acoustic guitar.
To a point.
Definitely!
I never humidify my acoustics. I have several, some fifty years old. And they're all under full string tension.
I have Martin, Taylor, Guild and a few other brands. All Solid wood guitars.
Humidity....snake oil.
Think about it.....
The wood has already been dried. Dried beyond the humidity level in most environments. At that point, all it can do is absorb moister. And it doesn't need a humidifier to do that. Finish cracks are not cracked wood. Finish and wood move at different rates. Yeah...that guitar stored in an attic for twenty years may have problems but that's not typical.
Close, but not exactly right. Wood is dried to a certain moisture content before being brought into the manufacturing shop. Before the dried wood is shaped into a guitar, it is stored in the shop for a period of time in which the moisture content of the wood reaches equilibrium with the shop. When the guitar is moved to a different environment, the wood will gain or lose moisture until it reaches equilibrium with the new environment. If that equilibrium point is too far away for the equilibrium point in the guitar factory, then then wood will experience tension strain or compression strain. Too much strain and the wood gets damaged.
You only need to humidify in low humidity regions. Where I live I have to do the opposite and dehumidify. Keeping your guitar at around 45% - 50% is the goal.
Not true. First, outdoor humidity is meaningless to a guitar unless the guitar is stored outdoors. What does matter is the average relative humidity of the environment that surrounds the guitar. Second, even in high humidity regions, heating the air in your house will reduce the relative humidity. I have to humidify my guitar room in Alabama during the winter. The outdoor humidity is high during the winter here and in most other places. The state with the highest average relative humidity is Alaska. Alaskans need to humidify the air around their guitars, too.
@@jimwing.2178 Naturally I mean the humidity in the room, not outside. The exterior humidity has a big impact on the interior humidity for many people. Now if you live somewhere that you keep an air con running 24/7 then the exterior humidity isn't of great importance to you. If, like me, you live somewhere cold and damp with heating running, double glazed windows and an external humidity of around 96% you'll need to do some dehumidifying. I keep my room at around 45% and have hygrometers In my cases. They measure about 5% higher than the room most of the time.
I guess if you can afford to run your heating high and extract the humid air that builds up inside the house then a dehumidifier isn't needed. Where I work among our best selling winter products are dehumidifiers, anti mold paint, anti mold sprays and damp seal. Obviously it's an issue here.
My acoustics are in the case unless I play. Right now my 2 cases are at 53% & 58% RH. My room is at 30%. I stopped humidifying the room. You think those stupid humidipacks are expensive? Pfft, not like evaporative filters. Humidipacks work for about 2 weeks tops in Chicago. Music Nomad sponges I resoak every 2 weeks minimum. Crazy, my Breedlove is in a cheap Gator case, the Music Nomad sponges will last well over a month and that case stays in the upper 50s. Oh, sponge in the headstock space and 1 in the sound hole. Music Nomad > *. $0.97/gal of distilled water from Menards. It will last a couple of seasons. I use those hard ass humidipacks in the summer to keep the humidity down in the case.
What hygrometer do you use?
@@zacharymoon1045 A couple of different ones actually. I use the 3 sensor one that is popular on Amazon. You can only use one in your house though because it will interfere with itself. Then I have some I have made with ESP32 chips, have some Arduino ones. Next will probably be Govee as I think they will work with my Google Assistant.
I'm going to ask Pete Townshend to relic my guitars for me. He has a really good history.
these battery powered humidity sensors are absolute garbage, i donno how they can recommend those.
(ps, john......yer so dang silly.....lols)
Well, interesting video but... absolutely no myths shattered and equally absolutely nothing in terms of experts agreeing on guitars being destroyed, so all in all, click-bait, and misleading title as well as description.
The Martin guy says that you must maintain a 45-55% RH range. The Collings guy says ALWAYS humidify, even if the outdoor RH 65% or 75%. Who do you trust? Why would the outdoor RH even matter? Experts did not agree, and myths were reinforced, not debunked.
Both companies and individuals have the same theories. Basically Jason from Martin is saying that is the humidity range that is best for the environment of acoustic instruments.Meanwhile Steve from Collings was just pointing out that you should always maintain that humidity range, no matter what the weather is. We left that statement in because we hear a lot people try to say that one doesn't need to humidify their instruments depending on the weather.
When Steve says you should always humidify, he's saying you should maintain the correct humidity range all the time. Not to literally always humidify your guitar, slight miscommunication but I see where that can confuse folks, apologies!
@@AcousticShoppe You are superimposing what you think onto what Steve said. I'm not saying that what you think is wrong. However, what Steve adamantly repeated is: "ALWAYS humidify."
He should have answered your question like this: "First, understand that outdoor relative humidity is irrelevant, regardless of the season. Second, maintain the relative humidity of the air surrounding the guitar in the range of [whatever his belief is]. Third, if the guitar is exposed to RH outside of the ideal range for a day or two, it will be OK." The fact that he missed both of first two key points makes me question his expertise and/or his sobriety at the time you videoed him.
Here's some information. Get a carbon fiber Emerald guitar from Emerald Guitars and you won't think about humidity again. And don't tell me you don't like the sound. If you haven't played one, you...just...don't...know.
Older instruments are affected more by humidity. Just like people.
Relicing is just a con. Ugly too.
Relic-ing is the dumbest thing ever. And it shouldn’t be a word. 😬
On the other hand, I like to buy used guitars that have honestly earned nicks and scratches. that way I don't have to worry about trying to keep a guitar pristine.
I’m having a LOT OF TROUBLE accepting the opinions about humidity in this video. Opinions aren’t worth a nickel. With the number of guitars that go through the Acoustic Shoppe, Martin, etc, you’d think it would be worth a basic 7th grade science fair experiment approach with various levels of humidity plus a control group. Run some tests. Document the findings. Publish results.
s a store, our proof honestly comes every winter around our area. When colder weather comes around, we see an increase in crack repairs. We also just have our beliefs from personal experience. One of our salesmen, Corey has shown us his guitar with all kinds of crack from years of driving from Missouri to Colorado many times a year and without humidifying his instrument.
In this livestream at the 15:08 mark Corey shares some of his experiences: ruclips.net/user/livet5rJrClWZAQ?si=PHTms9KthbjzzWMU
We do totally see the value of actually conducting a test but realistically as a smaller store, it's not quite feasible for us to take time away to conduct such test at the moment. That's why we kinda made this video because we feel the opinions of these expert luthiers is far better than even ours on these topics.
Old!
The guitar industry is a small, small percent of our national GDP. I don't need them to be "sustainable". The best way to be sustainable is to build a great guitar that lasts for generations.
If you relic a guitar to make it look 50 years old, how is it going to look 50 years from now?
🤔
@@AcousticShoppe yeah, that’s what I thought. 😜
100 years old.
It will probably have more than one large hole in the top.
All the charm of a new hire training film and a super long (and super dumb) intro song. Get a real job
If only we could be as charming as you...