Need advice on displaying guitars and humidification.

[OHIOSTEVE]

I have several guitars and I find that if I put them in their cases I rarely touch them. I will grab the same couple of guitars out over and over again. however if I leave them out on a rack or on stands I play all of them quite a bit. I worry about humidity control because I have an old D18 Martin that was my dads that is checking and the wood is splitting and coming apart on the back seam and I know it is from just being dried out. I will build a big humidity controlled cabinet if I HAVE to but in a home environment how important is humidity control? and can I just set a humidifier up close to the racks?

 

[huffdaddy]

Steve, it really depends on what humidity you keep your house. Do you have a hygrometer ? If not, you can pick one up fairly cheap to keep an eye on the humidity in your guitar room.
You really have to watch in the winter time, things dry out in a hurry. But if you can keep your household humidity up in the 40-45 % area, you should be fine leaving them out. If not, I would put them in their cases with humidifiers.
Also, there are humidifying processes that can be done to the old Martin to possibly bring it back into shape.

 

[CHUNKYNECK]

For the martin it sounds like you should keep it in its case with a humidifier until that crack closes up.
You can rehydrate it with something like this below.

Once it's stabilized you could just maintain a constant humidity in your room and they should be ok when left out.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB8tELj43RE[/ame]

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

I have contacted the Martin company.. want to send this to them for some refurbishing. I know it harms value but no desire to ever sell it and hope to pass it onto the grandson or grand daughter in the future ( they both love to "play" their guitars and sing. thanks guys.. I would WAY rather build a rack than a cabinet...and my guitar room is basically the entie house lol

 

[Inside Guy]

You may actually save the value of the guitar. I am almost certain of it.

If the back wood has dried to the point of splitting, you most likely have problems with the braces inside too. You really need to make sure there are no loose braces. If there are, this will devalue the guitar and likely continue to cause more damage. Worst of all...loose braces hurt tone.

Fix that thing right...it deserves it.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

getting ready to call em..

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

just hung up with MArtin...feelin pretty good about getting it fixed right after that conversation....wonder how expensive it will be?

 

[lǎo​wài]

If I had the means, I'd do any and everything to keep that old Martin together.

It's a part of the family.

Good luck.

 

[hrfdez]

I invested on a nice Essick humidifier for my music room and I keep it a nice 47% all year round. I still keep my guitars in their cases, but when I have them out I don't have to worry.

For my acoustics, I use the humidipacks and forget about it.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

well as soon as I get the info it is beiong shipped to MArtin to have it completely gone over.. in the words of the customer rep I talked to" THEY WILL START AT THE HEADSTOCK AND INSPECT EVERYTHING AND HEY DON'T STOP UNTIL THEY GET TO THE STRAP PIN" they will give me a detailed account of everything that needs fixed and I then can pick and choose what I want done kind of alacarte...

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

I have told my wife to expect it to cost a LOT to have it all fixed.. I told her a grand just to over sell it so she doesn't flip.. her response was.. well if thats what it takes, it needs done. ordering a whole house humidifier today... just found another big crack down the front of the martin...ugh

 

[spitfire]

I have my dad's old 1944 Martin 000-21. It's spent the last 35 years in the dry southwest, 10 years in very humid Minnesota, and at least another 10 years in dry Montana. Who knows before that. My dad didn't even have a case for the thing until about 10 years ago.

I can remember it being taken on camping trips as a kid and being left out leaning against a tree all night.

Not a crack in it. Go figure?

While I do have a humidity controlled guitar cabinet, I've decided NOT to put it in it. Figuring, it's acclimated to the dry conditions and best to leave it. Though I did have the neck reset a few years back.

While there's certainly nothing wrong with a whole house humidifier, another option is a humidity controlled cabinet. Just like the OP, I knew I didn't want to keep the guitars in cases, as out of sight is out of mind and they wouldn't get played. So I bought a guitar cabinet that holds about 10 guitars. I just swing open a door and reach in to grab what I want.

Several small dishes hold water to keep the humidity up. Only have to add water about every 6 weeks. Works great.

However you do it, humidity control is a great thing. Hardly have to re-tune the guitars. No seasonal truss rod adjustments.

 

[Tone deaf]

If whole-house is an option (with forced air), go for it. I have had one for many years. It makes everyone and the guitars more comfortable.

 

[Brians Evil Twin]

well as soon as I get the info it is beiong shipped to MArtin to have it completely gone over.. in the words of the customer rep I talked to" THEY WILL START AT THE HEADSTOCK AND INSPECT EVERYTHING AND HEY DON'T STOP UNTIL THEY GET TO THE STRAP PIN" they will give me a detailed account of everything that needs fixed and I then can pick and choose what I want done kind of alacarte...

I've been to the Martin factory twice, once with 2 guitars in tow for minor maintenance. They will do the work right and it's won't be as expensive as if you took it to a top luthier. The only scary part is shipping.

As for humidity, if you have more than a couple of guitars, keep your house between 40 and 50%. I have both and Aprilaire whole-house humidifier on the HVAC and an evaporative humidifier in my music room. They work overtime in the winter, don't need either in the summer.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

martin is on its way to Nazareth PA...they are gonna do a full evaluation of the guitar and send me a detailed list of each repair needed and what it will cost then let me pick what to have done.. should have some sort of list in a couple weeks according to the rep I spoke to.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

BTW have a whole house ( 2000 sq ft) digital humidifier coming...... will the humidity mess with the electronics?

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

martin is at the martin company... new humidifier arrived today.. set it up and the guages on it said it was 38% humidity in here.. been running a while now and up to 46% either the ghost peppers I just had or the extra humidity is clearing up my sinuses lol.... where should I set it at..50%? or a little lower?

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

if you guys are interested I will keep you updated on the repairs to the MArtin

 

[rabidhamster]

I'm interested.

I'm also surprised to hear the martin factory is the place of choice for fixing vintage martins - traditionally going to the manufacture is the most expensive way to get weird service that isn't vintage correct.
It's cool to hear they have a reasonably priced, full featured vintage repair department there!

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

no idea how reasonable yet...but it is who was recommended by several people to me