Winter's Coming, Do You Humidify?

[BigDanT]

I never gave too much thought to this but earlier this year I had a nice bass that developed a little fret sprout. I never had that happen before but my tech told me it was probably just because of the dryer air and lack of humidity. So, with winter on the way I bought a little room humidifier for my bass room.
Anyone else do this or do you just leave it alone? Anyone not do this for a reason?

I'm in the Midwest BTW.

 

[spade2you]

I am also in the midwest. I have to be aggressive about humidifying in the winter and dehumidifying in the summer. I can relax during the spring and fall. I also avoid ebony on basses since it can really expand or contract compared to other woods.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

Have you tried venting the dryer air outside?



I don't humidfy, I only own one acoustic instrument and it's plastic backed so I am not that concerned. I live in a very dry climate but I use the dry months as a chance to dress my fretsprout.

 

[sharkbait130]

I don't humidify anything in the winter. I do keep a few dry gell packs in all my cases during the summers around here. Heck , I usually forget to take them out in the winter so they pretty much stay there all year.
Yeah , I do get a bit of fret sprout on a couple of my basses in the winter months and I'm sure I could take a few minutes with a file and fix that but it's not bad enough for me to really care and I'm far to lazy these days to do it.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I don't let it get below 40% here.

 

[BigDanT]

Well I'll be firing up the humidifier this weekend just to keep things as even as possible.

 

[zontar]

While winter is a bit drier, it is close year round, but I do have in case humidfiers for my acoustic 12 string and my hollow body electric guitar.
I've never had fret sprout issues--especially with my fretless...

 

[shadowtippy]

70% humidity is a dry day here, so I don't worry much about things drying out.

 

[RustyAxe]

My acoustic bass guitars, acoustic six and twelve string guitars, and my acoustic upright bass are humidified from late autumn to early spring (when the temp drops and the heating system dries out the air). I don't worry about my slab basses and guitars, never had an issue.

 

[sissy kathy]

Nope, my instruments stay in ambient air. I have radiators, not forced hot air heat, and no A/C.

 

[GIBrat51]

No. If it's comfortable for me in here, it's comfortable for everyone - and everything, too. And after 24 years here, every instrument I own is doin' just fine...

 

[twinjet]

Never bothered. No issues in my almost ten years of playing

 

[mellowinman]

I humidify religiously here in Minnesota. The consequences for not doing so are dire.

 

[Brian D]

Opposite problem here in Ireland, I have to run a dehumidifier occasionally and also use some "passive" dessicant systems as a lower cost solution. They help somewhat but won't work as fast or pull as much water.

I had a humidity sensor in my acoustic guitar case but the guitar is gone now.

 

[blowinblue]

I do like comedian Steven Wright does. I put a dehumidifier and a humidifier in the same room and let them fight it out. It must work because my basses never have issues.

M. M.

 

[blowinblue]

Seriously, I don't humidify. In southern California we are blessed with a fairly stable, relatively dry climate. Especially true in my case (inside our home) because we never open our windows due to my wife's allergies. I inherited a little hygrometer exactly like this one from my father. It's not totally accurate but does give an idea of seasonal changes. In my music room it ranges between 44 and 58 depending on the time of year. I always wait until humidity is at its lowest to file down fret sprout. I've owned my fretted basses long enough to have pretty much solved that problem. The necks on all of my basses will move through the year but we are talking about very small amounts.

M. M.

 

[Gaolee]

Humidify? In the great north wet? Hmmmm... What a concept!