Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

That's a cool project. Now I have to find a suitable space where there is none...

OK here's something for those with scientific backgrounds in this Forum. Regarding the several previous messages about Humidity and its impact on guitars --- last week in Southern Calif we had another of those dry and warm "Santa Ana Winds" which fanned the flames of that very bad wild fire, that has been in the news.

Having recently read the various postings on this thread about humidity and dryness, I ended up paying attention (doing my own "research" so to speak) on the warm/dry atmosphere impact on my guitars, which were out in a room, on guitar stands. I noted that for both a solid body 650 model and a semi-hollow 360 model that when the first day of the Santa Ana winds came that I had to tune all the strings up, as they all were sounding a little flat. A few days later, after the Santa Ana died down and the "on-shore" flow came back and brought humidity from the ocean to our area, the guitars were all out of tune again. Now they all were sharp and I had to tune them all down a little bit on each string. Again the same effect on both solid body and semi-hollow Rick guitars. [As a side note, I also experienced the same tuning phenomena, both times last week, for a brand-x solid body guitar which has a bolt on neck.]

Does this make sense to tune up when it gets dry and tune down when it gets more humid ? In arid climates like Southern Calif where we experience these Santa Ana winds several times a year --- will one of those room humidifiers people wrote about suffice to keep the guitars safe and in tune, when the whole geographic area gets so dry ?? Is there a difference if the guitars are stored in their cases, as opposed to being out in the air on a guitar stand -- or does humidity and dryness conditions penetrate Ric cases ?
Regards - Rich F.

It makes perfect sense Richard. Also, with the exception of those cases in which humidifiers or silica gel is used, at the end of the day the environment inside and outside of the guitar case is essentially the same.

Why change tuning depending on relative humidity? Just get' em into tune when you are going to play them, otherwise leave 'em alone.

Guitars, and humidity, have been around at least since 1956 and 1882, respectively. Let's let 'em continue to co-exist.

Silica gel...Hmmm. I've bought a number of guitars (mostly Fenders, BTW) whose case compartments were stuffed with silica gel packs. I thought these absorbed moisture, but I'm not sure if they also release it. I think leaving them in a case is bogus, even if they release moisture, because how you gonna know what the "inside" moisture is, anyway, without a humidistat?

The Ameritage case that I picked up as an optional offering for my Rick acoustic customers, comes with a built-in humidifier (one of those plaster-of-paris-and-ear-fuzz ones) and (neater yet!) a small battery-op thermometer/humidistat.

Must be a good time of year. Inside the case it's 67º Fahrenheit, and 65% RH. Tuning and finish have both stabilized, and the sound of the "Cowboy" 700C is sweetening.

Moral: don't let 'em get too dry or too wet if you can avoid it.

This could help.

Thanks for everyone's comments about humidity, silica gel, tuning, cases, etc. John, that link you posted looks like an essential device, and it sort of looks like one of those Korg guitar tuners. [Funny that cigar link keeps you coming back, when I tried to go back to the Rick Resource Forum.]
Regards - Rich F.

"...how you gonna know what the "inside" moisture is, anyway, without a humidistat?"

Put Schrödinger's Cat in there and see how he does...

Yeah, $19.50 (if you get the two) isn't a bad price at all for both temp and humidity. Very cheap compared to a vintage Rick! Even at the $25 for one price.

Didn't happen for me (the return to the Thompson site) but I use Firefox.