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My father-in-law is a cabinet maker and he will be making a guitar display cabinet for me. It will be a hutch style holding 4 guitars. Thing is, I live in the high desert. My guitars are currently in a closet with a humidifier that keeps them between 40%-60%. I did an experiment putting a bowl of water in a single door kitchen cabinet and that didn't raise the humidity at all (22% today). I'm going to try taping the cabinet door to see what happens next. So, some questions:
- Do guitar cabinets usually come with some kind of foam gasket on the doors to hold in moisture?
- Do they have a cam type closure to seal them up?
- Are passive humidity sources even enough?
- Are there designs that allow for a humidifier to pump air in?
Inputs / experiences appreciated.
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05-04-2014 08:39 PM
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I live at 8,600' and the humidity varies from about 10% to 40% over the year. A while back I decided to build a wine vault and in the process I realized that guitars like the same climate as wine. So I made room for my guitars as well. It is humidified and (mostly) kept naturally at 65- 68 degrees.
Try going on line and see if you can find some wine vault plans that might work for your situation.
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Thanks tone.. good suggestion. I suppose I should look into hutch sized cigar humidors as well.
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I built a display case several years ago. Strictly passive humidity control, although I have a furnace mounted humidifier that keeps the house pretty good in winter. There are commercial custom cases out there, some offering active systems. I've just gone with a bowl or two of water on the floor of the cabinet, and a humidor hygrometer to keep track. Doors are built with rabbeted edges and magnetic closures.
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Originally Posted by DaveS
I built a display case several years ago. Strictly passive humidity control, although I have a furnace mounted humidifier that keeps the house pretty good in winter. There are commercial custom cases out there, some offering active systems. I've just gone with a bowl or two of water on the floor of the cabinet, and a humidor hygrometer to keep track. Doors are built with rabbeted edges and magnetic closures.
Wow, we have some talented woodworkers in this forum!
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That's the first thing I thought when I saw that as well. That's pretty impressive Dave. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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Thanks guys. (Actually, in that shot, the only things I didn't make are the lamp & the table it's sitting on
)
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I was under the impression that the thing that causes most cracks , tuning problems, etc. is shock, so a sudden change of temperature or humidity ? Would it be a good idea to put the guitars in a cabinet with high humidity, then take it out for a couple of hours each day into a room with a completely different climate (assuming you are playing them actively) then back in etc.
id think it is much easier to have one guitar room in the house, where you just constantly keep the conditions more or less the same ambient conditions with some good humidifiers (I use a Venta which is quiet, clean, and works great) , and then just have a normal cabinet in that room for storage.
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And compliments to Dave of course
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Per your thinking FWS, I'm getting to the point where I may give up on having it in my great room and going for a smaller case in a library where it's easier to keep the humidity at 40% or above. In my experience a guitar doesn't mind going from 50% to 20% RH for a few hours. It just doesn't like staying too low for too long. Even a day and the action starts moving.
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Incredible, Dave. I bet you had a hand in those fancy boxes as well. Originally Posted by DaveS
(Oops, just read your reply.)
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Here are some pictures of the Wine and Guitar Vault I built.
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If I were a guitar, that's how I would like to be stored.
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I'd be happy to spend a couple of days in that vault - to check the humidity for you, you know? Just give me a pick and a corkscrew...
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I am making myself crazy. GAS now has me needing more space to store guitars and there just ain't no more!!!! So do I drink the wine and replace it with guitars? That is about 6 cases to provide enough space for another guitar.
Why and I cursed with such problems?!?!?!
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Originally Posted by tonedeaf
Hard choices make great individuals.
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