It's winter in Australia now.
I used to keep my guitars out on those multi-racks about the house but now that winter is here and we have central heating, I was bit worried about temperature changes so now they are kept in their cases.
Keeping them in cases has a drawback. When they were in a rack in different rooms, I would pick one up at random times and strum or noodle while watching a movie etc. Now to have to go to one room and 'de-case' them, means I've become lazy.
The house temperature varies from around 5C (40F) during the low point of the night to 21C (70F) when the heating is on. It takes about an hour or so to get up to 21C and several to cool down. The heating vents are in the ceiling and direct the heated air down. Do you think those temperature variations would have any effect? Is it best to keep the guitars cased at this time of the year?
You let the house get down to 40F at night? :shock:
For me, winter is the most even with temperature in the house. Furnace is set on 66-68 F. Summers is when there is a large fluctuation in temp because we do not have central AC, but only a window unit. Keeps the house down to around 80F during the day, but it can cool down to the high 60's (F again) at night with the AC unit turned off.
Heating the air usually dries the air out. In my location, many people run humidifiers in the winter. (I say usually, because we actually have quite a bit of humid air in the house in the winter, which is out of the norm). I'm just a beginner here, but I would think the moisture changing in the air would have more effect on the instruments than temperature change.
But again, I'm just a beginner to the guitar thing, so take what I say with a grain of salt....
From what I've heard, it's more humidity and rapid temperature change that is the problem.
The alternative questions to ask here is, "what is the humidity in my home now," "do I need a humidifier for my guitar," and "what kind should I get if I do," and there is some really good information on the following threads:
http://forums.guitarnoise.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=39319&p=360186&hilit=humidity#p360186
and here:
http://forums.guitarnoise.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=38202&p=350191&hilit=+humidifier#p350191
and here kinda:
http://forums.guitarnoise.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=38135&p=349540&hilit=+humidifier#p349540
and at the end of this one:
http://forums.guitarnoise.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=36753&p=344568&hilit=+humidifier#p344568
One thing I have found about internet forums in general is that many questions have already been asked, it is just a matter of finding them. In the upper right hand corner of any forum page here is a box with the phrase "search" and a magnifiying glass. Just type a key word or two in there and click the "search" button next to it. In this case I typed humidity and searched. After finding a couple of threads I tried humidifier.
Hopefully that'll get you started. YOur post sure got me to thinking. I've only had guitars since January. I need a home humidifier for ME, I get dried out in the winter. That's probably a good sign that the guitars are feeling it too, huh?
F/B in beautiful Wentzville, MO
I did do a search, FB, but didn't think the question was really answered. I also considered it might be worth a topic of its own.
Thanks for taking the time to answer, folks. 
Cheers,
Ron
Hi Ron,
I agree with jwmartin's suggestion that it's usually rapid changes in humidity that can cause problems. I'm not sure that cases really offer quite as much protection as we might hope either. I imagine that the insulating effect that they would provide would be relatively temporary. I always make sure that I don't leave guitars hanging in direct sunlight, or in a hot car, but other than that I'm not too fussed about them. I have an electric guitar on a wall hanger in the bedroom that is not all that far from the reverse cycle air-con vent, but I just angled the vents so that no air was blown directly toward the guitar. There's been no problem with it. I also keep a guitar in an upstairs room that gets very hot in summer, and it's survived that too. :shock: The only change I've seen is small variations in tuning, due to expansion/contraction of the wood and metal. I've never worried about that - it's only twisting/warping of the neck or out and out cracking that would bother me. So far, I've only ever seen that happen when a customer of my friends' shop left his guitar in the car for too long and too often.
I'd go and ask at some of the local stores near you. If they say "Eh? What? Nah, don't stock them..." then you can probably bet that there aren't too many people having difficulties in your area. It's the same with piano owners - some buy humidifers, some don't, it seems to depend on what the range is where they live, and also how much they are naturally inclined to worry about such things, and enjoy fiddling with checks and measurements. Maybe a phone call to whichever local store is likely to sell good quality guitars will provide some information about how widely they're used where you are.
Cheers,
Chris
Thanks, Chris. Sometimes answers stare me in the face that when someone points out the obvious I cringe.
Everybody in my part of the the Blue Mountains and further up has some kind of serious heating and there are lots of musos in my area so it's just a matter of asking around.
Cheers,
Ron
i think the protection a case offers (aside from the obvious physical protection) is the semi-sealed nature allows slower climatic change to the wood while it is locked in. i've been advised that when a guitar case is left in a hot house or car, it should be left in the shade to cool a bit (20 minutes) and then the case should not be opened up all at once but unlocked and left to sit for another 10 or so minutes. i was told this by a well respected local luthier.
in the instance of the opposite condition (extreme cold or dramatically different cold to warmth, the same would seem to apply.
it truely is the rapid change of humidity and/or temp that causes cracks in the finish and warping in most cases.
(pun intended)
#4491....
