Tell me I am not alone. Weather and acoustic guitar necks!😢

[John H]

Is it me, just me? The dry air seemed to suck the life out of my two Martin guitars recently. I have had both professionally set up (I like the action on the side of low) but all of a sudden I noticed the D and G strings buzzing up a storm in the past few weeks. I don’t have the ‘tool’ to adjust the truss rod but man I am thinking the lack of humidity and cold temps are to blame? Anybody else?

[Anonymous]

I don’t have an acoustic John, but both my Strat and Tele have both needed truss rod adjustments in the past two weeks. Happens every year…fall/winter and spring/ summer in my neck of the woods…Ontario.

[Ralph P.]

Hey John, You have to humidify solid wood acoustics. I use Planet Waves Humidifiers. They are cheap, and a very simple design. It’s basically a sponge inside a case that hangs in your soundhole. You have to dampen the sponge at least once a week. I do have a room humidifier, but the filters cost about $30, so I usually use the Planet Waves.

Here’s a link:

Humidity makes a HUGE difference in playability of acoustics.
Stay Well John,
Ralph

Ralph P.

[John H]

Yeah I have been lazy. I was amazed at how just the other day it felt like I never had either set up. I have one of those and it is in my one Martin guitar. I have a damp cloth in the other until I get a second Planet Wave Humidifier. Thanks guys. BUZZZZZZZ.

John H.

[Richard G]

Hi John, I’m not sure if weather conditions affect our solid wood acoustics more in the U.K. or less but I do know my D35 neck moves slightly over the seasons. I don’t use a humidifier but I do adjust the truss rod accordingly if I notice any discernible movement in the action, maybe a couple of times a year.

Richard

[sunjamr]

I am a lazy person when it comes to taking proper care of my guitars, so I have bought tools for adjusting the truss rods of all my guitars (Martin, Alvarez, Taylor, Walden). When I start to get that annoying string buzz, I just give the truss rod a little tweak and all is well again. Takes about 3 minutes, and saves me having to store them in a humidifier. Easy peazy.

And here’s a news flash: My 100% carbon fiber acoustic guitar never needs adjusting. I could submerge it in a bathtub, pull it out and dry it off, and it would still play 100% fine and still be in tune (I didn’t do this, but other people have). Plus it sounds much better than any of my wood acoustics = louder, better bass, good sustain. Next time you’re in a big American guitar store, try out some of their carbon fiber guitars.

Sunjamr Steve

[John C]

My advice would be to leave the truss rod alone and shim the saddle I little bit. If that does not solve it try a different set of strings with a combined tension that is slightly higher. Round core has less tension than Hex, so going from Round to Hex can work.

Having said that I do adjust my truss rods occasionally but I have the tools that allow me to see the adjustment I am making in 0.001″ increments.

Don’t touch the Nut, it’s unlikely to need any attention for at last 20 years

[Richard G]

The problem with shimming the saddle John is that, your not correcting the bow in the neck, however marginal it is. All you’re doing is adjusting the height of the strings. The purists would also say adding a shim(s) to the saddle impairs the natural resonance of the bridge and subsequently undermines the sound quality, however small.

Richard

[Billy]

I don’t seem to have any issues with any of my acoustics, Epiphone, Martin, Eastman,or vintage.
Though I do have a hydration system in each hardcase which I made myself, bought a few of those soap bar dishes, drilled some holes in the lid, placed a damp sponge in the dish and jobs a good’n…
My Martin doesn’t have a hardcase, does anyone know if I can buy one for the 000 body sized guitar?.

..Billy..

[charles m]

Richard D. Thank you I was waiting for someone too say this, never shime the saddle or sand it down, it affects the resonance, most manufactures of acoustic guitars set the string height at 3/16″ of an inch, at the 12th.fret, use a small ruler and measure too the bottom of the low E string (on the fret not fret bar) and adjust the truss rod clockwise from 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock tune and play do this a couple of times, if you get fret buzz do the oppisite.

[GnLguy]

In addition to the in-case humidifiers, I use a Honeywell room humidifier, model HEV615. It easily keeps my room at a humidity level of 45-50% even on the most dry days in the winter. It pumps nearly 2 gallons of water into the air every 24 hours, well worth the price

[John H]

Much obliged folks. Some great ideas.

[Dave K]

My old Washburn becomes completely unplayable in the winter once we start running the heat.

For my Martin, I always keep it in its case when I’m not playing it and use this…

D’Addario Humidipak Automatic Humidity Control System (for guitar) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OMG0KI/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_PJ2MKYY1VEZB6MPH03ZK?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

It has worked for me so far.

[Barry L]

Yes, as all here have said, winter is a very hard time to manage the humidity to a normal humidity level, particularly on acoustic instruments. I heat my home with a wood stove. That really sucks the moisture out of the ambient air in my house. I have many fine acoustic instruments (guitars, fiddles, mandolins) that all have only solid wood construction all around.. (top, sides, and back) (no plywood veneer). And it requires a lot of attention every week to fill up each’s case humidifiers. But on the fiddles, I have to use a rope style humidifier because of the small f-holes. Last year, I was worried about one of my favorite guitars, it’s top started to develop a top belly warp. With keeping it’s humidity exact to normal level, the warp went away eventually over a period of 6 weeks. Like the other fellow mentioned, along with case humidifiers, use a room humidifier. So this year I decided to also use a room humidifier. So for a case humidifier, the one humidifier that I bought all my acoustic guitars, is listed below in the link to Amazon. I has a dial that is accurate and therefore you will be able quickly see so to determine what the humidity inside the case is at. Take it out of the case and leave it out on a table and you will see it change to reflect the room humidity in minutes. Here is that link…
<https://www.amazon.ca/J-FEIFEI-Guitar-Humidifier-2-1/dp/B08LD5MM8T/ref=sr_1_12?crid=2BXP0EJ1PQEW6&keywords=guitar+humidifier&qid=1639224913&sprefix=guitar+humidifier%2Caps%2C-1&sr=8-12&gt;

[Charlie]

I have tried it all, and my acoustics would change with the New England seasons, I want my guitars out and available to play, so I have given up on casing them all with ropes, sponges, pads, wicks etc. If you have several instruments, it can get tedious and expensive. Our weather patterns have also changed over the last 20 years here, with far more humid summers.

What is working for me. . .
I have a room dedicated to my instruments. From December to April, I run a humidifier and fill it every two to three days and clean it once each year. From May to November, I run a dehumidifier tied into a floor drain, so other than cleaning once a year, no Maintenace. I have a Govee humidity gauge in the room that I can read on my phone and keeps a log of temp and humidity. For the last year everything stays pretty much 45-55%.

I do have to make sure I check that the water tank is full, and the drain clear, but the phone app alerts me if something goes awry. Everything cost me about $320 USD.

I take my guitars to other places and don’t find much changes over a few days. Just nice to have a trouble free place to return them to. My lightly braced Martin OM16 is much more susceptible than my laminated Taylor 214, so your mileage may vary, but this is cheaper, less hassle and works better than all the other fixes. Once set up an occasional tweak of a truss rod is all I ever need

Charlie H

[GnLguy]

Richard G wrote:

The problem with shimming the saddle John is that, your not correcting the bow in the neck, however marginal it is. All you’re doing is adjusting the height of the strings. The purists would also say adding a shim(s) to the saddle impairs the natural resonance of the bridge and subsequently undermines the sound quality, however small.

Richard

Richard

To learn how to do various repairs, I’ve referred many times to the articles from the now defunct Frets Magazine, a sister publication of Guitar Player magazine that was dedicated to acoustic guitars. Lot of great & helpful info on this site
The website with the repair and setup articles are kept active by Stew Mac, Gryphon Stringed Instruments, LMI and Roberto-Venn

Here is the steps that was given to lower the action of acoustic guitars at the saddle.

http://frets.com/FretsPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/LowerAction/loweraction01.html

http://frets.com/FretsPages/pagelist.html

http://frets.com/FretsPages/Ads/Donate/support.html

[Richard G]

Thanks for the articles Keith, it was interesting to note that the advice given was exactly the method I used to lower my bridge on my Martin recently. Luthiers are nervous when it comes to wittling down the action because if fret-buzz occurs they know they’re going to start again and fit a new bridge. (Shims being a no-no)
My fingerstyle allows me to play at a reasonably low action, way below the Martin ‘standard’ action height.
Going back to the original thread, my guitars are stored in the middle of the house with a reasonably stable temperature and in a temperate climate without too much variation. I adjust the truss rod accordingly if I detect any discernible movement on the neck/action.
It all seems to work just fine.

Richard

[Author]

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