Hello from newbie in Brighton UK

[Paul Holzherr]

George - I got some silica gel on ebay. It is quite cheap so you can use as much as you like. I think it said that this stuff aims for about 50% RH but I will be testing the inside of my guitar case with a hygrometer as well. Cat litter also contains silica gel and can be used to control moisture levels where budgetary restraints and a sense of humour coincide. --------- I just put a hygrometer in the case - 70% RH. I have now put some silica gel in the case and left the guitar on its stand where the RH is currently 60%.

[George]

Good to know Paul.  In the mean time I have some Silica Gel en route from Ebay.  I don't want to buy any cat litter - it would be way too tempting after a few too many on Friday night :-)

[mgap]

Where I live it is pretty cold in the winter, so the forced air furnace is running all the time.  It dries the air down to 10-12%.  I run a humidifier all the time in the Winter.  In the guitar room I bet I put in about 2-3 gallons of water a day.  This will maintain it to 45% rm. 

[Paul Holzherr]

Right now the Relative Humidity here in my room is around 70%. What I am doing is putting some silica gel in the sound hole in a small mesh bag and leaving it like that in the case especially at night when the heat drops. The hygrometer reads about 50% inside the body of the guitar. I should think that any moisture will invade through the sound hole as the instrument is finished with lacquer except for the inside of the body, and this lacquer will tend to act as a barrier against moisture. So I will carry on like this for a while and see how things go. I do not think our local climate is too bad for instruments generally but it is definitely worth while keeping an eye on things. I was interested in those who said that their guitars sound best at say around 45%RH. My 714ce sounds so fine and I really want to preserve this!!!