Guitars and temperature/humidity

We did a similar west to east move about 8 years ago. We moved from Southern CA to just Maryland. While we lived in Southern CA, I'd kept my guitars out of their cases on stands, and was doing the same when we moved to Maryland. We moved east in the spring, and I didn't have any issues with the increase in humidity (particularly in the summer) during the warmer months. However, when the weather changed one of my guitars - a Maton MS2000 STD which is sort of like a Les Paul - developed a pretty bad case of fret sprout. I had the fret edges filed back by a tech and the problem never name back. I also switched to keeping my guitars in cases when I wasn't playing them.

The thing with the Maton though, was that I purchased it in Singapore earlier in the year, so it ended up going from an extremely humid and warm climate to one that fluctuated a lot between warm/humid and cold/dry, so I'm not sure if the move from CA to MD was culprit.

My other electric guitars - some finished in poly and some finished in nitro - seemed to handle the changes in climate with no issues (mostly solidbody electrics). I also had an acoustic guitar, but that has always lived in its case when not being played.

So, the only real issue I had seemed to be related to drops in humidity. Good luck, and hope this helps.

 

You don't want the humidity to get too low, not good for wood. I try to keep in the 40-45% range. My guitars haven't complained about it yet. Here's an article: http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Fighting_the_Humidity_Battle

 

If you keep your guitars in their cases, in a room that is comfortable for you, then your guitars should be just fine. I'm in the Northeast, in a big old house, with steam heat. I add sound hole humidification to my acoustics in the winter. On bad winters, I'll through a damp sponge in a holed ziplock bag into the electric cases as well.

 

I'm in a northern Atlanta suburb, moved into a new house this past March, and I have a guitar room that has minimal vent output. This means the room is hotter than the rest of the house in the summer and colder in the winter. I keep my guitars in their hardshell cases when not in use. Surprisingly, I have had no problems with tuning stability, drying, neck warping, etc. No electrical or otherwise problems with my amps or pedals either. I'm convinced the cases are critical.

 

I keep it at 45%. Living on the middle east coast, U.S. I have both a humidifier and dehumidifier. I've had fret sprout and cracking of an old acoustic before I started paying better attention. Get a little hygrometer. Even the little cheap ones are pretty good now. With a garage, I'd even try it in different parts of the space. It may have some inconsistency.