During the hot and steamy summer months and/or rainy seasons, regions that experience extended periods of high humidity can put expensive guitars at high risk. This is especially true in areas of Southeast Asia, such as Taiwan, the Philippines, and Singapore, along with Central America, Florida, and Hawaii in the U.S., and other tropical zones around the world. There are a number of possible symptoms of an over-humidified guitar, says Taylor Guitar’s Rob Magargal, a longtime service and repair technician who handles a lot of our service training and has extensive experience nursing both dry and wet guitars back to health. “If the action is too high, even with the neck straight and tuned to pitch, that’s often a sign,” he shares. “Also, you might see wood swelling on the guitar body. You could see mold or water stains inside the guitar or case. You could see a cloudy finish, or the finish beginning to de-laminate because it only has so much elasticity. A common example of that would be circular bubbles of lifting finish on the peghead around the tuners. You could have binding separation. The nut might look smaller or the frets look shorter on the ends because the neck has actually expanded.” Also, the tone of the guitar changes where it becomes less responsive, kind of sluggish, because the guitar is holding on to so much moisture.’ A suitable and recommended solution to protect your guitar against moisture and humidity is the Eva-Dry Mini Dehumidifier E333 compact, renewable dehumidifier. The Eva-Dry E-333 fights and protects against dampness in your guitar case or storage area. “This eco-friendly dehumidifier silently and reliably protects against moisture damage and lasts 30-60 days before renewing. Special features of the E-333 include the unit works in areas within the home up to 333 cubic feet, requires no batteries or cords for use, is 100% renewable, works up to ten years, is compact/silent, spill and mess-free, and is non-toxic! Eva-Dry compact dehumidifiers are the most efficient way to gather moisture and have an absorption rate much higher than, more traditional (disposable) dehumidifying products on the market today.” The A/C-compatible, compact units have been designed for a variety of lifestyle uses in addition to guitar cases, including bathroom, shower, home protection (closets, bedrooms, kitchens, basements, etc.) against moisture damage. They are also great to use in recreational boating lifestyle applications, RVs, recreational guns, and ammunition storage.
