Humidity and Selmacs

djadam

Are Selmacs inherantly as susceptible to humidity damage as other acoustic guitars? Seems that most Selmacs I've seen have a much thicker glossy finish than a typical dreadnaught, orchestra model, or classical guitar, so I'd imagine they are less susceptible to finish checking at least.

My new Park arrives tomorrow and I'm thinking about how long I should leave it in its case. It'll surely be cold coming off the UPS truck and I had figured I'd give it a couple of hours to acclimate, but according to the Santa Cruz Guitar Company site, when an acoustic guitar makes a big change in temp and humidity, you should leave it in its case overnight to slowly adjust. Is that overkill or par for the course?

Also, I have my guitar room now humidified at a constant 50% - sound about right?

nwilkins

yes, they are very susceptible to humidity and often have delicate finishes, depending on the guitar of course. I leave mine at 55% humidity. I would definitely say that 24 hours is overkill, however. Guitars are hardier than most people assume. I took my Aylward (coming from Scotland) out of the case as soon as I got it and noticed no ill effects.

Elliot

I read that too, and I tried (!), but come midnight I figured 8 hours was more than enough, and besides I had already opened the Cold Duck. However if it is French polished I would keep it longer to play it safe, just because shellac is so hard and brittle by nature.

For humidity never below 45%. The upside is less crucial.

Craig Bumgarner

I note that my current Selmac with a sealed interior is MUCH more stable than the two other guitars I had of this type.

Craig

djadam

Well the box was really cold coming off the UPS truck (was 23 degrees F out), so I cracked the top of the box and waited and hour. Then I removed some of the newspaper packing and waited another. Then I took the case out completely and waited three more.

Then I could wait no more and pulled out my new guitar. Smiling ever since!

Thanks everyone for your feedback.