Am I an idiot for just leaving my acoustic guitar out of its case?

Agree on too many being out. 

Generally, I think, if it's  somewhere that is comfortable for humans to exist, a well made guitar should be fine. If you've got mold on the walls or mushrooms under the couch you should probably be a little concerned. 

I don't know how much a case will help anyway. Maybe slow down abrupt changes and be good for short spells outside, but I wouldn't think many are air tight anyway, so unless you put something in the case that affects humidity it might not be helping as much as you think? 

That was my worry, more that if “lags” changes (I’m thinking in pipes …), cos fundamentally it’s going to get to the guitar in a case or not, just slower. 

Ricjo said:

In the UK, you’ll be absolutely fine. However, do avoid leaving it out right next to a radiator. That could cause harm. Other than that, it’ll be fine.

I’m not so sure re the above. A lot of what we read about humidity on guitar forums and  suchlike relates to parts of the world/ centrally heated houses with low humidity causing shrinkage and associated problems. The issue we can have here in the U.K. are high humidity causing swelling of the wood of the guitar… bellying of the top and increased action height. 

Personally…. All my guitars are kept in cases with humidipaks… I totally ‘get’ the guitars in cases don’t get played argument however when you do play them you want them to be playable and consider swelling of the wood in the guitar is not always reversible….

All my guitars, bar one, are kept in their cases too. In a dedicated room that is both temperature and humidity controlled.

However, that one outlier, which is my couch guitar, is always - and I mean always - out on a wall hanger, by a south facing window and near the kitchen. It gets direct sunlight on it and is exposed to the increase in humidity that comes with cooking in the kitchen. The only times I move it from there is when we have heatwaves (which, as we know, are few and far between in the UK). All four seasons it’s out and has been for four years now. And the only issue it suffers from as a result is a change in the action sometimes, which I adjust with a turn of the truss rod. 

Can I suggest you buy a cheap digital hygrometer and place it near the guitar.  You might get a bit of surprise how high humidity gets.... and how much it can vary throughout the day and from day to day.  Then you can make an informed decision.

I learned this for myself when I bought my wife a GS Mini.  It was left in a bedroom in the supplied soft case.  After a period of a bout four months of it not being played I got it out and was surprised to feel the action was really high.  Looking across the top of the soundboard I could see why.... it had bellied quite significantly.

I spoke to Taylor and sent them photo's.  They responded pretty quickly stating the guitar had been kept in humidity levels over 60% for an extended period which was the cause of the bellying.  Nonsense I thought.... bought myself a hygrometer and yes, they were correct.  Humidity levels regularly exceeded 60%.

I immediately bought myself a dehumidifier and digital hygrometers for each of my guitar cases and then bought humidipaks.  

All mine are out, all the time. But in a room that does not get lots of heat or very cold, or next to an external door, etc.
Buy 2 or 3 cheap humidity detectors, and put them in the same room.

When it gets frosty, watch out if the reading goes below 40%. 
At that stage, put damp towels on the radiator or use a humidifier.

Just to show how much it can vary here’s the temperature and humidity over the last few weeks in my office 

I would be more concerned by the minimum humidity of 39% than the maximum of 62 or either of the temperature extremes. Too-high humidity can cause top bellying and action problems, but it's almost always reversible. Too-low humidity can cause the wood to split.

Perhaps posher acoustics are more prone to problems - or just a higher risk if they do go wrong - but the humidity in my house is usually in the 70s (old stone house in a very wet place) and my acoustics are fine.  It's pretty consistent though, only really going below 70 in the middle of summer (when we get one).

My acoustics are an old 12-string that I made a new top for a few years ago (so the top is probably a bit over-engineered compared to a professionally-made one) and a mahogany parlour-size thing.  So perhaps not the type that need pampering, luckily.  Both are out all the time, never in cases unless I'm taking them out.  The parlour has a slight visible "belly" in the top but nothing bad - I've had it well over 10 years now so I'd imagine it's pretty well acclimatised.

I do wonder what the actual vintage acoustics have gone through. There’s obviously survivorship bias (the ones that couldn’t take it … didn’t). 

For those that wall hang their acoustics in the same room as amplifiers etc - do you get any problems with resonance noises from the acoustic?

I currently have my Yamaha FS5 in a standard rack along with a pair of Teles, but I’m paranoid about bashing it with a hefty solidbody, or rolling into it with my office chair*. My office is tiny, so I could wall mount it, but it would have to be within 1m of either my Princeton or my stereo speakers.

Alexlotl said:

For those that wall hang their acoustics in the same room as amplifiers etc - do you get any problems with resonance noises from the acoustic?

I currently have my Yamaha FS5 in a standard rack along with a pair of Teles, but I’m paranoid about bashing it with a hefty solidbody, or rolling into it with my office chair*. My office is tiny, so I could wall mount it, but it would have to be within 1m of either my Princeton or my stereo speakers.

You say that as if it's a bad thing... I have been known to stand a new acoustic right in front of my hi-fi speakers and set Metallica's black album on repeat. Poor Man's ToneRite.

I have heard it’s good for the guitar, I’m more worried that I’m going to be dealing with distracting ringing noises when trying to listen to or play music.

Back to the original point of this post… I have conducted experiments by leaving my hygrometer in a guitar case overnight and checking the reading in the morning. On average, the RH is only 2% lower in the case than in the room. Not sure that keeping a guitar in a case is protecting it as much as we hope it does. 

ICBM said:

They sound better when they're left out on a stand or a wall hanger so the strings can continuously resonate with all the noises in the room.

That's not a joke.

Right? People are willing to pay for those gadgets that vibrate the guitar top to simulate natural ageing etc, just leave it out as you play other instruments. Might take slightly longer and be more gradual, but it won't cost anything  and the vibration / resonance will be more random and not linear.

I'm no expert (would like to hear your thoughts on it) but from my (very brief) foray into the science of it in the past: the typical wood has cells which store moisture and over time these cells release the moisture (caused by changes in temperature / humidity and by vibration) and eventually these cells stop retaining as much moisture from the atmosphere and the wood sits in a more stable state.

So do guitars that are older and exposed to more vibration sound different? Yes
Are they more sonically stable / Do they sound more consistent? Yes
Do they sound better? That's up to you.

Love to hear your thoughts on it, which will be coming from a much more knowledgeable and lived experience I'm sure!



And back on the original topic. I leave my nice classical out in my room year round and haven't had any issues yet. I live on the coast so the salt makes the air a little drier so I need to be more careful, but I'm yet to experience any issues with nay of my guitars. Touch wood...

thermionic said:

Back to the original point of this post… I have conducted experiments by leaving my hygrometer in a guitar case overnight and checking the reading in the morning. On average, the RH is only 2% lower in the case than in the room. Not sure that keeping a guitar in a case is protecting it as much as we hope it does. 

I might do some more experiments with gently drying the lining with a hairdryer first, and also if I can get hold of some decent-sized silica gel packets.

I’ve done the same… with and without humidipaks. The humidipaks make quite a difference… the humidity never getting over 55%. 

I keep all my guitars in hard cases when not in use, only to keep them from physical damage.

I live in an old cottage with fairly rubbish heating that's either on full or off and run 3 dehumidifiers constantly unless window are open.

I don't get the comments about not playing them if kept in cases; it takes a few seconds to open the case.

I certainly reckon there's much to be said for the idea that if there's a guitar just sitting there (not in a case) you're far more likely to pick it up and play it.
I've got an old battered acoustic in the room always, the dogs quite frequently knock it over too, but it seems to survive :) 

I have had an Indian rosewood guitar side crack. I now keep my guitars in their cases and have a dehumidifier and monitor my rooms humidity. At least a case will slow the effect of any swings in humidity. If you live in a place with a fairly constant humidity I doubt it necessary.