Instrument care

Right, I just moved into a new place about a month ago, hence no posts for a while (only just got the net). Well, I'm worried about how my environment is going to effect my instruments. My place is nice, ground floor at the back, basement at the front, so can be prone to condensation, but my instruments are kept away from those parts. I basically have the spare room as my "studio". I have all my guitars in there and sometimes, my best ukulele. The guitars are in a multi rack case that folds down and holds like six guitars sideways. My best guitar is in a hardshell case. My uke is always kept in a hard foam case. Sometimes it's kept in that room, but mostly in the living room. The flat is central heated, but the heating in the studio is turned off, and it has the smallest of windows, so not much light/heat from outside. The living room, where I keep my uke cased, is heated, but the temp in there seems to be pretty steady.

What I'm beginning to wonder is what do I need to be in control of to maintain the playability of my instruments? Can and how does warmth and cold effect the instruments. How does dryness and moisture effect them? Is it wise for my guitars to be in the side rack thing, does this cause any undue strain on the neck? How does a case effect an instrument, especially were stored for a long time and what precautions can I take?

Good question...I have the same question. Also, I would add, are you supposed to be adding a conditioner or something to the uke too? Basically I just keep mine in it's case with a humidifier in the case. But I see polishes that you're supposed to use on your instrument, and I don't know if that is something people use. I'm in Florida so humidity is pretty high as it is.

generally speaking, if you are comfortable then your instruments are comfortable. Temperature is easy to regulate, but humidity is something you need to be conscious of...because usually we dont pay much attention to it. I wouldnt leave my stuff out at all until I had a fair idea of what the humidity typically was. I wouldnt want my stuff drying out, warping, and cracking. You are always better off leaving it in a case...and you should always have a humidifier in the case with your solid wood instruments. You should still be mindful of "too hot" or "too cold", but the idea is that it is a controlled environment...much more so than a house or even a room.

Read this article on humidity and its effects from Larrivee. It's meant for all-solid or solid-top acoustic guitars. Applies to ukuleles.

http://www.larrivee.com/features/humidity.php