Weather.. will it damage?

[Tranman66]

I live up north, its cold up here during this season. It gets to 0 degree sometimes. I leave my guitar in my car every monday. Is this a good idea? Will it damage the guitar? THe guitar is in a case, but that would still be warm.

[matttherevelator41]

Its not so much the temperature that damages the guitar but the lack of humidity in the air. Most of the time cold temperature equals dry air, which results in guitar damage. There are some instances however where it is cold and the air is still humid, ie: a basement. I WOULD NOT leave a guitar in a car in the middle of winter under any condition unless the guitar is a real piece of shit.....

[mangold]

temp dont really mess wit a guitar unless its a very rapid change. yes, it will expand in heat and shrink in cold, but if it doesnt go from hot to cold. (from leaning on the radiator to the snow) it should be okay. humidity is not as much of a problem as Mr. matt has insinuated, unless its a very dry cold, like with no snow or ice or anything, where you live it should be fine, i would say get a humidifier but it would freeze... one day aint gonna dry out your guitar enough to damage it.

[T714]

I suggest not leaving your guitar in such conditions, however, the biggest contributor to a guitar's destruction is humidity. If you allow the guitar about 24 hours to warm up to room temperature without removing it from its case, you should be OK. Cracks, and finish checking (more on the Martin side than Taylor side since Taylor uses a cured UV finish) are caused by rapid changes in temperature, such as taking that 0 degree guitar out of its case in a 72 degree room...

Remember, if you are comfortable, your guitar is comfortable...and I don't know of that many people that are comfortable sitting in a 0 degree car with the engine off...

[thejoe]

It gets to 0 degree sometimes.

[MWR]

Is the guitar completely solid?
A guitar with laminate back and sides will be far less prone to damage from humidity/temp.

I would play it safe and not subject it to any extremes if that's at all possible.

[Sort Of A Protest Song]

Its not so much the temperature that damages the guitar but the lack of humidity in the air. Most of the time cold temperature equals dry air, which results in guitar damage.

Cold air has more moisture than warm air for the most part. Which means it will suck the moisture out of the wood in the guitar and dry it out. You're right though, it will damage it.

[mangold]

Its not so much the temperature that damages the guitar but the lack of humidity in the air. Most of the time cold temperature equals dry air, which results in guitar damage.

Cold air has more moisture than warm air for the most part. Which means it will suck the moisture out of the wood in the guitar and dry it out. You're right though, it will damage it.

thats not true, humidity is sononomous with warm air because when the air warms up the water condensates and lowers in the atmosphere

[Sort Of A Protest Song]

Its not so much the temperature that damages the guitar but the lack of humidity in the air. Most of the time cold temperature equals dry air, which results in guitar damage.

Cold air has more moisture than warm air for the most part. Which means it will suck the moisture out of the wood in the guitar and dry it out. You're right though, it will damage it.

thats not true, humidity is sononomous with warm air because when the air warms up the water condensates and lowers in the atmosphere

Exactly. Warm air can't hold as much water as cold air, which is why it feels muggy ouside. It's not like that when it's cold becuase the moisture is in the air. Humidity is associated with warm air because you feel "wet" when you are outside.

[mangold]

Its not so much the temperature that damages the guitar but the lack of humidity in the air. Most of the time cold temperature equals dry air, which results in guitar damage.

Cold air has more moisture than warm air for the most part. Which means it will suck the moisture out of the wood in the guitar and dry it out. You're right though, it will damage it.

thats not true, humidity is sononomous with warm air because when the air warms up the water condensates and lowers in the atmosphere

Exactly. Warm air can't hold as much water as cold air, which is why it feels muggy ouside. It's not like that when it's cold becuase the moisture is in the air. Humidity is associated with warm air because you feel "wet" when you are outside.

http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=howTo&p ... tNavEnergy

http://www.homeenv.com/art_humidity.htm

[hcole]

Its not so much the temperature that damages the guitar but the lack of humidity in the air. Most of the time cold temperature equals dry air, which results in guitar damage.

Cold air has more moisture than warm air for the most part. Which means it will suck the moisture out of the wood in the guitar and dry it out. You're right though, it will damage it.

thats not true, humidity is sononomous with warm air because when the air warms up the water condensates and lowers in the atmosphere

Exactly. Warm air can't hold as much water as cold air, which is why it feels muggy ouside. It's not like that when it's cold becuase the moisture is in the air. Humidity is associated with warm air because you feel "wet" when you are outside.

http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=howTo&p ... tNavEnergy

http://www.homeenv.com/art_humidity.htm

First of all the reason people run into humidification issues has less to do with the the actual weather and more to do with heating your house. Relative humidity is a measurement of how much a moisture the air is holding in relation to the it's capacity to hold moisture. As the temperature goes up the air has greater capacity to hold moisture. So as the temperature drops you need less moisture to keep the relative humidity up because the capacity to hold moisture is also decreasing. What happens when we heat our houses in the winter is that we are heating up the air (thus increasing the capacity for it to hold moisture) without introducing in new moisture (unless we use some sort of humidification system.)

So increased capacity, without increased moisture= drop in relative humidity.

[mangold]

Its not so much the temperature that damages the guitar but the lack of humidity in the air. Most of the time cold temperature equals dry air, which results in guitar damage.

Cold air has more moisture than warm air for the most part. Which means it will suck the moisture out of the wood in the guitar and dry it out. You're right though, it will damage it.

thats not true, humidity is sononomous with warm air because when the air warms up the water condensates and lowers in the atmosphere

Exactly. Warm air can't hold as much water as cold air, which is why it feels muggy ouside. It's not like that when it's cold becuase the moisture is in the air. Humidity is associated with warm air because you feel "wet" when you are outside.

http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=howTo&p ... tNavEnergy

http://www.homeenv.com/art_humidity.htm

First of all the reason people run into humidification issues has less to do with the the actual weather and more to do with heating your house. Relative humidity is a measurement of how much a moisture the air is holding in relation to the it's capacity to hold moisture. As the temperature goes up the air has greater capacity to hold moisture. So as the temperature drops you need less moisture to keep the relative humidity up because the capacity to hold moisture is also decreasing. What happens when we heat our houses in the winter is that we are heating up the air (thus increasing the capacity for it to hold moisture) without introducing in new moisture (unless we use some sort of humidification system.)

So increased capacity, without increased moisture= drop in relative humidity.

exactly. cold air holds less moisture

[hcole]

Its not so much the temperature that damages the guitar but the lack of humidity in the air. Most of the time cold temperature equals dry air, which results in guitar damage.

Cold air has more moisture than warm air for the most part. Which means it will suck the moisture out of the wood in the guitar and dry it out. You're right though, it will damage it.

thats not true, humidity is sononomous with warm air because when the air warms up the water condensates and lowers in the atmosphere

Exactly. Warm air can't hold as much water as cold air, which is why it feels muggy ouside. It's not like that when it's cold becuase the moisture is in the air. Humidity is associated with warm air because you feel "wet" when you are outside.

http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=howTo&p ... tNavEnergy

http://www.homeenv.com/art_humidity.htm

First of all the reason people run into humidification issues has less to do with the the actual weather and more to do with heating your house. Relative humidity is a measurement of how much a moisture the air is holding in relation to the it's capacity to hold moisture. As the temperature goes up the air has greater capacity to hold moisture. So as the temperature drops you need less moisture to keep the relative humidity up because the capacity to hold moisture is also decreasing. What happens when we heat our houses in the winter is that we are heating up the air (thus increasing the capacity for it to hold moisture) without introducing in new moisture (unless we use some sort of humidification system.)

So increased capacity, without increased moisture= drop in relative humidity.

exactly. cold air holds less moisture

It isn't quite that simple.

Since cold air holds less moisture, it doesn't require as much moisture to keep the relative humidity up. When we measure humidity it isn't a simple measurement of how much moisture is in the air. It's a measurement of how much moisture in relation to the air's capacity to hold it.

(Pay attention because this is gonna get scientific) Relative humidity is calculated by:

actual vapor density/saturation vapor density X 100.

At 90 degrees the saturation vapor density is much higher than at say 40 degrees. So if you have two rooms, both with the same actual vapor density, the relative humidity is going to be lower in the warmer room due to the higher saturation vapor density. So saying cold air holds less moisture (while a true statement) isn't very useful unless you understand the relationship between the air temp. and its effects on relative humidity.

[mangold]

Its not so much the temperature that damages the guitar but the lack of humidity in the air. Most of the time cold temperature equals dry air, which results in guitar damage.

Cold air has more moisture than warm air for the most part. Which means it will suck the moisture out of the wood in the guitar and dry it out. You're right though, it will damage it.

thats not true, humidity is sononomous with warm air because when the air warms up the water condensates and lowers in the atmosphere

Exactly. Warm air can't hold as much water as cold air, which is why it feels muggy ouside. It's not like that when it's cold becuase the moisture is in the air. Humidity is associated with warm air because you feel "wet" when you are outside.

http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=howTo&p ... tNavEnergy

http://www.homeenv.com/art_humidity.htm

First of all the reason people run into humidification issues has less to do with the the actual weather and more to do with heating your house. Relative humidity is a measurement of how much a moisture the air is holding in relation to the it's capacity to hold moisture. As the temperature goes up the air has greater capacity to hold moisture. So as the temperature drops you need less moisture to keep the relative humidity up because the capacity to hold moisture is also decreasing. What happens when we heat our houses in the winter is that we are heating up the air (thus increasing the capacity for it to hold moisture) without introducing in new moisture (unless we use some sort of humidification system.)

So increased capacity, without increased moisture= drop in relative humidity.

exactly. cold air holds less moisture

It isn't quite that simple.

Since cold air holds less moisture, it doesn't require as much moisture to keep the relative humidity up. When we measure humidity it isn't a simple measurement of how much moisture is in the air. It's a measurement of how much moisture in relation to the air's capacity to hold it.

(Pay attention because this is gonna get scientific) Relative humidity is calculated by:

actual vapor density/saturation vapor density X 100.

At 90 degrees the saturation vapor density is much higher than at say 40 degrees. So if you have two rooms, both with the same actual vapor density, the relative humidity is going to be lower in the warmer room due to the higher saturation vapor density. So saying cold air holds less moisture (while a true statement) isn't very useful unless you understand the relationship between the air temp. and its effects on relative humidity.

i understand that, but relative humidity does not have an affect on guitars. guitars dont care what percentage of the air is moisture, they care how much moisture is in the air, and there is more moisture in warm air.

[hcole]

Anyone who has been reading this thread, just ignore anything praisedave (I know most of us ignore what he has to say on any topic anyhow) has to say on the issue of humidity, as he has no idea what he's talking about. For some good info on relative humidity

http://www.taylorguitars.com/global/pdf ... t_hits.pdf