Humidity

[abigblackman]

Hey,

Since I've moved to Singapore my Fender strat and Maestro acoustic have been getting tarnished on the metal bits from the humidity. I'm getting worried that the wood will start to warp or something and that will really suck.

Do I have anything to be concerned about and is there anything I can do about it?

 

[lightice]

I wouldn't worry about the strat, high humidity causes less problems to a guitar compared to extremely low humidity.

If you need to protect your chrome hardware, I suggest using white mineral oil and wipe the hardware.

I also dab a bit of vaseline onto the string / saddle contact points as an added precaution.

There might be a slight bow on the neck, but that can be adjusted using the truss rod. The neck won't warp very easily, and it is very very very unlikely it will happen to a guitar in our humidity. In addition, the neck is almost always lacquered in the case of a fender.

EBMM guys don't complain of warped necks. Neck warps mostly happen when the wood chosen to make the neck hasn't completely dried out.

As for the maestro, I would take some precaution as acoustics are more susceptible to humidity. Especially the front and back of the body. The wood is quite thin and almost always, the inside of the body is not lacquered. The bare wood is free to adjust to its surrounding humidity.

My advise is to get a hardcase, and use silica gel.
And lastly, welcome to SG.