3 Simple But Major Ways You Can Care for Your Acoustic Guitar

It’s a well known fact that if you subject your guitar to extreme temperatures/humidity in either direction, it’s dangerous.

As our Sr. Acoustic Luthier Mike Byle puts it, “a guitar is a cellular thing, it’s made of wood, not plastic, it was once a living breathing thing.”

A strung and tuned guitar is under an immense amount of tension (a PRS acoustic around 176.4 pounds). When an instrument is exposed to extreme temperature and humidity and under that amount of tension, it will want to bend and warp. The only relief from this bending would be a big ugly crack in your guitar.

Here’s the best way for you to avoid that!

1. When not playing, keep your acoustic guitar in its case!

A case is where your guitar is the happiest. It’s also smart to keep your case closed while your guitar is out and you are playing it. This helps the climate inside the case remain consistent.

We know it’s cool to hang your acoustic guitar on the wall, but beware in the winter. The wall is generally colder than the inside of the room. The guitar’s back and front will be experiencing different temperatures and potential damage may occur.

2. Control the humidity your instrument lives in.

To keep our acoustic guitars safe, we keep our factory at 50% relative humidity and 70F. Typically, a guitar can safely go 10 percent of this in either direction.

There are relatively cheap products on the market to control the humidity of your guitar while it is in its case. Check this and this.

3. Don’t subject your acoustic guitar to extreme temperatures.

A no-brainer. Avoid keeping your acoustic guitar in extreme temperatures for long periods of time. A possible danger zone would be leaving your guitar in your hot (or cold) car overnight.

If your guitar is exposed to extreme temps and then placed in a stable environment, it is good to let your guitar acclimate to the new environment before opening the case. If possible allow an hour for this process. A rapid change in temperature could cause small cracks in the finish.

If you want to learn more about acoustic guitar care and humidity, check out this video with our Sr. Acoustic Luthier Mike Byle.

Have fun playing! Check out PRS Acoustics on our products page!