How a Guitar Humidifier Will Protect Your Investment in 2024 (Buyer’s Guide)

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For Dry Climate
Oasis HH Combo OH-30
  • Helps keep your guitar in the perfect humidity range in overly dry climates
  • Comes with a conveniently built-in hygrometer to help you monitor humidity easily
  • Non-drip sponge releases moisture for up to 15 days
For Budget
MusicNomad's The Humitar
  • Very Affordable
  • Low-maintenance and easy to use
  • The flip-Top lid ensures you won't lose pieces of your humidifier
For Room
LEVOIT Smart Top Fill Humidifiers
  • Provides 60 hours of proper room humidification
  • Automatically adjust humidity levels
  • It can be synced to smart devices and voice-controlled devices for easy control

You love your guitar, and you want to do everything you can to protect it. 

A guitar humidifier is the best way to protect your investment. If the humidity levels in your environment are too low, your guitar can become dried out and crack. If the humidity levels are too high, your guitar can become swollen and warped.

A guitar humidifier will create a comfortable environment for your instrument, keeping it in optimal condition so you can enjoy playing it for years to come.

This article will discuss why your guitar’s at risk and the best guitar humidifiers on the market to protect it.

This could be the most important article you read regarding protecting your musical investment, so keep reading!

Your Guitar Investment is at Risk | The Problem with Humidity

Your guitar is made from trees. Even when a guitar manufacturer properly finishes a guitar, there’s still a vulnerability to excess and the lack of moisture. 

A brand new guitar is generally at more risk from humidity imbalances than older guitars. So if you’ve been looking to purchase a new guitar (or just bought one), you need to consider a guitar humidifier to protect your investment.

The Effects of a Dry Climate

When you leave your guitar out in a dry climate, you can damage your guitar. Common things that will happen are:

  • Frets that poke out from the fretboard
  • Guitar neck bows resulting in low action
  • Sunken topwood
  • Cracks in the wood

The bowing of the neck will cause frets to buzz and tuning instabilities in your guitar.

The Effects of a Wet Climate

When you leave your guitar out in a wet climate, you can damage your guitar. Common things that will happen are:

  • Separation at joints
  • High-action
  • Loss of tone due to increased water weight in wood
  • Swollen neck

These damages can be permanent and ruin the investment you’ve made in your guitar.

The Proper Humidity Level to Not Destroy Your Instrument

To ensure that your guitar doesn’t fall victim to humidity, ensure that you always store it between 45-55% relative humidity.

You can purchase a hygrometer for pretty cheap to see what your room and/or guitar case is reading in terms of humidity.

The Best Guitar Humidifiers at a Glance in 2024

Best for Dry Climates
Oasis HH Combo OH-30

If you live in a dry climate, the Oasis HH Combo OH-30 is an excellent guitar humidifier to ensure your guitars stay moisturized. The Oasis HH Combo OH-30 comes equipped with a built-in hygrometer, so you will always know the humidity level of your guitar. 

This humidifier is an excellent investment in the health and longevity of your musical instrument.

If you live in a dry climate, the Oasis HH Combo OH-30 is an excellent guitar humidifier to ensure your guitars stay moisturized.

The Oasis HH Combo OH-30 comes equipped with a built-in hygrometer, so you will always know the humidity level of your guitar. This excellent feature saves you from purchasing an external hygrometer for your guitar case.

The Oasis OH-30 is extremely simple to use. Soak the drip-resistant polyvinyl acetate sponge with distilled water and seal it in the case. Then place the case between your D & G guitar strings within the sound hole, and you’re good to go.

Because the sponge is very absorbant, one soak should last up to 15 days. However, suppose you live in an arid climate. In that case, you can punch out additional holes in the casing to release more moisture.

While the built-in hygrometer is an excellent feature of this guitar humidifier, you’ll still need to purchase a standalone one for your room. Also, the Oasis HH Combo OH-30 doesn’t help reduce moisture. So if you live in a variable climate, you will have to purchase another product to reduce the humidity in your guitar.

Suppose you’re looking for a guitar humidifier that is easy to use, has a hygrometer, and is excellent for dry climates, then the Oasis HH Combo OH-30 is a great investment in keeping your acoustic guitar pristine.

Pros
  • Comes with a built-in hygrometer
  • Easy to use
  • Excellent humidifier for arid climates
Cons
  • You'll still need to purchase a hygrometer for your room
  • Doesn't help with overly humid environments
Best for Variable Climates
D'Addario Humidipack

If you're looking for an easy and effective way to keep your guitar adequately humidified, the D'Addario Humidipack Two Way Humidification System is a great option.

These simple packets help maintain the perfect humidity level in your guitar case, adjusting as needed to prevent damage from too much or too little moisture.

This hands-off approach is ideal for busy musicians who don't have time to constantly check on their instruments. Also, because there's no drippy mess, this makes it an excellent choice for traveling. 

If you live in an area that gets both dry and humid, you may want to consider a product that will add moisture when needed but also remove it when it gets too sticky.

The D’Addario acoustic guitar humidifier packs do just that. These simple packets will help maintain the proper humidity in your guitar’s case and adjust whether it’s too humid or too dry. This is a very hands-off and easy approach for those who don’t want to think too hard about if their acoustic or electric guitars are correctly hydrated.

What’s great about these packs is that you don’t have to add water or deal with dripping or mess. You simply put the humidifier packs in the case and replace them every 3-4 months, and you’re good to go.

You place one pack within the guitar’s soundhole and one by the guitar’s headstock to keep your guitar at a healthy humidity.

The Humidipack Two Way Humidipak is also great for traveling musicians. It’s critical to have a humidification system that can adjust to various climates, especially as you expose your instrument to extreme conditions in a short time.

While the D’Addario acoustic guitar humidifier two-way packs are easy to use, they can get expensive. This is especially true if you have multiple instruments.

Suppose you are looking for an easy, maintenance-free guitar humidifier to help you in humid and dry climates. In that case, the D’Addario Humidipak is a solid option for your instrument.

Pros
  • Helps maintain the proper humidity of your guitar in both dry and humid climates
  • Extremely easy to use
  • An excellent option for traveling musicians who are moving quickly between multiple types of climates
Cons
  • Having to continually purchase packs gets expensive
  • Be careful to not forget to remove packs every 3-4 months, or it could ruin your guitar
Best for Budget
MusicNomad's The Humitar

Looking for an affordable and reliable way to keep your acoustic guitar in tip-top shape? Meet the MusicNomad Humitar – your best budget option for an acoustic guitar humidifier!

This compact and easy-to-use humidifier is specifically designed to help prolong the life of your acoustic guitar. It features a non-drip sponge that can hold moisture for long periods, making it a set-and-forget option that is also very low-maintenance.

The MusicNomad’s Humitar acoustic guitar humidifier is an excellent choice for those who want a reliable and affordable way to care for their instrument.

This guitar humidifier is specifically designed for acoustic guitars. It uses a non-drip sponge that can hold moisture for a long time. This makes the product a set-and-forget and is very low-maintenance.

Like the Oasis, you place this humidifier in the sound hole of your acoustic guitar. The design ensures that it won’t have any contact with the guitar body, and the sponge is designed not to drip water. Be sure to use distilled water to not release mineral dust into your guitar.

Another small but outstanding design feature of the Humitar acoustic guitar humidifier is the flip-top lid. Losing the top of your humidifier is an issue with other similar designed products from other brands.

While this is an excellent and cheap insurance policy for your acoustic guitar, some users have reported that the sponge eventually grows mold. So you will have to be sure to properly clean and dry the Humitar on occasion.

If you’re looking for a reliable and affordable way to protect your guitar, then MusicNomad’s The Humitar is an excellent purchase.

Pros
  • Very affordable
  • Easy to maintain
  • The flip-top lid ensures you won't lose an essential piece of your case
Cons
  • The sponge can grow mold if you don't properly clean it
  • The casing may slip up and down the soundhole
Best for Classical Guitars
Kyser Lifeguard Humidifier

Looking for a humidifier to help protect your classical acoustic guitar from damage caused by low humidity? Look no further than the Kyser Lifeguard Humidifier.

This innovative humidifier is designed to fit over your guitar's sound hole, covering it completely. This allows the moisture to be trapped inside the guitar body, ensuring that your instrument always has the proper humidity levels.

The Kyser Lifeguard Humidifier is a unique take on the sound hole humidifier. Instead of placing this humidifier between the strings, this circular shape covers the entire sound hole.

One of the main benefits of this guitar humidifier style is holding the moisture in the guitar body, ensuring that your instrument maintains the proper humidity levels.

This is also a great benefit as you can keep your guitar out of its case on a stand or wall mount without worrying about the guitar cracking or warping. This assumes your guitar room isn’t overly dry (sub 30% humidity or very humid).

There are a few different sizing options for the Kyser Lifeguard Humidifier. They specifically make ones that fit the smaller sound holes of classical guitars (3 3/8″ to 3 3/4″). Also, with classical guitars often featuring solid wood designs, the Lifeguard is one of the best guitar humidifiers for protecting your instrument.

While you can use these guitar humidifiers for steel-string guitars, you must be careful to ensure you get one that will fit your guitar. Some 3/4-sized guitars might benefit from the classical size over the standard size.

However, suppose you’re looking for a low-maintenance and elegant solution for keeping the proper humidity levels inside your classical guitar. In that case, the Kyser Lifeguard Humidifier is an excellent purchase.

Pros
  • The enclosed sound hold design keeps moisture inside your acoustic guitar's body
  • Allows you to store your guitar outside a case (assuming your room isn't super dry or sticky)
  • Very low-maintenance
Cons
  • You must be sure that the size will fit the soundhole of your guitar
  • Some users have reported it didn't have a substantial effect on changing the humidity levels
Best Guitar Case Humidifier
Oasis OH-6

The OH-6 works like the OH-1 soundhole humidifier, but it's held in place by magnets within the guitar case. This makes it an excellent choice for electric guitars and other wood instruments that don't have sound holes.

The OH-6 is still very easy to use - simply fill the tube with distilled water and let it do its job.

Some guitar players are uncomfortable with putting a gadget that has liquid into the sound hole of their guitar. Rightfully so, as you wouldn’t want water to drip unknowingly onto the exposed wood, potentially waterlogging it.

Most reputable humidifier brands produce solid products that shouldn’t drip. However, it can give you more peace of mind buying guitar case humidifiers over soundhole ones.

The Oasis OH-6 is a guitar case humidifier that doesn’t get placed in a soundhole. It’s held in place by magnets, or velcro, within the guitar case and doesn’t touch the guitar.

The OH-6 is also an excellent choice for electric guitars and other wood instruments that don’t have sound holes.

Guitar case humidifiers can also be placed by the headstock to help prevent warping and damage by the tuning pegs and neck nut. This can be used alongside the soundhole humidifier for the complete protection of your guitar.

The Oasis OH-6 is easy to use, but you will need to replace it every few months as it does get old and can leak.

When you want the proper humidity levels for an electric guitar, cello, violins, and other wooden instruments, the Oasis OH-6 guitar case humidifier is an affordable and fantastic option.

Pros
  • It can be used to protect a musical instrument that doesn't have a soundhole
  • Very easy to use
  • Affordable
Cons
  • It can leak after a while (make sure to replace it)
  • The magnetic clip doesn't fit all guitar cases
Best Room Humidifier
LEVOIT Smart Top Fill Humidifiers

If you're looking for the best room humidifier for your guitar, look no further than the LEVOIT Smart Top Fill Humidifier. This humidifier is packed with features that make it the perfect choice for keeping your guitar in tip-top shape.

The LEVOIT Smart Top Fill Humidifier is perfect for guitar rooms and other small to medium-sized rooms. With a built-in digital hygrometer and automatic humidity control system, this humidifier will eliminate the guesswork of maintaining the perfect humidity level for your guitars.

LEVOIT has many room humidifiers, which can be confusing on which one to purchase. The LEVOIT Smart Top Fill Humidifier is an excellent choice for a guitar room humidifier.

What’s great about this room humidifier is the built-in digital hygrometer and automatic humidity control system. This hands-off system turns on and off your humidifier based on the humidity level you set.

You also can control and check the humidifier from your smart device and set it up with voice-controlled apps to control the device easily.

The 6-liter tank can provide proper humidity control for up to 60 hours and fill an entire room up to 505 square feet.

Using the LEVOIT Smart Top Fill is very quiet and easy to fill. However, some users have complained that cleaning is not so simple. You will have to rinse this out with vinegar and use a brush other than the one they provide to clean the crevices thoroughly.

You also may need to purchase a separate hygrometer to ensure the digital hygrometer attached to this product reads accurately. If there are any discrepancies, you will have to factor that into what your reading should be on your LEVOIT humidifier.

Room humidifiers are great tools for controlling your room’s relative humidity. The LEVOIT is a reliable and feature-packed product that will ensure that your instruments stay protected.

Pros
  • Quickly controls the humidity of your room
  • The built-in automatic humidity control system makes operating it "set and forget"
  • Provides humidity control for up to 60 hours
Cons
  • The digital hydrometer can be inaccurate
  • The included brush isn't adequate for deep cleans

Buyer’s Guide

Suppose non of the guitar humidifiers mentioned above was the perfect fit for your situation. In that case, the following buyer’s guide will help you self-research towards the best guitar humidifiers for your needs.

The Considerations You Must Make Before Purchasing a Guitar Humidifier

Before you jump in and buy any guitar humidifier, you must first consider the climate conditions your instrument will be exposed to.

Is this your at-home guitar or your travel guitar? Do you live in an arid climate, humid climate, or a combination of both, depending on the time of year?

When you know the conditions your guitar is most likely to encounter, you can choose the right product for proper protection.

The Different Types of Guitar Humidifiers

Here’s a quick explanation of the 3 most common guitar humidifiers on the market.

Soundhole Humidifier

In Guitar Humidifier

A soundhole humidifier is designed for acoustic guitars. You soak a sponge with distilled water, place it in a case, and put it between your strings.

There are many purchase options for these humidifiers, which are generally affordable.

Soundhole humidifiers are excellent options for dry climates.

Guitar Case Humidifier

Guitar Case Humidifier

A guitar case humidifier is placed in the guitar case and doesn’t come into contact with the guitar.

There are different types of guitar case humidifiers. You have options like the Oasis OH-6 that clips in the guitar case with magnets or velcro, or simple packets you place in the guitar case like the two-way humidity control packs by D’Addario.

The benefit of guitar case humidifiers is that you can use them for any wood instrument and for electric guitars.

Also, the two-way packets work well for both dry and humid climates.

Room Humidifier

Room Humidifier

A room humidifier is the best option for humidity control if you are playing your guitars at home.

A good room humidifier will keep the ideal humidity range when it’s dry and humid. It also has health benefits beyond just the protection of your instrument. Things like dryness of the nose, throat, skin, and eyes.

Measuring Humidity with a Hygrometer

Digital Hygrometer

A hygrometer measures the relative humidity of a space. They are critical (and cheap) tools that will inform you if you need to increase or decrease the humidity levels.

It’s critical to use a hygrometer alongside your guitar humidifier. This is so you don’t overcorrect the humidity and cause your guitar to swell.

Some of the products recommended on this list come with built-in hygrometers, but they aren’t always the most accurate. So it’s advised to purchase a standalone as a reference tool to calibrate the built-in ones on products.

Taylor Sense & D’Addario Humiditrack

Guitar companies like Taylor Guitars and D’Addario are making it easier than ever to check the relative humidity levels of your instrument.

These tools are installed into your guitar via the pickup system (Taylor only) or your guitar’s case (D’Addario). You then can track humidity levels and be automatically updated by an application on your smart device. These apps will give you humidity readings on the fly and let you know if your guitar is at risk of damage and if it has taken any abuse from being knocked around.

The Taylor Sense device only applies to Taylor Guitars and can’t be used with any other guitar brand. While the D’Addario can be used with any guitar manufacturer and is a great tool when you have multiple guitars you want to keep track of.

While these tools aren’t necessary for adequately protecting your guitar, they are convenient options if you want to be dialed into the health of your guitars at all times.

FAQ

When Do You Know That a Humidifier is Right For You?

A guitar humidifier and hygrometer should be a high-priority purchase if you own a guitar or are thinking of purchasing one.

Both of these products don’t cost a lot of money, and they can potentially save you hundreds in repair costs.

Are Guitar Humidifiers Only for an Acoustic Guitar?

Yes and no. If you purchase a guitar humidifier built for a guitar’s sound hole, you won’t be able to use it for other instruments.

However, guitar case humidifiers and room humidifiers can protect all kinds of wood instruments, like electric guitars.

Do Guitar Humidifiers Actually Work?

Yes, guitar humidifiers actually work – if you use them correctly. They help keep your instrument in the ideal humidity range, preventing cracking, warping, and other damage.

Can You Over Humidify a Guitar?

Yes. You must use a hygrometer alongside your guitar humidity control system. If you over-humidify your guitar, you can add too much moisture, swelling the guitar and making it sound lifeless and dead. You’ll also introduce many other problems that can ruin your guitar.

The Bottom Line

Your guitar is a valuable investment, and you want to do everything you can to protect it.

A guitar humidifier is the best way to keep your instrument in optimal condition, so you can enjoy playing it for years to come.

We’ve discussed why your guitar’s at risk and the best guitar humidifiers on the market today. Make sure to keep your guitar healthy by using one of these devices today!

For Dry Climate
Oasis HH Combo OH-30
  • Helps keep your guitar in the perfect humidity range in overly dry climates
  • Comes with a conveniently built-in hygrometer to help you monitor humidity easily
  • Non-drip sponge releases moisture for up to 15 days
For Budget
MusicNomad's The Humitar
  • Very Affordable
  • Low-maintenance and easy to use
  • The flip-Top lid ensures you won't lose pieces of your humidifier
For Room
LEVOIT Smart Top Fill Humidifiers
  • Provides 60 hours of proper room humidification
  • Automatically adjust humidity levels
  • It can be synced to smart devices and voice-controlled devices for easy control

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A picture of Brad Johnson (Owner & Writer of Song Production Pros) playing and testing a guitar at the Sam Ash Westminster Store. The guitar being played is a Taylor 814ce.

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Brad Johnson, the creator of Song Production Pros, researches and writes these reviews.

He's been playing music since he was nine and has played, used, and owned many instruments and pro audio gear. His reviews are based on hands-on experience, user-generated reviews, and subject matter expert reviews.

Please refer to our page, Our Review Process, for more details on how we approach writing our review articles.

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AUTHOR
Brad Johnson
Brad is the creator of Song Production Pros. He writes songs and surfs on the weekends when he's not too busy with family or this website. He writes music under the moniker FJ Isles, and can be heard on all streaming services.