Matt Berg
Matt Berg
@matt-berg
6 years ago
90 posts

Many dulcimers are made with hardwoods rather than the softwood soundboard in guitars.  Hardwoods tend to shrink and expand less with changes in humidity.  That is why many people get away with not humidifying their dulcimers.

With a spruce top, well, consider whether how much the air dries in winter.  People who live further north here in Michigan get more dry winters and may need humidifiers.  Not so much here in Detroit.

I believe Foldcraft used to sell dulcimer humidifiers.  Haven't looked for a while.

Dusty Turtle
Dusty Turtle
@dusty
6 years ago
1,720 posts

I have nothing to add that Ken and Ken have not already stated, except to point you to our group here on Dulcimer Care and Maintenance .




--
Dusty T., Northern California
Site Moderator

As a musician, you have to keep one foot back in the past and one foot forward into the future.
-- Dizzy Gillespie
Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
6 years ago
1,073 posts

A basic rule of thumb is "if you are comfortable, your instrument will be comfortable." I find that my mountain dulcimers are not as sensitive to humidity as my guitars and banjos. I keep the latter in their cases to help maintain humidity. I also use humidifiers in the cases. Only once have I found the need to humidify my mountain dulcimers which was during a particularly cold winter here in Pennsylvania. I notices the fret ends stick out from the fret board. I stuck a wet sponge in soap dish in which I drilled a few holes in dulcimer's case. That solved the problem. What Ken said about the strings.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Ken Hulme
Ken Hulme
@ken-hulme
6 years ago
2,111 posts

It does not matter whether your instruments are solid wood, or cheap doorskin plywood...  IF it gets dry enough wherever it is that you live, such that you get static shocks when you walk across a carpet sock-footed;  then YES you need the house/room humidified.  Not just for the instrument but for you!  Bowls of water set out with a sponge in them will help -- as long as they are kept replenished.  Damp towel(s) over heater vents will help too.   

Where I live in South Florida, however,  that is never an issue.

Those miniscule (and I do mean miniscule) increases in string diameter will NEVER harm your instrument!  You can re-string it as a baritone using much heavier strings and it won't hurt anything.