Does anyone know why my guitar string action would be getting lower? It has dropped just recently on my guitar (I have an action gauge), and I noticed because of some buzzing. And I’m almost sure it is the low action causing it, because it’s on more than one string. Is it something to do with humidity, like will it go back, or should I take it in to get looked at? Thanks.
Guitar String Action
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Sounds like humidity to me. That’s about the only thing that will change your string action on it’s own.
My suggestion would be to put on a case with a Humidpac to stabilize the moisture content.
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Hi @JonathanFell possibly some braces inside the body have crack with pressure from the strings. Over tightening strings can cause this or maybe you dropped the guitar. Have it checked out at your local guitar shop
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This time of year we have very cold, very dry air. Without looking at your guitar, given the season, I’d still be willing to bet that is the issue (although you can’t be sure without looking). Get some humidity to it or it can cause cracks. Drier air is working it’s way across the USA the middle of this week.
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Ok. I do keep it in a humidified room, but the humidity fluctuates quite a bit, because I practice in a different room…so the guitar is frequently experiencing humidity changes of roughly 10-20%…
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I’ll probably take it in then if it doesn’t fix itself in the near future… in the meantime I’ll try to humidify it better. Thanks for the insights everyone!
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My fairly large humidifier can’t keep the house above the 20’s down in Texas when outside temps get low 20s or worse… It would do worse up North. I make case humidifiers out of a sponge and a ziplock. In my experience, they work as well as the commercial units. I cut a sponge into a 1/4 or half strip. Poke holes in the ziplock with a pointy stick. Wet the sponge, wring it out well and put it in the ziplock and seal it. Stick it in the case with your instrument. Re-wet about every third day. Case hygrometers verify that these simple things work well. The latest really cold front left my house struggling to get above 25% and the cases showed 45 to 50%. If your instrument is dry, it will take some time for it to re-humidify. I’d keep it in a humidified case while not playing it for at least a week before I took it in somewhere. Even if they do need to do work on it, they would want it reasonably humidified before setting it up.
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Thankfully living in a temperate climate we don’t experience such big swings in humidity.
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