List of reasons customers give for not having a Hygrometer:

[Kerry Krishna]

 I am on a few Facebook guitar sites. The Facebook sites are quite different than Forums, as they are much more personable, and polite (depending on how rabid and well trained the Moderators are!).

One of the sites that I help moderate is SUPER Martin Guitar owner heavy,  and the owners are all realllly getting up there in age, which sure plays a BIG part in the 'Stubbornness' factor that I am about to describe and give excuses for.  

 This is just one site though, and these are excuses I have been hearing since I started Instrument Repair 19 years ago....

Although  a few of us on the Facebook site have  tried convincing the few thousand members to 'Buy A Hygrometer and KNOW what your humidity level is', for the vast majority, there is total apathy.

 A few of the excuses 1: "I don't have the $14 for a digital one" ( but they do have enough for 3 sets of strings a month, and own a 3500 acoustic guitar)    

       2:  "I have never had one before, so why do I need one now?"

       3:   "The store never said anything about spending extra money on something like that"

       4:   "It's totally unimportant, as it's a Brand New ======"      This is actually THE most scary of the responses I have heard. How in the world, can you argue with logic like this? And there are quite a number of folks I have heard use this excuse over the years

       5:  "My buddy who has 9 acoustics doesn't have one, so I am good"

       6:   "I have a humidifier, so I don't need to get a hygrometer"

       7:   " I always know when my humidity level goes up and down because of my Arthritis in my leg"   (I have actually heard this one in person a few times)

       8:   " It's OK, as I just put my guitar in it's case in winter"    Sometimes this one is amended to "I filed the Oasis soundhole humidifier before I put it in the case for the winter"

       9:   " Look, I'm 80 years old. This whole 'worrying about humidity level' thing is nothing I care about. I have never worried about it before, and I ain't starting now"

      10:   "I do not need a 'hygrometer or a humidifier' Mr Fancy-pants repair guy, as MY Martin has a LifeTime Warrantee!"

                                            

             Many of these excuses are preceded by the fact that when pushed on the subject, they will admit to not even owning a humidifier. Folks just don't see the reason behind having either a Hygrometer, OR a humidifier.  The stubbornness of the whole thing is pretty amazing too. I have had folks question how old I am, and 'how long was I doing guitar repairs to be thinking this'

    What other excuses have you heard, and what have been your solutions for this problem? ,

[Ned Knepp]

"We already have some Hydrangea's outside the front window, I only need to look there to see them." ( Never actually heard this one but I've known a few people with this sort of "command" of their native language.  I once heard a woman say that her husband was going to be a "Polar Bear" at a friend's funeral and there were some people that  entered our church through the "La Foye" which was the last name of one of the members. This sort of thing is a fairly common event in a certain segment of the local population were I grew up. You get really good a keeping a straight face and nodding a lot.

How about; "I live in Florida so it's a non-issue."

[Ron Ellison]

I live in the UK. When does it ever get dry enough to need one?

[Ian Pender]

I live in Portland OR, I get the same excuse.

[Mark Pollock]

Well, I live in Davis, and it doesn't get cold enough or dry enough to warrant one. If I lived where my heater got a lot more use, then of course I would use one. 

[Hesh Breakstone]

With all of the hygrometer choices out there that are "economical..." basically sucking.... we've never pushed the need for a hygrometer on anyone.

Instead our efforts are more toward getting them to use a guitar or case humidifier and keep the instrument in the case when not being played, of course...., and when seasonal requirements are such that one's heating systems are on.

It's been my experience with guitar owners that the KISS thing works best.  So we do push humidifiers and most are grateful for the advice as well.  I've never counted but we likely sell well over 50 humidifiers annually here in Michigan and we are NOT a retail store and only carry the bare essentials, strings, humidifiers, etc.

[onewent]

Yeah, excuses for avoiding 'best care/maintenance' issues are always interesting bits of human nature.  

To extend your original question, I'd ask, "What are the excuses hygrometer owners give for not having a sling psychrometer".  <stirring the pot>  ;-)  Tom

[Robbie Collins]

I keep home made humidifiers on hand and offer them free to guys that need them. I make them from plastic travel soap holders and a sponge and drill holes in the top of the soap holder. They come in different types of plastic, some of which split when drilled.

[LARRY KLOSE]

Before I moved to AZ 20+ years ago, I commuted back and forth to home in the Bay Area/SF Peninsula where I tried to buy a case humidifier for the axe I kept in Arizona.  The  staff of the shop I visited told me that they didn't sell humidifiers because they weren't needed in that locale.  Which seems largely to be true--moderate temperatures, ambient humidity mostly in the 40% range.  They said they had very few, if any, humidity related repairs on instruments from the local area.

On the flip side, once I moved, my very first repair on a guitar (Not counting the Gibson with the loose braces, of course) was a top crack from the dry climate--in summer.  Here I keep the house humidifier running most of the year.

Larry

[Werther Ellerbrock]

I hear you man! It can get pretty dry where I live, and when I bring up the subject and suggest people get a hygrometer, I often get strange looks. I have a nice old school hygrometer that belonged to my father; it works on horse hair (or some kind of hair). It reads temperature and relative humidity.