GM10 Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Hi All I've split my garage in half and built a practise room/poor man's studio. It's double brick with breeze block splitting the garage from the music room. I've used std insulation, sound insulating plasterboard on the false ceiling and four walls and concreted the floor. The music room has seperate access through an external wood side door. I am planning to hang my two electric guitars from the wall but I'm also thinking of putting an acoustic bass and guitar in there. I was thinking of some kind of heater with a thermostat to warm the room when it got below a certain temperature? The room does stay cool in warm temperatures so I'm not that worried about it getting too warm. Could anybody offer me any advice on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High score Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 [quote name='GM10' post='501791' date='May 30 2009, 05:38 PM']Hi All I've split my garage in half and built a practise room/poor man's studio. It's double brick with breeze block splitting the garage from the music room. I've used std insulation, sound insulating plasterboard on the false ceiling and four walls and concreted the floor. The music room has seperate access through an external wood side door. I am planning to hang my two electric guitars from the wall but I'm also thinking of putting an acoustic bass and guitar in there. I was thinking of some kind of heater with a thermostat to warm the room when it got below a certain temperature? The room does stay cool in warm temperatures so I'm not that worried about it getting too warm. Could anybody offer me any advice on this?[/quote] Congrats on getting your own muisc room...........I would kill to have my own space........... With most gear it is not the temperature but the combined effects of humidity and temperature variation. If you are using an electric heater this will give you a ''dry heat'' so you will need to think about controlling the humidity as well. I don't think I would store my gear in this environment. If I did I would keep it cased at the very least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 (edited) High Score has hit the nail on the head. I have been to a couple of mate's studio / rehearsal rooms here and the problem is always humidity (too much water vapour in this case as they both use oil heaters) They've found amps that are wet to the touch etc. Especially if, when you go in, you up the heat for comfort. A thermostatic heater is good for temperature control but I have also bought a fairly cheap dehumidifier and have no such problems. You'd be suprised how much water I have to empty out each week but it does the job. You can pick up a reasonable unit for about £40. Edited May 30, 2009 by leschirons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GM10 Posted May 31, 2009 Author Share Posted May 31, 2009 [quote name='High score' date='May 30 2009, 07:39 PM' post='501866'] Congrats on getting your own muisc room...........I would kill to have my own space........... Thanks, I've a 10month old girl and partner with ears like batfink. I just had to get out of the house for reasons of sanity. Thanks for the responses, they've helped me to look at things from a different angle. I was originally thinking more just temperature than humidity. There will definately be poor air flow in the room which will, as you've suggested, cause damp. If I were to use a humidifier and a std electric heater, would this solve any damp issues and enable me to hang my guitars rather than put them in cases? I really should know the answer to this at my age!! Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 As far as temperature is concerned, the thing that will play havoc with instruments is being subjected to rapid changes in temperature. Leaving them hanging on wall mounts in a cold room then heating it up quickly when you go out to the room to play will not do your guitars any favours. In this sort of environment you're much better off leaving the instruments in their cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GM10 Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 [quote name='RhysP' post='502734' date='Jun 1 2009, 06:14 AM']As far as temperature is concerned, the thing that will play havoc with instruments is being subjected to rapid changes in temperature. Leaving them hanging on wall mounts in a cold room then heating it up quickly when you go out to the room to play will not do your guitars any favours. In this sort of environment you're much better off leaving the instruments in their cases.[/quote] It's not a big room so storing guitars in their cases wouldn't be ideal. I'm planning to use the room daily so it's also the inconvenience of taking the guitars out of their cases and putting them away again each day. That said my priority is obviously looking after my instruments, so I will do what I need to. The room is approx 2.5m x 2.1m. Approx 2.4m high, with no natural light. More thought would be welcomed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlloyd Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 [quote name='GM10' post='502107' date='May 31 2009, 09:38 AM']Thanks for the responses, they've helped me to look at things from a different angle. I was originally thinking more just temperature than humidity. There will definately be poor air flow in the room which will, as you've suggested, cause damp. If I were to use a humidifier and a std electric heater, would this solve any damp issues and enable me to hang my guitars rather than put them in cases?[/quote] It's not ideal. But it should avoid problems with condensation. It shouldn't be necessary to run a dehumidifier (not a humidifier) constantly... there was a thread here a couple of months ago about the effects doing that can have on electricity bills. The key time to dehumidify would be for an hour or so after a rehearsal/practice (when the humidity will be at its greatest), and timed to come on when the room is likely to drop below the dew point, so perhaps an hour or so each night. A small, thermostat controlled heater would also help, and I'd make sure you had some way of monitoring what temperature extremes your equipment is being subjected to. A cheap thermometer with a max/min function should be sufficient. The best bet would be to store your instruments in the house in their cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlloyd Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Just to illustrate the fact it's the combination of humidity and temperature that is the problem, there was dew on my lawn on Friday morning, despite the fact the temperature did not fall below 10 celsius the previous night. It's just that it was humid enough that the outside dew point was around 11 C. It gets far more humid in a practice room than it does outdoors in the North East of Scotland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.