I have a studio in my basement, but it gets quite cold. I am starting to
wonder if that can be damaging. I have a de-humidifer, thinking that
humidity control is most important, but I can't help but think this cold
can't be good. It is about 61 degrees right now...

I have guitars (electrics and acoustics) as well as nice mics (a royer r121
and some others)...

I am thinking about getting a space heater. My house has one furnace zone...

thanks,

brian

I would think that cooler is better then warmer for the electronics but on
the instrument side i'd think around 70 would be better. I have a similar
setup and will interested to see what the pro's have to say.
Of course good ventalation on the amps and anything eles that heats up (got
a couple of old tube boxes) is more my primary concern.

"Brian Huether" wrote in message
...
I have a studio in my basement, but it gets quite cold. I am starting to
wonder if that can be damaging. I have a de-humidifer, thinking that
humidity control is most important, but I can't help but think this cold
can't be good. It is about 61 degrees right now...

I have guitars (electrics and acoustics) as well as nice mics (a royer
r121 and some others)...

I am thinking about getting a space heater. My house has one furnace
zone...

thanks,

brian


You must live in a normally warm climate, 61 degrees (Fahrenheit, right?)
doesn't sound very cold to me! ;-) Personally I wouldn't worry unless you
are getting close to freezing ( under 40 degrees).

John L Rice

Important thing with guitars is that they not get thermally shocked.
Store them at 60, play them at 60, but don't bring them from freezing
cold car to a hot room without letting them warm up gradually in their
case.

"Brian Huether" wrote in message
...
I have a studio in my basement, but it gets quite cold. I am starting to
wonder if that can be damaging. I have a de-humidifer, thinking that
humidity control is most important, but I can't help but think this cold
can't be good. It is about 61 degrees right now...

I have guitars (electrics and acoustics) as well as nice mics (a royer
r121 and some others)...

I am thinking about getting a space heater. My house has one furnace
zone...

thanks,

brian
The dividing line for fungus growth is 50%.
Conceivably, microphone diaphrams and musical instruments could be attacked
by fungus.
Keep the humidity below 50%, and you're safe.

On Sun, 8 Jan 2006 13:49:12 -0500, "Brian Huether"
wrote:

I have a studio in my basement, but it gets quite cold. I am starting to
wonder if that can be damaging. I have a de-humidifer, thinking that
humidity control is most important, but I can't help but think this cold
can't be good. It is about 61 degrees right now...

For pianos and violins humidity is of greater concern than temperature
but it probably isn't good for the temp to vary too much. Assuming
you turn it up to 70 when you work, I don't know if 9 degrees is an
issue but I'd probably pump a little heat in so I don't have to crank
the heat up every time I work. Having things warm up quickly can't be
good for the instruments.

Unless of course you always keep it at 61, just leave it alone.

Julian

constant temp is not the enemy (cold or hot), rapid temp change is
where your instruments can be damaged. We used to put our instruments
in the bottom of the bus in Atlanta and get them out in Flynt. The
trick is to control how fast the temp changes. I would suggest keeping
your guitars (especially acoustics) in the cases and when the temp
comes up to temp, crack the case for 30 min or so before opening them
up all the way. This will enter them into the new enviroment slowly.

It has always worked for me,
Doc

Jim wrote:
constant temp is not the enemy (cold or hot), rapid temp change is

Yeah that's a big worry for me. I live on the US Canadian border. This being
my first winter here I am like an anal retentive when it comes to walking
over to a friend's house with my Seagull acoustic/electric. He wants to jump
right in and start jamming but I beg off with the "cold fingers" and
"streaching exercises" Then to buy a lil more time I pester him about the
drinks. I've got it in a hard shell case but cold is cold and the rapid
temp change on my instrument is allways on my brain. Guess I should get a
cheap box to leave at his place and let his kids bang on. NOT

constant temp is not the enemy (cold or hot), rapid temp change is

Of course, you can't *run* the equipment (particularly firebottle
equipment) at 60F, so rapid temp change seems inevitable if
you store it in the cold.