I just moved to Riviera Maya in South Mexico / Caribbean. The weather is humid and the place I rented seems to have a lot of humidity. I have a dehumidifier which extracts water from the room and I am placing a small 'silica bag' inside the case. Will this be enough to protect a Bamboo Stick against humidity? So far I haven't had any issue. String action hasn't really changed which makes me think that the weather/humidity isn't affecting the Stick. I just want to prevent any problems. Should I be worrying about this at all?

I read this at some site:


Are there any products you use to protect/clean your Stick from humidity? I went to a local shop and bought this.

https://www.amazon.com/Dunlop-6592-Orch ... orchestral

Apparently it's used by orchestral string players so I am assuming it's safe to use on a Bamboo. Any suggestions, tips, etc? Thanks!

Besides being relatively inert compared to wood, Bamboo (technically a grass BTW) should fare somewhat better than other types of wood as far as warping due to humidity assuming it could be a problem in the first place. For one thing it has so many staggered layers of laminated sections - "400 chopsticks" as Emmett likes to say, that it should be as rigid, tough and inert as a natural organic material could possibly be. That's why it's used for flooring. The other hardwoods offered are laminated also with enough sections to make warping a non-issue and plus you have a truss rod for minor tweaking. I would keep it as dry as is practical and the silica gel bag is not a bad idea. I'd worry a lot more about an acoustic guitar, mandolin or fiddle in that environment. A Stick - not too much. You may not get as much life out of a set of strings down there so keep them clean and dry after playing.

I feel the Stick is holding up perfectly well so far. The humidity here isn't that much different than Santa Monica where I used to live but I'd say it's about 10-15% more on the average day. The dehumidifiers and proper ventilation should keep everything good. I saw some mold eating a bar stool and I definitely wouldn't want mold eating my Stick. I'll just clean it everytime after playing it, which I wasn't doing and I'll make sure the environment is treated for the humidity. Thanks for the info Captain!

I think the most important thing people should learn about the Stick is how to adjust the truss rod. (It may be just as important as learning how to play...) It's so easy and getting comfortable with it will ensure that you can walk into any situation and be confident wherever and whenever you play. This is assuming that the Stick is set up correctly to begin with...

Of course... wipe it down when done and try to keep the mold off...

As far as a polish like the one you mentioned - it's probably OK. Most guys use an oil finish like Watco, Tung Oil, lemon oil or anything that you'd use on something like a rifle stock or a wood carving. Besides protecting the material, it soaks into the grain structure and really brings out its natural beauty.

Yeah, I am perfectly comfortable with the truss rod. That's not my concern. I haven't had to adjust it in a while. I think truss rod adjustment is necessary for places where there are drastic changes of humidity, but here the humidity seems to stay relatively constant. I don't mean to sound OCDish or whatever but I've had issues with humidity and my upright bass like 10 years ago so I do take humidity seriously after that.

Ohh that's good to know. Thanks. How often do you apply the oil?

Love for the instrument is good.
I've heard nightmares with upright bass and humidity...

I do it about every other time I change strings. Just put on a light coat, rub it in and let it dry. Then buff it out with a soft dry cloth. If you have a lot of finger funk on the fingerboard or the back of the neck you might want to clean that off first. For that I use a few drops of Windex or soapy water - just enough to get the stuff off with a fingertip thru a damp cloth. Then dry and oil. I've seen guys use a Blitz Cloth which is a brass polishing product to clean their strings if they have the kind of acidic body chemistry that eats strings or either live in Cuba or somewhere with humid salt air. But Blitz Cloths are permeated with a kind of metal cleaner that leaves a few microns of oil on the strings which DOES clean and preserve them but can tend to very subtly dull that "new string twang" which may or may not be OK with you. That twang doesn't last very long anyhow really so that one's a toss-up.

I have a bamboo Grand too and it's a thing of beauty.

I live in Dominican Republic 6 months per year and I have my stick (rosewood) with me. If you play on a regular basis I think you shouldn't have any problems. The contact between your fingers and your board is doing the job to keep it safe. You can clean your stick with a dry cloth. If you live close to the ocean it's worst...be careful about the ocean salted spray. It breaks everything...computer, television and all your electronic gadgets.

On my side I live about 1 km from the ocean and the main problem is the humidity. But like I explained you, it's not a huge problem. I regularly check if the neck is right. If not, I do replace it with the truss road. When I go back to Canada (end of April) I have to check again for the neck...slowly each day to be sure that everything keep it right.