Not that I live in an overly humid environment here in Stockholm, Sweden, but my bamboo SG-12 has taken four years of outdoors busking seasons (four fulltime months every year) without any issues. I've been sweating away in more than 30 degrees Celsius and also stayed out playing in soft rain on some occasions. As well as running for shelter through heavy rain with the Stick in the soaking soft-case. That bamboo has been through a lot and through the years it keeps sounding better compared to my identical backup instrumen built in Wenge.

I've taken my bamboo Stick on many (warm and damp) trips to the caribean and never had any problem. Once I get there, I let the Stick stand half a day. Then I tune it and it stays stable as it does in Switzerland.

It does pretty good with temp swings to. I’ve had it on a stand in the house in so cal. and left the back screen door open on a day trip somewhere and it went through a 100+ down to 60 ish F temp swing with it being pretty much in tune when I got back


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My bamboo left So. Cal. in Feb. '08 spent a week in shipping and arrived in New Jersey where it was 20 degrees F. and it came in the house and the bamboo was COLD...and IN TUNE.

Well thanks for all of the pro-bamboo scenarios.

But...has anyone yet had a Bamboo Stick where the yearly temp goes from 40C (100+F) to -40C (-40F)...kept in a studio located in a 110 year-old stone building, PRE-moisture barrier insulation technology??

Anyone?!?

Ha...KIDDING. And that is my story...why my new Stick cracked last Spring. But seriously, I think Bamboo will be my next. Unless Railboards in the future have a Stickup option.

Such a high temperature difference inside the house? Wow! I think this is a challenge for every wood and every wooden instrument.

I spend a lot of time in the Alps at about 1200 m above sea level in a not very well insulated house made of wood and bricks.
We have (outside temperatures) -15C in winter and up to +30C in summer, but the temperature in the house is always between 18 and 25 C. It is very dry all the time, especially when heating in winter.
Every time I arrive from Vienna (where I live), I have to adjust the truss rod (and vice versa when I go back). Vienna is similar in terms of temperature, but the humidity is much higher.

I have no experience with bamboo Sticks (I have wenge 10-string and rosewood Alto), but: weren't there two different bamboo variants? dark and normal. I think the dark (and more stable one) is no longer available from SE.

No! of course not...this is the outdoor environment. Studio temp stays the same temp. But the humidity level is a total rollercoaster, due to the older building in conjunction with the outdoor temp. I would control it with a humidifier...but my Fishman Amp is super-sensitive to humidity.

Real answer: Get a new amp, or get a new studio! But in the meantime, I wondered how well Bamboo stood up to this extreme moisture difference, not temp. Thanks...

So the problem is the humidity and not the temperature fluctuation.
I didn't know that amplifiers could be so sensitive. I only travel between the two places with the Sticks.

Once an old italian guitar maker told me that the wood should be from the (climatic) zone where the instrument "lives". I think this somehow makes sense.

I am not a wood professional like you are, but I think that bamboo prefers higher humidity than e.g. maple (the only non-tropical wood currently at SE).

A humidifier is definitely a good investment!

The Fishman is. I learned the hard way not to keep it in a basement (my rehearsal room at the time). An entire channel went dead. The fine people at Fishman in Massachusetts repaired it for free (!) and explained it was the natural high humidity levels of the basement.



That does make sense. And...my older Stick is Maple, which I've never had major problems with.

Ooops, I also have a Fishman (Artist), and when I'm not in Vienna, I leave it on the floor in the (unheated) bedroom, underneath is the garage (unheated too, of course). Maybe not the best idea in winter.

I won't do that anymore ... thank you Brian!