I'm converting my cellar into a kind of practice room space and there's a dehumidifier down there. I've been told by someone that if I leave my guitars down there they will crack and die. Is this true? If so what can I do to get around this issue?

Sister_Ray wrote:I'm converting my cellar into a kind of practice room space and there's a dehumidifier down there. I've been told by someone that if I leave my guitars down there they will crack and die. Is this true? If so what can I do to get around this issue?

Turn the dehumidifier off.

Then the cellar will get shitty and mouldy.

Are they Cuban guitars?

Yes, yes they are.

Guitars, like cigars and audio tape, should be stored in rooms with certain temperature and humidity conditions. If a room (like a cellar, for example) is consistently too damp, than a dehumidifier is appropriate. It's no different than using a humidifier in a room that is too dry.

<obvius joke>
sell your guitars and buy aluminium ones. i heard that the guy in shellac plays one and is like awesome.
</obvious joke>

Just monitor the humidity and maybe keep the dehumidifier on a timer or regulate it some how. You definitely don't want to dry your guitars out too much. But it's more of a problem for acoustic and hollow body instruments.

It's worth looking into.

i use to run a little dehumidifier in my room 24 hours a day mostly in the summer time, set to work at its best.
I have drums, guitars (acoustic too), piano there and none of them has been killed.
The air inside is dry but i guess it's not strong enough to affect the woods and any other things (my body too!).
half OffTopic, this is interesting, from Wikipedia:

Effects on electronics
Many electronic devices have humidity specifications, for example, 5 to 95%. In a high humidity environment, condensation is prevalent which can have a negative impact on electronic devices. In a low humidity environment, electrostatic discharge occurs more readily, which also has a negative impact on electronics

buy a Hygrometer.

Keep it near where you keep your guitars

Keep the reletive humidity around 45%.

When the humidity drops below 35% just turn the dehumidifier down or off temporarilly.

Good luck.