Detuning guitars

Nico2112

Nico2112

New member
I have 4 guitars, and normally I use them for recording only. I don't gig with them. Everytime I'm into a new project, I just take them out of the gig bag and play; I don't detune them.
I normally play one guitar, once a week, so basically I use every guitar once a month....

Should I detune them before storing them?

By not detuning them, am I causing additional stress to the neck?

Also, I recently bought 4 wall guitar hangers, what do you think about them? do they damage the neck in any way?

I'm particularly worried about a heavy Epi Les Paul I just bought.

Any info is much appreciated:)

Cheers!
 
I would not detune the guitars.

Presuming you're not talking about entry level instruments, they're engineered, designed, and constructed to play a gig every night. That means they're under string tension for most of their entire life.

I don't have the data in front of me, but an electric six string guitar has something like ~150 lbs of string tension on the neck when it is in standard tuning with regular strings.

Detuning it for storage means that the neck is seeing -150 lbs from its design tolerance. That's not such a big deal when you're changing strings, but leaving it in the case for weeks, months, or years? With humidity and temperature changes? It's asking for trouble, in my opinion.

I'm not a luthier, guitar collector, or expert on storing instruments, but it seems to me like detuning for storage is a solution looking for a problem, and possibly creating a new problem at the same time.
 
Light will no doubt tell you to keep them in their cases, with a humidifier. Good advise, for sure, but my personal opinion is that is not really necessary for solid-body electrics. (Just for grins, and to check my hypothesis, I checked the fret ends on all my guitars- only one that was less than smooth as a baby's butt was a cheapie.) I am 100% behind keeping one's acoustic and hollow-body guitars properly hydrated, and have been casing my acoustics- simply because it is easier to do than hydrating the whole room- I've tried both, to good effect all around. (As it happens, my music room has been at about 35-40% relative humidity, without any artificial efforts on my part, for the last few weeks, so I figure I am golden for now.)

I keep all my electrics on wall hooks- been doing so for over a year, and have not experienced ANY ill effects. Most shops keep ALL their guitars on wall hooks, solid and hollow bodies, electric and acoustic, archtop and flats, etc. until they sell. BTW, one of my guitars is an... Epi Les Paul. Also have a Westone Thunder and I had a Westbury Standard (very LP-like weight, both). I also am cheap, so I use hardware-store u-hooks. They don't stand off from the wall as far as expensive guitar-store u-hooks, and the hardware-store hooks look more utilitarian, but the only drawback is they put the headstock up against the wall, so one or two tuners might get turned a quarter turn when I put the guitar there, and it leaves a smudge against the wall (which is not seen when the guitar is there, anyway.)

As to detuning, I am of the opinion that even 4 weeks is not long enough to get any longivity benefit from detuning, and that the time spent detuning and extra time spent re-tuning is not worth what benefit detuning might bring. Detuning that often may be a disadvantage- you prevent the guitar from getting accoustom to a particular tuning tension, thus it is always in transition. You would also have to re-stretch your strings every 4 weeks, which will cost you MORE time retuning, and probably shorten their life, too.

Concusions:

1. For your use habits, don't detune;

2. Nothing at all wrong with wall hangers.
 
There shouldn't be any need to detune your guitars unless you intend to store them for a long period of time. Even then, it's probably not necessary.

As far as wall hangars, they should be fine as well. Even for a heavy guitar like a Les Paul. Take a look in any shop that sells guitars and almost all of them are going to be hung on wall hangars. Even very expensive, vintage guitars.

The only thing to be aware of is the material that the hangar's cushion is made of. Most of them are made of a good, solid and stable rubberish material that won't interact or stick to the finish of your guitars. But some really cheap companies will use materials that may interact with some finishes. Just make sure to install the hangar where it's anchored to a wall stud and not just relying on the drywall anchor! A LP will rip that puppy right out of the wall after a while if it's just hung on drywall.
 
My understanding was that if you leave a guitar for a long time with no tension on the neck, when you eventualy do add tension, the neck will bow. I'm by no means an expert though and I'm probably wrong, but all my life I've been mindful of that little fact/fictionoid.
 
Thanks for all the repplies guys, I really appreciate them:D

Being a drummer ( guitarist and bassist "wannabe" ) there are tons of things I ignore.

You've given me pearls here guys, and I thank your quick and accurate responses.

Cheers!
 
To answer your questions specifically,
No, no and no.

The only thing you really need to be concerned about is maintaining a consistent humidity where you store them at around 45% to 55%. Avoid long periods either side of that range.
 
If your guitars are going into long term storage, they should be detuned, but I'm talking multiple months, not a month. There is no truth to the idea that you will damage your guitar by detuning your guitar, so don't worry about it. String tension will damage your guitar, eventually. A lack of that tension will not.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I have a Rickenbacker 4001 that sit in its case for 14 years untouched and when it was put in the case it was tuned to standard tuning.
14 years later when I pulled the bass out of its case to my amazement I found it was still tuned to standard pitch and no damage.
 
That's amazing Roguetitan, I can rest assured nothing will happen to my guitars & basses using them only once a month:)

Thanks for sharing.
 
I would definitely recommend detuning before shipping or travelling with your guitars to reduce the stress on the body due to bumping and jarring.
 
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