Guitar storage???

D

Davo364

New member
just wonder where you guys put your guitars when not playing them? is there a preferred method? personally i put my best guitar in it's case(paranoid) and the others just hang on my wall. i do remeber hearing something once about not keeping guitars in cases as it's better to let the air get to them. any thoughts?
Davo
 
The case is the best place for a guitar when not in use. I keep mine on a stand because I sometimes get inspired and want to play something right away, so if it's in a case then I won't bother myself to take it out. Yea, I'm lazy, but so are all humans.
 
yeah I just leave mine on a guitar stand with it plugged into my vamp2 so whenever I get inspired, it's in arm's reach. Otherwise like Ironflippy, i'd be too lazy. I try to have all the most important stuff easily reachable in my "studio" so I actually use it! Man I just bought a fabric cover for my synth and now I realize I havent been using it anymore! ANd it's right next to me haha.
 
There is NO safer place for a guitar than its case. It protects it from the inevitable bumps and dings; it provides a much smaller volume of air which must have its climate regulated, which makes it MUCH easier; and it protects the guitar from potential UV effects on the finish, which may not be a bad thing, but can be an issue with collectable guitars. If you leave them on hangers, or on stands, you must control the humidity and temperature of the entire room they are in, and you can be all but sure that at some point in your life either a pet or a child is going to knock the guitar down and break something, and badly.

I've said it many times before, and I tell any customer who asks, the safest place for a guitar is ALWAYS in the case.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I keep mine standing/stacked against each other like they used to do with rifles during the Civil War. That way when the groupies attack, my guitar brigade can quickly man their weapons.

Ok, maybe not. Actually I keep my acoustic in it's case 99% of the time. I have two "stations" (upstairs in the living room and downstairs in the office/studio) where I keep the electric guitar dejour and an amp hooked up for the same lazy reasons stated previously.

I have about 12 guitars and 4 cases. Whatever is in a case is usually there because it was the last one I gigged with. The others are hanging on those guitar swing hooks.

But I certainly agree that the best place is in a case. But it's also not always the most practical.
 
I'm told it's a good idea, if storing the guitar in it's case, to lay it on it's back/front or stand it straight up. Laying it on it's side could cause unneccessary stress on the neck.
 
tikka308 said:
I'm told it's a good idea, if storing the guitar in it's case, to lay it on it's back/front or stand it straight up. Laying it on it's side could cause unneccessary stress on the neck.
Click to expand...

I'm skeptical about that one. The force of gravity on a sideways guitar neck is pretty minimal compared to the force of the strings under tension.
 
Think about the word, CASE=Contained And Safe Environment. When I got eyeglasses I was told to keep them "on my face or in the case," the same idea applies to guitars.
 
All bar two are in cases.
One semi acoustic guitar is upstairs so I can, & do, grab it daily. The 'cello should, of all things stringed, be in it's case but it is the thing I have most trouble getting to for prac. & has the issue of the spike to adjust etc so I leave it on a really good stand, (one that literally hugs it) so that I can & usually do grab it each week - a cople of times if I'm good - I use a dehumidifier set at optimal instrument settings - in the studio/room to keep the moisture balanced.
The basses, acoustics and other semi are tucked away in their cases SAFE from me, the cats, the weather, sunlight, the wife & the termites that made a meal of my studio ceiling.
I did buy hangers BUT used them for about a week.
Cheers
rayC
 
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Here's a rack I made out of PVC

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/lpdeluxe@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=/7642&.dnm=69de.jpg&.src=ph
Click on the "Next" below the pic and you'll see what it looked like under construction.

A friend and his wife visited from DC and, to my surprise, the wife really liked the rack. I said, do you like the fact that it keeps them in one place? "No," she said, "I like the fact that there's a limit on how many you can put in there."
 
lpdeluxe said:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/lpdeluxe@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=/7642&.dnm=69de.jpg&.src=ph
Click on the "Next" below the pic and you'll see what it looked like under construction.

A friend and his wife visited from DC and, to my surprise, the wife really liked the rack. I said, do you like the fact that it keeps them in one place? "No," she said, "I like the fact that there's a limit on how many you can put in there."
Click to expand...

Sweet collection of guitars there lpdeluxe..........I'm jealous! :D
 
downside to cases in high humidity 80 percent and plus.

i store my guitars in their cases ...on A frame stands and hanging from wall brackets. Each is fine ....my only worry is to keep the guitars out of direct sunlight.

My only real concern is with the cases because sometimes during the year in high humidity mold loves the dark spaces of cases. I especially remember scraping off handfulls of green and blue furry floss from my guitars ...the ones on the wall were just fine.
 
I love the PVC rack - the best of both worlds. Oh, I thought the little sewing/picnic bag was nice too.
Cheers
rayC
 
Oh, I thought the little sewing/picnic bag was nice too.

It's now out of sight....

Thank you, Gorty. That's what happens when you never get rid of anything.
 
Nicole_Rose said:
should one tune down a guitar for long term storage?
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The opinion is very mixed. I don't, BUT a lot depends on, the guitar, the proposed storage conditions and the length of time that it will be stored. Take greater steps to control the humidity, temperature and lighting in that order. Keep some tension on the neck, it doesn't have to be tuned to pitch. The most important thing inspect it regulaly and react immediately to any signs of stress.
 
muttley600 said:
The opinion is very mixed. I don't, BUT a lot depends on, the guitar, the proposed storage conditions and the length of time that it will be stored. Take greater steps to control the humidity, temperature and lighting in that order. Keep some tension on the neck, it doesn't have to be tuned to pitch. The most important thing inspect it regulaly and react immediately to any signs of stress.
Click to expand...

thanks Muttley :)
 
i hang mine on Ingles SA-30 wall hangers. they're out of the way, readily acessible. I do keep the rooms humidity controlled. I always use the case when traveling anywhere though.

JasonBird
 
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