Hang or sit Stand your guitar..??

[alvand]

Hi guys...I have been thinking about installing the hanging type stand in my large walk in closet where I have a large wall and like Guitar shops, can Hang all my 6 Teles so, I can see and enjoy my collection instead of leaving them hidden in their cases...

My only concern is the long term effects of hanging a Guitar and having entire weight hanging from the neck !!

Do you have any opinion or known facts, Pros/Cons examples...??

Thanx...

 

[mellecaster]

Where you live I would be way more concerned w/ Humidity than how you store them.

Hanging on the wall will hurt nothing....Your Super low Humidity can.

 

[alvand]

True..I live in desert and at my home, humidity ranges 10-20% at all times and pretty much steady at that.

 

[bear04]

I use to hang my guitars but I noticed that even though the hangers were padded, my Les Paul was still starting to get marked up. It didn't affect my tele, bass, or acoustic, but I took them all down anyways. Also, like Mellecaster said, living in Arizona I'd worry more about the humidity or lack of it. I live in eastern Canada. In the summer there is lots of humidity so I don't worry too much about my guitars, but now in the winter with the heat going all the time (I heat my house with a combination of wood and oil) I'd never leave my guitars out. I have hard wood floors and in the winter when it gets dry in the house the floor boards actually shrink and the spaces between them get bigger. I don't even want to think about what this would do to my guitars so no way I'd leave them out when the humidity gets too low.

Having said that, I also spent 17 months in Afghanistan and my guitar was fine even though it was a dry desert, so who knows. Maybe lack of change in the humidity makes a difference too.

 

[Durtdog]

From the demo videos I see on Youtube, most guitar players should hang their guitars.

Then shoot, stomp and stab them to ensure they're dead and bury them in the back yard.

 

[coldwar1977]

Would you personally like to be hung with your neck?
So...

 

[oldmark]

If I'm not playing it, it goes in the case, standing up. If it's being used - or adjusted or re-strung, it stays upright on the couch. With Gibson configured instruments, NEVER set them so that the top of the peg head is getting pressure...they are weak at that point, and many of them break or crack with mush less pressure than you would expect. They certainly are repairable, but the re sale value goes down a lot- you can find several Les Pauls on eBay right now with repaired neck cracks at the top...some are pretty good deals, but few of them sell easily.
FWIW, I NEVER use a guitar stand either...they are too easy to knock over and result in a two piece guitar. (I have seen that happen onstage, and it stopped the whole band.)

ADDED: I live in south eastern PA, where we have summer humidity and temps very like those of Louisiana, but with snow and ice in the winter...

mark

 

[jamblehamblebum]

thats right i have my tele in an environmentally controlled specially precision engineered box ..laid down gently wearing soft white gloves at an angle of 33 degrees the optimum angle .. on a bed of ostrich feathers . which allows the wood to breathe . the amount of light is controled by computerised velevt curtains that react to the light so it always at the optimum for the guitar .. it is also protected by a grid of infra red lazer beam alarms should anyone attempt to even look at it ...

the tele ey ... its a great working mans workhorse isn;t it?

 

[Joe Baggadonitz]

A reputable luthier has informed me that hanging the guitar is bad for it. Gee that's funny, most guitars stores hang their guitars, don't they?
Old mark, I agree with you. If I'm not playing it, it goes in it's case.

 

[tap4154]

When you have 6 strings pulling the neck and body together at over 100 lbs of tension, how could hanging it cause damage? (unless it's a pencil-necked Gibson, of course).

IMHO floor stands are an accident waiting to happen.

I usually just keep the ones hanging out that I'm playing at the time, keeping the rest in cases and out of the salt air when not being used for a while.

 

[Burlington Dave]

A reputable luthier has informed me that hanging the guitar is bad for it. Gee that's funny, most guitars stores hang their guitars, don't they?
Old mark, I agree with you. If I'm not playing it, it goes in it's case.

I think both are reasonable approaches.

My sister in law is a world class classical guitarist, and a former music prof of hers has one of the most extensive pre-war Martin guitar collections in the world, dating back to Martin's first guitars. He has his collection hanging in a humidity/temp controlled room in his oceanview home. When I asked him about hanging versus cases, his idea was the string tension is already many times more than what hanging the guitar would cause, and that the relative weight of a guitar compared to the strength of its joints, etc. is very little. However, he also said that keeping the guitar at the right temp and humidity are the largest factors, along with not exposing them to direct sunlight.

I've had my guitars hanging for the past 12 years, with no ill effects. However, all my guitars are played regularly and serviced as needed. I've never had a guitar tech say "Hey, have you been hanging your guitars? Because that causes ____."

Also be sure to choose proper materials that will come in contact with your guitars' finishes, and make sure that you have the wall anchors properly attached for your type of wall. I did a big thread on my own guitar room that explains my choices. http://www.tdpri.com/forum/bad-dog-cafe/256809-ngrd-new-guitar-room-done.html Post #13 in the thread describes in general terms what I did.

Go to http://www.tdpri.com/forum/bad-dog-cafe/266294-string-swings-how-do-you-mount-yours.html#post3160748 and read posts #4 and #11 for the details.

The room turned out great, the hangers are rock solid (I check them every time I use a guitar!) they look fantastic hanging up and they're less likely to get damaged by myself or by my kids when they're in the man cave!

Ultimately it's a choice you have to make based on your home's environmental conditions, your own comfort level, etc.

 

[Bongocaster]

I have a friend who is hanging his up with the headstocks pulling the bodies against the walls with homemade stuff. The thicker the body the worse it is. going to be. A lot of truss rod tweaking in his future.

 

[itsGreg]

Got half mine hanging, the others on stands. Seems no difference to me.

 

[teleconvertMij]

thats right i have my tele in an environmentally controlled specially precision engineered box ..laid down gently wearing soft white gloves at an angle of 33 degrees the optimum angle .. on a bed of ostrich feathers . which allows the wood to breathe . the amount of light is controled by computerised velevt curtains that react to the light so it always at the optimum for the guitar .. it is also protected by a grid of infra red lazer beam alarms should anyone attempt to even look at it ...

the tele ey ... its a great working mans workhorse isn;t it?

+1 lovin' it man, but make sure the white gloves are lint-free! Static, uuuh, you don't want static! Terrible thing!

 

[sax4blues]

With no basis at all I personally don't believe either hang/stand has detrimental affect on guitars. I have mine hanging but, with winter here I realized my forced air heating is blowing right on the guitars. So I moved them to the floor on stands.

 

[alvand]

A reputable luthier has informed me that hanging the guitar is bad for it. Gee that's funny, most guitars stores hang their guitars, don't they?
Old mark, I agree with you. If I'm not playing it, it goes in it's case.

I think your luthier's opinion is on the spot and that is my gut feeling also... but wanted to know the consensus of the level headed members of TDPRI.

As for the Music stores hanging the guitar, it is for the short term of showing to selling the guitar that will not do any harm but the longterm hanging is a totally different story.

 

[alvand]

Thanks to all who posted a coherent response regarding this subject.
It sure has been a education.

 

[mellecaster]

I think your luthier's opinion is on the spot and that is my gut feeling also... but wanted to know the consensus of the level headed members of TDPRI.

As for the Music stores hanging the guitar, it is for the short term of showing to selling the guitar that will not do any harm but the longterm hanging is a totally different story.

With all due Respect....I think the un-named Luthier and your Gut Feelin

are both misplaced....I've had Guitars on Wall Hangers for over 40 years

w/o nary a problem....Acoustics and Electrics...The only Instrument I won't

hang on a wall is a 14 lb. 5-string Banjo, but that has more to do w/ the

Heavy Pot assembly...the way the necks attach to the rim, and the rather

slim necks.....That's all I got.

 

[dada]

With all due Respect....I think the un-named Luthier and your Gut Feelin

are both misplaced....I've had Guitars on Wall Hangers for over 40 years

w/o nary a problem....Acoustics and Electrics...The only Instrument I won't

hang on a wall is a 14 lb. 5-string Banjo, but that has more to do w/ the

Heavy Pot assembly...the way the necks attach to the rim, and the rather

slim necks.....That's all I got.

I agree. Iv'e hung all mine for years with no problems..... That luthier is way off IMO.

 

[alvand]

Love the dialog...keep the opinions coming !