Several years ago, a distressed guitar owner called Carolyn Sills of the Santa Cruz Guitar Company was on the phone. His F Model had been gored by a pair of antlers that had fallen from a wall and onto the instrument. Sills laughs, “I couldn’t help but reply, “Well, we’ll have to know what animal previously had the antlers in order to properly complete the restoration.”
A Ribbecke guitar that had sprung apart at the bottom bout after being in prolonged contact with a radiant floor heater, was repaired at about the same time by Woodstock, New York, luthier, and repair master Martin Keith. But in terms of devastation, it is hardly the worst he has seen.Â
The most heinous circumstances, according to Keith, usually include individuals handing me guitars without cases while they are trudging through cold rain and just barely protecting the instruments with trash bags.
They could have prevented those horrifying wounds if this equipment had been properly cared for. And whether you want to keep your guitars for the short term or the long term, on a tight budget or with a large one, you can maintain them in top condition, primed and ready to accept your ideas when inspiration strikes, with just a little consideration, put into how you store and display them.
Cases Closed
In general, storing a guitar in its box—ideally, a high-quality hard-shell case rather than a gig bag or an awkward chipboard case—is the safest option. No matter how simple it may seem, don’t stack guitars in their cases if you have more than one. Instead, arrange them vertically, side by side, and in a manner that will prevent them from falling over one another.
If you want to store the guitar rack upright, with or without instruments inside, a device like String Swing’s CC29 Folding Hardwood guitar rack is a great choice. Use a sturdy shelf unit and, of course, make sure that the weight of the guitars in their cases does not exceed the maximum suggested weight of the shelves if you want to store them horizontally.Â
Don’t let your guitars in cases fool you into thinking they are invincible to harm. While they may be safe from dangers like stray antlers, they are nonetheless vulnerable to the negative effects of string strain.
“The alteration in your instrument’s geometry decreases the resistance of the guitar to the string pull and promotes the forward movement of the neck when the action rises, says Richard Hoover, the company’s founder luthier. Here, the bridge is being pulled at a greater angle by the strings, which causes it to spin and belly the top behind it. This top bulge will cause the strings to rise even higher, accelerating the entire instrument’s well-known and perhaps catastrophic distortion.
If you’re keeping a guitar in its guitar rack for a little time, such as a few weeks or months, you should, as a preventative precaution, loosen all of its strings by anywhere between a half step and a full step.
The nut, saddle, and bridge pins should be held in place for lengthy periods of time, therefore consider going looser. “It is advised to keep the truss rod in a neutral position when storing a detuned guitar with a single-acting rod for a long period, making correction after returning a sure thing,” advises Hoover.
If treating each of your guitars separately sounds like too much work, think about utilizing a room humidifier to humidify the space where all of your instruments are kept. You could even use a simple home remedy like putting your guitars in their cases in a closet with a bowl of water on the floor. A whole-house humidifier is a smart addition if your house already has an HVAC system and you have a collection of pricey guitars. It’s less costly than you think—I’ve seen it done for under $1,000 plus labour, and it’s the most trustworthy method, according to Dream Guitars owner Paul Neumiller of Weaverville, North Carolina. You may get an evaporative steam-style humidifier that reduces the danger of mold, making it hassle-free and healthful as well.
On the Ground
Since they are reasonably priced and can be positioned flexibly inside a room, studio, or home, floor stands are an ideal option for storing and exhibiting guitars. There are many distinct stand designs, including A-frame, tubular, tripod, multi-stands, and guitar racks.
An excellent A-frame stand is reasonably priced; at the time of publication. Amazon had a two-pack of Top Stage Pro Universals advertised for $18.95. In addition to being affordable, this design style has the benefit of being small and collapsible, making it simple to stow for travel. On the other hand, the standard
A-frame cannot be adjusted, and if the stand is moved, a guitar may fall out. However, a dedicated A-frame, like the Professional Flip It from On-Stage, with a top yoke that will securely hold an instrument and a height-adjustable neck support.
If the aesthetics of your area don’t lend themselves to metal supports, maybe wooden stands will. This option is the most expensive—and maybe the most aesthetically pleasing. Take a Stand, a firm situated in Woodstock, New York, sells sophisticated, sculptural stands starting at $450 apiece that are constructed from solid cherry, walnut, curly maple, and other hardwoods.
Look into a multi-guitar stand or rack to conveniently store all of your instruments in one location on the floor. There are various excellent and affordable choices available, similar to single-instrument stands. For instance, Gator’s Frameworks has a tripod support that comes in double ($29.99) and triple ($39.99) versions. Hercules sells double and triple variants of their GS414B stand for $79.99 and $99.99, respectively; however, they are somewhat more costly.
A guitar rack has the advantage of having a tiny footprint if space is at a premium. The GS523B ($79.99) or GS525B ($99.99) from Hercules, for example, can safely accommodate three or five guitars. The disadvantage of racks is that they often load from the side, which makes them a less appealing option for displaying your instruments.
Whatever guitar rack use, make sure the contact points are secure for the finish of your instrument, particularly if it has nitrocellulose lacquer. Neumiller issues a warning: “I have seen low-quality supports blister the nitro finish on a guitar neck or body. Even if a stand’s cushioned surfaces are known to be secure, you may manufacture soft cotton coverings for them to give an additional layer of protection. Also bear in mind that it’s advisable to remove a guitar from a brand-new stand on a frequent basis, regardless of the makeup of the surfaces. According to Johnston, a plasticizer added to a new synthetic substance by the manufacturer to prevent it from hardening and breaking is a solvent that may be hazardous to lacquer.
On The Wall
Despite how convenient they are, floor stands may not be the greatest choice for anyone with pets or young children in the house. You understand what I’m talking about if you’ve ever battled to take out the many things that a toddler has inserted into the f-holes of your archtop guitar, as I did with a 1960s Gibson L-50 that doubles as a beater.
A simple wall-hanging, such as the String Swing Instrument Keeper (starting at $11.99), is an affordable choice for keeping your prized guitar out of the reach of curious children and animals. A five-guitar version from String Swing is also available ($99.99), and it has adjustable spacing and pivoting hangers. A hanger is a practical and beautiful option. Guitars create stunning wall art, claims Neumiller. In the majority of my cabin’s rooms, I have them hung.
A wall hanger is easy to install, but if you’re not handy, it could be challenging. It must be firmly fastened to a stud concealed under drywall, drywall with plastic toggles, brick or concrete walls with the proper masonry screws, or drywall with plastic toggles. If you’ve never installed cabinets, hung large photos, or successfully finished a job like that, it’s usually better to get a professional to do it for you. A molly bolt may fail to expand or may expand within the hole rather than on the opposite side of the drywall as it should if a hole is drilled too large, according to Johnston. You don’t want your D-45 to be the object of your first drywall mount installation to fail miserably.
A cabinet/display case for guitars is a classy and extremely protective choice if you have the room—and the money. American Music Furniture creates solid wood cabinetry with tempered glass doors specifically for you, starting at $1,850 for a single-guitar wall-hanging cabinet and going up to $12,500 for a freestanding enclosure that can hold 20 instruments. This type of furniture is used to house expensive guitars in boutique shops. These high-end products include a variety of specialized features, including LED illumination, humidity control, and storage drawers. Climate-controlled single display cabinets made of solid hardwoods are available for as little as $875 from businesses like Acoustic Remedy.
Creative Solutions
If traditional methods of holding and exhibiting guitars aren’t precisely what you need, think beyond the box. For instance, even if you don’t have thousands of dollars to spend, you can still build a bespoke cabinet yourself without necessarily needing any carpentry knowledge Neumiller says, “Luthier Bryan Galloup showed a clever way to handle this. This is a fantastic, affordable alternative that prevents waste by repurposing items that would otherwise go to a landfill.
A safe could be the best option if security is a concern and you have valuable instruments. A secondhand heavy-gauge steel gun safe that can accommodate several or perhaps a dozen guitars in their cases and protect them from both robbers and fire may be found for a decent price on a website like Craigslist. You can even consider making minor changes to your home if you don’t want anyone — not even your family members or house guests—to know about your instruments. According to Johnston, “I’ve spoken to a few folks who have gone to the bother of creating artificial walls in closets, and they store their guitars behind those walls.”
Of course, there is a huge disadvantage to consider if you keep your guitars in a safe, behind a faux wall, or even in their cases—one that virtually contradicts the point of owning such instruments. If it takes you 10 minutes to get one out and in tune, Johnston claims that you are severely restricting the amount of time you will really play your guitars. In contrast, if your instruments are set up and ready, you can simply sit down, play a few tunes, and enjoy yourself for the whole ten minutes.
