Wall hanging your guitar

[wolvie56]

Sorry if this has been covered before. I did a search on this site and found some topics about wall hanging your guitars. But I did not see any concerns about the weight of a guitar possibly harming the neck, or where it is joined to the body? This would be especially true with solid body bass's in particular. They are very heavy, and it seems to me that hanging them on a wall would be akin to strangling your guitar with all it's weight hanging by it's neck. Is this concern unfounded and is acceptable, or did I stumble upon a problem that is not considered? I read that when you wall hang it was found that you have to change out the strings more frequently? Getting stretched out and fatiguing faster? Thanks in advance.

 

[Spudman]

I wouldn't worry at all about it. Seems every music store in the world hangs their instruments and it doesn't seem to be a problem. So does just about every home collector. You just want to be sure to hang them where they wont be bumped or handled by children or animals.

I rather like having mine hang because I believe that the wood is allowed to interact with the acoustic environment better than if they are stored inside a sound dampening case. More vibration over many years = better sounding guitar. IMHO

 

[wingsdad]

The alleged weight issue is poppycock. Besides hanging high enough to be out of harms' way, be it inquisitive rugrats or pets, just avoid hanging in close proximity to heat/ac vents or returns, or in direct sunlight opposite a window.

Maintain the room's Relative Humidity in the range of 45-55% or so, and the Room's Temp at around 70 degrees F give or take a couple of degrees and even notoriously fragile solid-wood acoustic guitars will be fine.

As for hanging leading to more frequent string changes, that might be so if the room's climate were consistently too warm or humid, or the guitar(s) were more decorative than functional and played about once a year, if that.

 

[Plank_Spanker]

I hang 11 guitars. Here's the important stuff:

-DO NOT use the supplied dry wall anchors to secure the hangers. I trust them about as far as I can throw the U.S.S Nimitz. Screw you hangers into the wall studs. You can also cut a board, stain it, screw it into the studs, and then screw the hangers into board. That's what I did:

-Make sure the hangers are nitro safe

-Mount the hangers only on inside walls and out of direct sunlight

-Make sure the room does not get excessively hot, cold, dry, or too humid

Hanging guitars does not damage them a bit if you follow the above advice.

 

[luvmyshiner]

I agree with everything that's been said. We've had our guitars hanging for awhile now without any problems. We keep an eye on the room humidity, don't trust dry wall hangers, have no small children, and the Beagle knows better than to get anywhere near them. The only negative thing I can say is that you have to dust them off once a week or so.

 

[Plank_Spanker]

The only negative thing I can say is that you have to dust them off once a week or so.

Yup....................

Nice wall of guitars, Shiner!

 

[just strum]

Shiner - needs more "dark side".

Also, I didn't know you bought a Blackheart.

Back on topic - I don't hang mine on the wall, but will when I finally get around to redoing the room. I would think that, if anything, hanging would be more of a positive for the neck. And the point of getting them out of harms way is a big plus - especially if you have dogs, cats, kids, or roaming buffalo.

 

[Plank_Spanker]

One more thing to consider with hanging guitars - make sure they're not too visible from the street. No need to tempt a thief. My house is alarmed for the specific purpose of protecting my guitars.

 

[luvmyshiner]

Thanks Plank.

Strummy, I sold my only electric (the Washburn OE30) and my Behringer amp to buy the Blackheart awhile back. So now CB owns all the electrics, but I own the only amps in the house. So . . . SHE CAN'T LEAVE ME!!!! Even if she sobers up! It's all part of my evil master plan to rule the world.:AOK

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Hey Shiner, what do you use for humdifying the room? The little steam ones we have seem to hardly make a dent in the dry, according to my hygrometer.

 

[Plank_Spanker]

Hey Shiner, what do you use for humdifying the room? The little steam ones we have seem to hardly make a dent in the dry, according to my hygrometer.

Sun,

My house gets bone dry with the winter heating. I use a Kenmore room humidifier. It's evaporative, runs around 12 hours on a fill, and works well.

 

[luvmyshiner]

Steve, I use a little Holmes HM495 ultrasonic humidifier that I picked up at Target for $60. We only need it in the winter months when we're running the heater. The room is about twenty by fifteen feet or so, and we close the door during the day when using the humidifier. I have to refill it every two days or so.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Thanks guys. That helps. I was thinking of getting a "house" sized evaporative one, one for upstairs and one for down, and putting the downstairs one in the rec room with the guitars. That was one worry about hanging them for me. Without humidification, it is like 21% inside the house. Can you say dry? I bet I will have to run a humidifier pretty hard to get it up over 40%. I may use case humidification the rest of the time. EDIT: As I played tonight, the little Vicks steam one got the room up to 45% so that is not too bad, but I don't want to run that thing all the time. Has to get re-filled too often, and fills up with minerals. I may look into the ones you guys use. A larger evaporative type that got the humidity in the house overall would be nice for all concerned.

I have two other concerns about wall hanging in my house. 1. this is a rec room, and though the kids won't get too rowdy throwing things around inside, things happen. I may at least put a hook on the wall I can use while playing like a guitar stand, but keep the guitars in cases otherwise, for protection as well as humidification. 2. All the walls I can use for hanging guitars are outside walls. I understand those are not desirable for guitar hanging. So you might want to think about that too, as well as the neck thing.

 

[wingsdad]

.. Without humidification, it is like 21% inside the house. Can you say dry? I bet I will have to run a humidifier pretty hard to get it up over 40%. I may use case humidification the rest of the time.

About the same here in the desert. Pretty sure you know about my 'humidor closet' with a $30 cool-mist humidifier from K-Mart or WalMart. I run every other night with the door closed to push it up to 60% in the closet, a little higher in the cabinet in the closet; it drops 10% by morning into the acceptable range. So I keep soundhole or dampits in the acoustics and f-hole electrics. I use only distilled water in the humidifcation sources. I hang my solid bodies, a lam bodied bass and dobro, along with my Ovation, the solid wood mando and uke in the open room. Those guys are OK with dampits I routinely recharge a few times a week.

...All the walls I can use for hanging guitars are outside walls. I understand those are not desirable for guitar hanging. ...

Only a problem if the outside walls are thin or lack enough insulation. If they feel cold (I mean cold)to the touch in the winter, then, yep, not good for hanging.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Nah, the walls aren't that cold. The place is between 10 years and 2 months old, depending on what wall you are talking about, and all are insulated well. The walls feel the same as any other surface in the room pretty much. A little cool, but not cold. The humidor closet is a nice thing, and I may do that at some point. We have a closet in the room that could be converted.

In the meantime, the little Vicks got the room up to 45% tonight, and I will look into the bigger units so I can get the house up a bit anyway, and continue the case humidification.

 

[deeaa]

I hang 11 guitars. Here's the important stuff:

Hanging guitars does not damage them a bit if you follow the above advice.

Doesn't the tuning change on those LP's when you hang them/lift them off?

I have no problem hanging most of my guitars, but I don't hang guitars that are heavy and have tiltnecks. Two reasons: in the local music school there is a '72 Custom hanging from a wall, and I noticed it's neck was slightly bent to a bow over the first 5 frets despite the relief later was correct. I asked about it from the instructor there and he shrugged his shoulders and said it's been hanging there since 1972 as far as he knew, being used a few times a week regularly, and he figured over the time the weight of the guitar has caused some warping.

Secondly, I noticed if I have an LP on a normal stand supported by its body, plug in a tuner, play a note and then lift it up by the neck while the note plays, it goes slightly sharp. So there IS a slight change in tension.

Since I have an AC unit that dries and warms the air right next to my guitars, I just don't feel comfortable with hanging the gibson styles by the neck there, even if the change would be tiny, I don't want to let it be like that for years and years.

Converesely, I think 'straight' guitars like Strats like the hung-by the neck method, as the pull is constant and 100% straight and doesn't affect tune or anything.

Just my 2c. Maybe it's being overly cautious, yeah.

 

[Plank_Spanker]

Doesn't the tuning change on those LP's when you hang them/lift them off?

I have no problem hanging most of my guitars, but I don't hang guitars that are heavy and have tiltnecks. Two reasons: in the local music school there is a '72 Custom hanging from a wall, and I noticed it's neck was slightly bent to a bow over the first 5 frets despite the relief later was correct. I asked about it from the instructor there and he shrugged his shoulders and said it's been hanging there since 1972 as far as he knew, being used a few times a week regularly, and he figured over the time the weight of the guitar has caused some warping.

Secondly, I noticed if I have an LP on a normal stand supported by its body, plug in a tuner, play a note and then lift it up by the neck while the note plays, it goes slightly sharp. So there IS a slight change in tension.

Since I have an AC unit that dries and warms the air right next to my guitars, I just don't feel comfortable with hanging the gibson styles by the neck there, even if the change would be tiny, I don't want to let it be like that for years and years.

Converesely, I think 'straight' guitars like Strats like the hung-by the neck method, as the pull is constant and 100% straight and doesn't affect tune or anything.

Just my 2c. Maybe it's being overly cautious, yeah.

I've never noticed the tuning change when I take them from the wall...............I always tune them before I start playing. I don't expect any guitar that's been sitting unplayed for any length of time to be in tune when I pick it up. The Les Pauls have never been grossly out of tune coming off of the wall.

My Les Pauls have been hanging from the wall now for several years, and I've never had to do any truss rod tweaks beyond what I did when I set the action / relief when I first got them. The necks have stayed solid as a rock.

My heat register and air conditioning is located on the other side of the room from the guitars, so they're not getting blasted by hot / cool air. My humidifier sits on another wall, also, and I have a thermometer/hygrometer sitting on the hanger rail to get an accurate reading of what the guitars are seeing for humidity and temperature.

In the five years I've been hanging my guitars, I have experienced zero ill effects.

 

[deeaa]

Yeah, maybe I'm just too paranoid about it. Plus, we have pretty big changes in humidity hereabouts. In the summer it gets well over 80% but in the winter it can drop down to 20%.

With my guitars, I need to adjust the truss rods a minimum of twice a year, once when the winter's well on its way and once in the spring...with the only exceptions of my acoustic and the strat which for some reason needs no adjustments ever. It's got a pretty sturdy V shaped rock maple neck, though. The Les Paul's mahogany neck always seemed to be pretty easily affected by humidity changes IMO. I suppose it may also depend on the age; the guitar necks I need to adjust the least if any are originally from the 80's, although modded later on some. And the latest addition is just a year old, and it seems to me the first six months I had to adjust the neck every week or so. Now it seems to have settled a little, but I still notice a clear change when I take it to practice room for a few days and then back.

 

[luvmyshiner]

I'm obsessive enough that I check the relief every time I change strings and adjust the truss rod if needed. But I've never noticed any changes to tuning, relief, or anything else from hanging the guits.