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Cases vs Hanging Your Guitar


NighthawkChris

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I suppose this is a “it depends” thing - acoustic vs solid body. But even solid body guitars like my Les Pauls and such I like to keep them in the case all the time. Reason being is that I live in a place where the winter/fall comes, I turn the furnace on which dries the air up. When you have things like neck binding, not interested in all the frets spouting out the sides. Not so worried about the necks as I do gradual, slight changes periodically to adjust for seasons - and I make sure they are tuned up a lot to make sure the TR is counter acting the string tension appropriately. 

If I had an acoustic, man that thing would NEVER hang on the wall for a long time. It would be taken out to play then right back in the case - with humidifier packs. These guitars are just so much more maintenance compared to say, a LP. They sound beautiful, but they are just so much more delicate. 

So in sum if you live somewhere where the seasons change, I believe you should be casing them there guitars and not hanging them too much. Not talking about cheaper guitars. Say my R9… that’s in the case when not played. I’ll leave my Strat out all day long no issues, but this doesn’t have nitro finish, binding on the neck, etc. Not worried about the hanger ruining the finish, just worry about moisture in the air… A good case does a good job protecting a guitar from environmental factors like humidity levels and such. For instance when I tune up a guitar and leave it hanging, it goes out of tune one way or the other. When it is in the case for a long time the tuning practically doesn’t change… By all means take the guitars out to play, but case them when done. 

These are my observations and wouldn’t mind hearing about how others handle things like this or maybe I help someone out… No rules here, just a suggestion. 

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I NEVER leave my guitars out of the case at night.

I was able to buy my 12-string because Leslie left it out when the big Napa earthquake hit..... broke off the headstock.

She sent it back to Gibson for the repair, but I think it bugged her too much, (maybe she's a perfectionist...I don't know).

Anyway, you'd have a tough time seeing the crack...in fact, I asked her if the neck had been replaced.

So.... they're ALWAYS in their cases when not in use.

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Yeah, I keep mine in their cases 24/7 too.  First, there's not much room on my walls to make hanging them practical, and two--

I live in  Nighthawk's neck of the woods, and the constant temperature/ humidity changes probably can't be good for a hanging guitar.  But I notice dozens of guitars hanging on the walls of every music shop, so I wonder how they handle it all.  Maybe in most brick and mortar buildings the temp and humidity are easier to control?  I dunno...

Whitefang

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42 minutes ago, Whitefang said:

Yeah, I keep mine in their cases 24/7 too.  First, there's not much room on my walls to make hanging them practical, and two--

I live in  Nighthawk's neck of the woods, and the constant temperature/ humidity changes probably can't be good for a hanging guitar.  But I notice dozens of guitars hanging on the walls of every music shop, so I wonder how they handle it all.  Maybe in most brick and mortar buildings the temp and humidity are easier to control?  I dunno...

Whitefang

The acoustic room in any good store better be humidity controlled.

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Mine are always stored in their cases, with Oasis humidifiers. Interestingly, the Martin, Gibson and Guild are all in shaped, branded dedicated cases, in which the humidifiers seem to "shrink" the least on a weekly basis, while the Washburn is in a less protective and poorly sealed  "funeral" case, and its humidifier loses more water weekly than the M., G., and G. ones.

Finally, my Granada ( ES335 knock-off) came in a cheap, generic, and poorly sealed case, and its humidifier shrivels up like a raisin every week.

I have no space, need, nor desire to display my guitars on wall hangers, and for practical reasons keep them in the cases when they're not being played.

RBSinTo

 

Edited by RBSinTo
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I have an abundance of humidity, I rarely ever leave them in a case for very long. If I do, they start to corrode or oxidize very quickly and nitro starts to melt, so I have had to convert to poly finish. Normally I tent them in the rack using a sarong with a dehumidifier running 24-7.

YLOrY32.jpg

Also when I have a nice hot dry day I cook the humidity out of my cases in the sun..

HHhpX0Y.jpg

Edited by mihcmac
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Case, always.

I did used to hang my nice acoustic up on the wall at least 35 years ago and it dropped. The end strap button smashed through the bottom, luckily it was an absolutely perfect repair by the original maker but the guitars tone sounds slightly different - 'drier' IMO - ever since.

Never hung a guitar up since.   OK, it must be safe as so many shops do it to display guitars but....not me.

Edited by jdgm
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I have a hanger in my living room. Since getting central heating installed, I no longer use it. 

There's a couple more in my studio room with basses hanging from them (heats turned off in there).

Other than that here are a couple of stands that I keep my more robust guitars on (not Gibsons). Everything else stays in cases. 

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25 minutes ago, sparquelito said:

I'm a weirdo. 

My guitars hang on the walls 24/7, so I can grab one whenever the mood strikes me. 

The cases and gig bags are neatly standing on the right wall of my music room closet. 
Ready for transport, whenever transport is warranted. 

😐

Yeah, many is the time the mood struck me, but by the time I unsnapped the case clips, and flipped up the lid, it had passed.

Now I know why.

Wall hangers.

Gotta get me some right away.

Maybe I should also install an express elevator in case I'm on the main floor when the mood strikes.

Otherwise it could disappear by the time I climb the stairs to the second floor where the Guitar Shrine ( or as my wife calls it, the bedroom) is.

RBSinTo

 

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I kept mine in cases for years using the humidipaks. A few years ago I got a room setup where I can control the humidity. I like it a lot better having them available at a whim. I've been downsizing this past year some of these have moved on.

Music Room update 2

 

Music Room update 2

 

Nick LucasMusic Room update 3

 

Music Room update 3

 

Music Room update 3

 

 

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2 hours ago, sparquelito said:

I'm a weirdo. 

My guitars hang on the walls 24/7, so I can grab one whenever the mood strikes me. 

The cases and gig bags are neatly standing on the right wall of my music room closet. 
Ready for transport, whenever transport is warranted. 

😐

Ditto! All my electronics are hanging on the wall, it inspires me to play them. The only issue I encounter is dust. My acoustics stay in their cases.

Edited by Big Bill
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1 hour ago, Big Bill said:

Ditto! All my electronics are hanging on the wall, it inspires me to play them. The only issue I encounter is dust. My acoustics stay in their cases.

See?

I toldja.  Its those wall hangers. Maybe if I had some on my walls years ago, they would have inspired me to study harder, and I'd be a doctor today.

Who knew?

Wall hangers. One of the secrets to success.

RBSinTo

 

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I don’t own an acoustic so that is not an issue for me.  I have always left my Gibson electrics in their cases 24/7, especially when I lived in Tucson.  During the hotter months in a desert climate we had two types of cooling: evaporative (Swamp) cooling (water pouring over a filter and being forced into the house through a blower) which raised the indoor humidity substantially and traditional A/C.  Swamp coolers while the humidity was very low, until around July 4th, then switching to A/C after monsoon season started and drove the humidity level up significantly until around early to mid September.  So as you imagine, it was just easier to leave them in their cases.

After moving back to Southwest Texas border, I still kept all my guitars in their cases.  The area where I lived was right along a boundary between desert and a higher humidity environment, depending on wind direction and other meteorological conditions.  Hot and dry one day, hot and humid the next.  Once again, it was just easier to leave them in their cases.  
 

Since moving to Central Texas in 2012 (mid to high humidity most of the time), I have expanded my guitar collection, all non-Gibsons.  I still leave all five of my Gibson electrics in their cases, but I leave a couple of my non-Gibson electrics and all three of my basses (all Poly finishes) on a Hercules stand that holds five guitars and have had no issues so far.  (Knocking on wood.)

Edited by tx-ogre
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15 hours ago, NighthawkChris said:

@Dave F wow!

you aint kidding!!!!!!!!

Anyways,, mine are usually cased and stored in a closet next to the master bedroom. 

When we had the house fire in March of 2020, that saved about 20 guitars from being destroyed by smoke and water damage.

(it's a big closet!!)

 

 

 

Edited by kidblast
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I've been told by some they believe if you hang a guitar, especially acoustics, the string tension will cause it to "bow"  And particularly 12-strings.  

And still others are against leaning a guitar against a wall unless it's turned string side to wall.  Lest the other way causes the same "bowing" hanging them supposedly does.  But as far as hanging goes I suppose it does depend on the type of interior environment the instrument is exposed to (heat, cold, humidity etc.).  

Whitefang

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On 10/16/2021 at 9:49 AM, DanvillRob said:

I NEVER leave my guitars out of the case at night.

I was able to buy my 12-string because Leslie left it out when the big Napa earthquake hit..... broke off the headstock.

She sent it back to Gibson for the repair, but I think it bugged her too much, (maybe she's a perfectionist...I don't know).

Anyway, you'd have a tough time seeing the crack...in fact, I asked her if the neck had been replaced.

So.... they're ALWAYS in their cases when not in use.

I'm curious about that.  How much did Gibson charge for the headstock repair?

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