Hanging guitars on walls....

[mrrinse]

Hi,

I live in London, England, and am considering hanging a few of my guitars on a wall. It's the inside of an external wall (brick externally, possibly with a  cavity, then plaster). The external climate doesn't ever get beyond -6 to +33 degrees (where we are now, in what is for us a major heatwave! Greatly appreciated on my part too!) and is usually (98% of the time) -2 to 26. I think I remember reading though that hanging guitars on external walls is a bad idea. Presumably something to do with drafts / convection currents, etc. Can any one explain? Unfortunately, the external wall is the only suitably hangings space (the only other place would involve hanging them in direct sunlight for most of the day, which seems like a bad idea to me!). Any tips on wall hanging – dos and donts – greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Dan

[jeremy3220]

Perhaps you could tape your hygrometer to the wall for a few days to see how it does.

[tadol]

The issue with exterior walls used to have alot more to do with pianos than with guitars. The temperature fluctuations and potential moisture accumulation that are more frequent and extreme on exterior walls can cause problems with the soundboards and the constant shrinking and stretching (or even rusting!) of all the strings. Most modern houses have adequate insulation to minimize alot of that.

As stated above, the biggest issue you need to worry about is humidity, and I would add, sunlight. If the humidity fluctuates too much ( either day to day or season to season ) it could be hard on the guitars. If the guitars get exposed to strong sunlight, especially uneven shading, you could end up with fading or finish problems on a part of the guitar.

If you play them regularly, you will probably notice any problems quickly, and be able to take any steps necessary to resolve them quickly. And the nice thing about hanging them, is they are so much easier to grab and play whenever the mood strikes. Plus, they are darn nice to look at -

Tad

[Parlor Picker]

Our old house (built in 1904) still has a picture rail, so a couple of guitars hang from that.  I stick a piece of cork tile to the wall with Blu-Tak where the back of the guitar sits.  This prevents any potential scratching. We llive near the coast in southern England and I've never thought humidity might be a problem here, except in the winter when the central heating is on and I make sure I have a ceramic humidifier hanging from the radiator.

Needless to say, you must make sure the guitars are suspended securely.  We don't want one dropping on the floor, do we???!!

[Zohn]

  I agree with all the posts above, and could just add that bricks and mortar are not as good insulators against temperature as wood for instance, and the interior walls are thus not so much affected to the outside ambient.
Zohn

[dermot]

it's been a while since the last piccie of my wall..... this is an inside wall, and only gets sun late in the afternoon for a few weeks in mid December, and i keep the blinds shut (should there be sun in December in Vancouver) at that time... it's been more than 30 years for two of those on the wall...

Took this this morning after reading this thread;


I am glad i have these out to play when i have a few min... like when i'm making coffee at 5am....

;-)

d.

[obe-wan]

I have a cheapy to hang on  the wall, my Larrivee lives in its case.

Australia (the southern end anyway) has a temperature range very similar to what you've described, so I like to keep the guitar cased to avoid any rapid moisture/temp changes.


Cheers, scott.

[WillieCoyote]

I like keeping my pile of guitars in their cases. Others obviously are having luck w/ theirs on the wall but I just feel like they're better protected in the case and slower to react if something does happen to the climate.

[Zohn]

I like keeping my pile of guitars in their cases. Others obviously are having luck w/ theirs on the wall but I just feel like they're better protected in the case and slower to react if something does happen to the climate.

I live by that theory and fortunately have no thermal/humidity damage to any of my guitars.
There are a couple of dents and scratches to the finish though.

[dermot]

For me no cats. dogs, kids in the house, and a giant humidifier nearby (the pacfic ocean) seems to keep them all safe.

I do play all of them regularly, often for 5 min, little grabs between chores... then when i can i spend an hour or two working on a tune... sheet music out on the stand and everything, that's the most rewarding ;-)

d.

[Tony Burns]

i know ive been a part of this same discussion on another forum -i think hanging guitars on walls is a bad idea -i know a few of you fellows and gals have done it without any problems -but the old saying " what ever goes up must come down " does happen from time to time -if you inadvertantley hang it wrong or are having a bad day -your guitar will have a worse day . If you have a couple of guitars you might want to consider stands- their on the cheap end now- like 15 bucks and their more stable.

[teh]

Ditto Tony's comment. I can do enough damage on my own without adding to the mix by leaving it on a hanger.

Plus I have a dog (saved from an animal shelter) that I inherited from my son who left for the service. The dog decided to dig through a brand new piece of wall to wall carpet the first day she was left alone in my house. What would she do to a guitar even if it were accidental? I have my $20 Oahu on a guitar hanger and take pics of my others in the hanger. That's the extent of my bravery.

[Danny]

 I keep two on the walls and one or two on stands year round. But I have six or so hygrometers spread around the house and monitor them daily. If we do get heavy humidity for many days in a row then they get cased up, And of course in the winter when the heat is on a lot the air dries out so sometimes they get put away with a case humidifier.
       Otherwise I like to have them easy to grab and play. That is what they are made for ;-)

[fongie]

I live near the waterfront, so I try to avoid any salt air, I always make sure they are stored away after playing
cheers
fongie

[obe-wan]

I live near the waterfront, so I try to avoid any salt air, I always make sure they are stored away after playing
cheers
fongie

Fongie, if I had some of those beautiful wooden display cases thats where my guitars would live too. Are they well sealed?

Cheers, Scott.

[jimmy buffett]

I live near the waterfront, so I try to avoid any salt air, I always make sure they are stored away after playing
cheers
fongie

That brings up a question that crosses my mind from time to time, but never bothered to ask.  Does the proximity to the ocean and the effects of the salty air have any impact on a guitar?  I have never heard anyone reference this before,

I have heard people mention that it can have a corrosive effect on metals with things like cars and tools.  Makes sense that the salt air would have some impact on your gits if you live near the ocean...

jimmy

[fongie]

Fongie, if I had some of those beautiful wooden display cases thats where my guitars would live too. Are they well sealed?

Cheers, Scott.

Hi Scotty, yes those cabinets are sealed, but I don't put my Lav's in them anymore, I put them back in their cases. Lately I have these paranoier feelings about house fire, so I keep them in a case, incase I need to run with all my guitars  I know it sounds silly, but I can't help thinking these stupid thoughts. Anyway Scotty, I have other crappy guitars which I store in the cabinets.
cheers
fongie

[dermot]

So far it's been ok for nocks , dings, saltwater & humidity issues... but the D18 has been up the longest, and that's only 34 years so far....

I'm about 1.5Km & 190m in height from the ocean, so no salt spray up here... the guitars stayed out while my daughter was growing up, the worst thing that happened is that she learned to play guitar, bass and uke while mess'n around. She was over today and we played a bit together.... nice sunday afternoon.. she took the OM19, i took the Webber...

When she was little i only had guitars on hangers up high, none on the floor stands or 3year old reachable levels ;-)

I do keep a few more guitars in cases, and cycle them through the wall as tastes change.

d.

ps.. i did live through a house fire, and grabbed four guitars on the way out the door, easier due to them being on the wall, and two of them (the D18, and the Flaminco blanca) are still on the wall in the picture above!

d.



 

[fongie]

That brings up a question that crosses my mind from time to time, but never bothered to ask.  Does the proximity to the ocean and the effects of the salty air have any impact on a guitar?  I have never heard anyone reference this before,

I have heard people mention that it can have a corrosive effect on metals with things like cars and tools.  Makes sense that the salt air would have some impact on your gits if you live near the ocean...

jimmy

Hi Jimmy, I think it depends alot on, how windy it gets around the bay area. I know those who have water front views have to maintain their painting, etc, etc, much more then others. It probably wouldn't hurt the interior as much, but wouldn't hurt to be careful and wipe down your instruments often or store away. Wind and salt can be very damaging.
cheers
fongie

[mrrinse]

To sum up, provided you get non-reactive hangars, seems like wall hanging wouldn't be a problem (dogs, family members, accidents, direct sunlight, etc apart) in principle provided humidity and temperature are within the proper ranges. i'll test to find out - i don't suspect they'll be much different in my flat, but we'll see.

As for living by the sea, I've taken my beater guitar to the beach whilst on holiday and the strings are unusable within a day or few (normally I'd get 3 - 12 weeks!) because of the corrorive effect of the sea air...