Hanging Guitars on Walls - Effects on Neck

PoorMan

PoorMan

MoneyForNothingologist
Wondering if others have had the same experience...

I've always kept my guitars in cases, but with Covid I now work from home and thought it would be fun to hang some guitars in my home office. Unfortunately the result was back-bowed necks. This has never happened prior to hanging them. My best guess is the weight of the body (mostly Les Pauls or Les Paul style guitars) put enough pressure on the neck to counter the string tension causing it to move. Although this did also happened to a super light Fender Mustang.

Anyone else? Thoughts?
 
" I don’t recommend hanging your guitar for a long term of time on the wall. Because, on the wall, it is more vulnerable to humidity and temperature changes. In addition, there is a chance that some kind of accident can happen. Furthermore, guitar hangers can peal specific guitar finish (nitro)."

This is the only thing I could find, and it was consistent among threads. A high end acoustic dealer near me hangs ALL of his. As does GC, maybe it's low humidity. Hope this helps.
 
I've never hung them there for super long, maybe 3 days or so at a time. But I've never had any issues.
 
I don't get how hanging a guitar will cause back bow. In top to bottom or left to right terms...a guitar hung on the wall is a weight issue of top to bottom and in alignment with a neck....again top to bottom. To effect the neck, the pressure would have to be left to right or I guess front to back could be said as well. That is back of neck to front of neck type pressure.....like leaning it against a wall. There is no reason a wall hung guitar would be bad or cause neck adjustments to have to be made from hanging it on the wall.

Are your wall hung guitars near a fireplace? A vent? A window? Bright lights directly on them? Anything that would make them more susceptible to weather, temperature, humidity, etc change? That is the issue. Not the hanging from the wall itself. Guitars are always shifting.

I have hung a lot of mine, had some on stands, in multi guitar holders (boats), stored in cases, and I often rotate around and never had an issue aside from minor maintenance (which is expected). The key is consistency and taking care of them and keeping on top of them, cleaning, etc.

YMMV
 
I can think of many things I would rather spend my time doing than adjusting the truss rods on all my guitars.
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OMG. It takes SO MUCH TIME! Hours and hours, am I right?
And the amount of tools - why it costs hundreds of dollars!
And you have to stand on your head while you do it.

If you can't adjust your truss rod - don't consider yourself a serious player.
 
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JOLLY said:
I've got 12 hanging on the wall, and I haven't had any problems.
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this is my experience

it may be that those pampered case queens are used to the neck support

Just a tweak and they go back to fine again

the humidity in your house is probably the same as in a case in your house
as you open and close it .... in your house....

Probably take less time to tweak the truss rods than it to took put up hangers
 
I have seen cases with bent hinges or just poor alignment or poor fit to the guitar itself. Maybe that could create some mild pressure one way or another.
Hanging would just create a neutral force I'd think, and not enough to matter.

Some of mine need small adjustments now and then no matter where they sleep, and then others like my two super-light pencil-necked prestiges (rg1570 and 2570) are nearly immune to shifting under any reasonable conditions of storage or humidity. They must just have very well set truss-rods or extra rods maybe.
 
ICTGoober

"If you can't adjust your truss rod - don't consider yourself a serious player."


​​​​​Some people are afraid of them. Some people don't have the patience. I intonate and do truss rod adjustments on all of my guitars. I don't like parting with $100+ for a neck and intonation adjustment. Or waiting over a week to get it back. Hell if it's a used guitar I'll take it apart after I buy it, just to see what's inside. It's almost like the lottery. Sometimes you win big, sometimes you payed to play.
 
Top-L said:
Every rock star I know has a wall of guitars.
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And a guitar tec to keep them maintained. I keep all mine in the case when they are not being played period. Worked in Pawn Shops and a couple of guitar shops over the years and fought with the results of guitars hanging by the neck there. Don't treat my personal guitars that way!
 
JOLLY said:
I've got 12 hanging on the wall, and I haven't had any problems.
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This is pretty much where I'm at. I've had five guitars hanging by their necks in our basement (which ranges from 20 - 80% humidity over the year) and haven't had any problems in the ten or so years I've been hanging them there.
 
I have about 30 guitars of all types on hangers -some for 15 years in the same spot -in a climate controlled space

-I have had no issues AT ALL... ever with this.

I put every thing out ready on hangers in the house and studio -because storing guitars in cases usually means I wont use it often or slows the creative process -plus all of guitars are tools that get used -I don't "collect" anything I'd be afraid to pull out and hand to someone or gig with.

Don't think twice about it if you have decent HVAC .

It's the best way to get stoked and play more.
 
I've hung the majority of my guitars on the wall since I started playing. In fact, my #1 has been hanging since the day I brought her home (2006). I have never experienced an issue with this method of storage and the guitars haven't needed adjustments any more often than my case queens. The biggest downside? They get dusty more quickly.

I get the idea of being more susceptible to humidity and temp changes by being "exposed", but I keep my house temps fairly similar year-round and I do keep the guitars away from windows and direct sun, which probably helps.

When I hear unfounded horror stories about how hanging guitars on walls hurts the instrument, I think about pretty much every guitar store ever to exist and quietly laugh to myself.

Hanging guitars on a wall is only dumb if they are hung low enough that "dumb" people can reach them :D
 
A guitar weighs a few pounds, the strings put around 100 pounds of tension on the neck. Think about it. That's taking away less tension than going down a string gauge. If you want to keep your guitar hung up, just adjust your truss rod accordingly.
 
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