Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

Jeff_H

Dean Hardtail Fanologist
I was siting here about an hour ago just reading stuff online and all of a sudden I hear this huge clatter and thump. I look up and my brand new (to me) Les Paul has fallen off the wall. The guitar hanger, screws AND studs were completely ripped off and out of the wall. I got up from my recliner about as fast as a person can get up and ran over there, fully expecting to see the neck snapped in two or the headstock broken off.

Holy hell, no damage at all to the neck or headstock, or anything else for that matter. I took it into the kitchen under the best light in the house and put it on my maintenance mat and headstock cradle to give it a proper inspection. No damage to the neck or headstock, period. There is a small dent the width of a fingernail and about a centimeter long, I assume from a tuner of the guitar that was below it (it was offset and not directly below). The only other damage is some slight scuffing on the bottom edge of the guitar near the strap pin; the edge on the backside of the guitar. I buffed it with my cleaning cloth and its hardly noticeable.... it really didn't remove any lacquer.

I'm honestly in shock. I cannot believe it's not broken or damaged seriously in some way. My collectors edition Hardtail directly below it only received one small, very small, chip in the lacquer on the front edge of the guitar, a little higher than the neck pickup. You can't see it unless you're right up on it. I'm very relieved and feeling lucky; very lucky.

As for the mounting, my dad and I went to Home Depot and bought the most robust wall anchors we could find. Each anchor was rated at 100lbs (in drywall), and each wall holder has two of these. These were the type of anchors that screw into the drywall instead of being pushed into the wall after a drill hole is made. There isn't any reason why these should have failed, unless I guess the drywall itself has been weakened in some way, which is possible I suppose.

All in all a big sigh of relief and I'm wondering if I need to rethink my display method. My dad has built houses in the past and remodeled them, so when we installed these and he gave them his seal of approval, I felt pretty secure in hanging them. Here is how they WERE hanging:


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Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

I'm going to make myself a drink now. I probably won't sleep I'm so amped up.
 
Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

I would NEVER hang a guitar on the wall. But then this is earthquake country.

Safest place is in the case.

Happy for you that it wasn't damaged.

Bill
 
Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

Never trust drywall or plaster crap,,,,,,,,,,,never ever.
 
Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

I've never had anything secured with those self threading drywall anchors fall out. Maybe crappy drywall? That said, I personally wouldn't hang my guitars. They stay in their cases. But if I did, despite never having anything come loose with those anchors, I wouldn't use them for something valuable. I hang shelf brackets with screws into the studs. On outside walls, I use Tapcons, even if a shelf bracket is centered on a furring strip. Only small stuff gets anchors in drywall.

If I were to hang my guitars, I would probably get a length of decent looking hardwood. Stain or paint it to look presentable and then run it horizontally, securing it into the studs with screws. Then screw the guitar hangers to that. There should be no issue with those metal (or even the HD plastic) self threading anchors pulling out under the weight of a guitar but ... poop happens, as you found out. If you don't want to do the wood strip thing, at least consider using toggle bolts.

Glad your guitar wasn't trashed.
 
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Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

You could simply install a horizontal board (like a 1" x 8") cut to whatever length you can fit across. (remember,,,you'll get more guitars!)
Screw the board into the studs. Leave enough space at the top so that you can still pick up on the guitars without the headstock knocking against the ceiling (of course).

If you use a wider board like an 8" (or wider) you'll be able to stagger the hangers for looks and coolness. (like one low, one high, one low, one high ect.)

Hercules metal 3-screw mounts are awesome, not only for their claw grabber system, but also because they hold the guitar just a bit further away from the wall than some other brands, plus the depth of the board increases the wall-clearance.

I prefer casing all but my one or two that are currently "up-to-bat" .

edit; Darg1911 beat me to the suggestion lol.
 
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Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

Sounds like you were visited by LP himself. I’d take that as a warning and play that guitar only.
 
Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

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Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

Glad to hear your axe is ok. I was thinking of putting up hangers in the new house. The biggest factor stopping me is the wall that makes the most sense is across from a window facing the street. After hearing your tale I am rethinking the whole thing.

Snap back to reality, oh, there goes gravity

- Eminem
 
Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

Honestly I would have had a stroke. I’m glad your damage was minimal.


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Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

I whole heartedly agree with the full length board across the wall. I also put a block stud to stud at the body and use the bottom part of a regular stand to also support the guitar.
If you put a nice bevel on the wood and sand and paint it doesn't even look too bad.
 
Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

Glad your Paul is ok.

If you use hangers again, always go into studs with coarse thread screws if going into wood studs, fine thread if metal studs. With wood studs, an inch of penetration would be a MINIMUM. So account for the the thickness if your drywall (1/2"), hanger (1 1/2?), so a 3" screw would be minimum. With metal studs, once the screw penetrates the thin metal of the stud, all the threads past that point aren't "grabbing" anything anymore. Hope that makes sense.
Wood studs > Metal studs.

If for some reason you can't hit a stud, use these....

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Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

I would NEVER hang a guitar on the wall. But then this is earthquake country.

Safest place is in the case.

Happy for you that it wasn't damaged.

Bill

Agreed again. Even without earthquakes, hanging on the wall doesn't make much sense to me; susceptible to people barging into them, people slamming doors into them, swinging/hitting the wall etc.
 
Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

I bought some of those butterfly toggle bolts when we bought the screw in anchors, because we weren't sure what was going to work. The screw in anchors just seemed so solid that it didn't seem necessary to use the toggle bolts.

My original idea was to use a white 1x6 or 1x8 and then screw the hangers to that. My dad, combined with the advice from the guy at Home Depot led me/us to use the anchors. I am going to institute the 1x8 solution right away. I am using Hercules hangers, but they have the wooden base and two screw holes. I like them precisely because they lock in front of the neck and hang the guitar farther from the wall.

I understand the safest place for my guitars is in the case. I just prefer to have them out to look at..... it's just my personal preference. I know there is the risk of just what happened, but I did my research and due diligence to mitigate the risk as much as possible.... but obviously not well enough. Lesson learned.

I got myself so amped up that I haven't slept. I just ordered some breakfast so I'm hoping a full belly will help me get a few hours this morning. The wife is out of town so I have zero to do today.

Thanks for all the advice and well wishes for my guitar.
 
Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

Yup, as mentioned the horizontal board drilled into the framing studs is the way to go.
Glad she’s ok.
 
Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

Hanging guitars on the wall is a dumbass move in the first place. LIke tossing a newborn in the air, it's gonna fall sooner or later.

You should at least have a wall of bricks and cement, and a dynabolt
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Re: Holy Hell - My Les Paul Just Fell Off The Wall

That sucks man. I never hang them on the wall. They are either in a case or on a stand when not being played.
 
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