Guitar Storage

[britheguy]

Hi.

Any advice on guitar storage? I'm going to be storing some guitars and was wondering if anyone knows if it's better to store them flat or upright etc etc. They are in hard cases.

Cheers

[David B]

You can always store your Les Pauls (and your Tele) at my house.

Good company for the Marshall I borrowed from you earlier in the week!

Presumably this reply doesn't really help.

[Wishbone G]

For the love of god, take the strings off

I left my guitar for a couple of weeks, and the strings were god damn awful when i got back. Rust from them had spread to my pickups apparently, and i just plain dont like that!

Ill tell you now, i know nothing about properly storing guitars, but my best guess is inside a case, with one of those moisture collecting pouches that you get in shoes etc, and probably flat. Storing upright might put a tiny bit of pressure on the neck, but if its for a long time, who knows what could happen with that constant tiny bit of pressure.

[WoodyRATM]

For the love of god' date=' take the strings off

I left my guitar for a couple of weeks, and the strings were god damn awful when i got back. Rust from them had spread to my pickups apparently, and i just plain dont like that!

Ill tell you now, i know nothing about properly storing guitars, but my best guess is inside a case, with one of those [b']moisture collecting pouches that you get in shoes etc, and probably flat. Storing upright might put a tiny bit of pressure on the neck, but if its for a long time, who knows what could happen with that constant tiny bit of pressure.

id agree that this would be good

[Guest Gasss]

id agree that this would be good

absolutely not. This would warp the neck unless you readjusted the truss rod to exactly release the amount of pressure that the strings were pulling. The moisture advice is true though

[GraemeC]

The guitar should be stored upright or on its side(edge) in a proper fitted case, it wouldn't do it any harm storing it flat but there is more danger of something falling on it or other shit being pilled on top.

It should be stored in a dry well ventilated place with silicon granules in the case, do not remove or detune the strings.

All the above is for long term storage, I assume thats what your talking about and not just between gigs or rehearsals.

[WoodyRATM]

absolutely not. This would warp the neck unless you readjusted the truss rod to exactly release the amount of pressure that the strings were pulling. The moisture advice is true though

not wanting to start an arguement here but why?

i mean those silica packet thinys wouldnt effect the wood itself would it?

[Guest Savant]

The truss rod is there to oppose the force the strings exert - if you take the strings off then there's nothing opposing the truss rod and that'll warp the neck. So keep the strings on. Just clean (and the guitar) them if you don't want the pickups to corrode.

[framheim]

not wanting to start an arguement here but why?

i mean those silica packet thinys wouldnt effect the wood itself would it?

i think he was referring to removing the strings and not the advice about silica packs which he agreed with in his post. methinks ikaruga missed your highlighting of the moisture packs and you missed him agreeing with that idea. meh.

[Guest Gasss]

ikaruga acknowledged the moisture packs

edit: no fights, just straight, stable necks.

edit: ignore ikaruga if neccesary, just ensure straight necks

[RF Scott]

I'd definitely recommend taking the strings off - its what I do!

Also, not a lot of people do this, but if you hang them from the neck with a chain, it works wonders!

[GraemeC]

Moisture is the biggest enemy of a guitar, it will kill it in no time flat.

[Guest Gasss]

I'll hang you from the neck from a chain!

edit:note, not actual threat

[WoodyRATM]

i think he was referring to removing the strings and not the advice about silica packs which he agreed with in his post. methinks ikaruga missed your highlighting of the moisture packs and you missed him agreeing with that idea. meh.

hehe my bad.

[Monk Rocker]

Don't take the strings off. Put those silicone moisture granules in the case. Store with case upright. You'll have no problems. That's the way I store all my guitars and I've not had any problems whatsoever......

[britheguy]

Don't take the strings off. Put those silicone moisture granules in the case. Store with case upright. You'll have no problems. That's the way I store all my guitars and I've not had any problems whatsoever......

Ok, thanks for the advice guys.

So the next question is where to get these moisture bags to put in the hard cases?

These guitars are not going to be used in the near future, but I can't bring myself to sale them yet. So them may be stored for quite a while.

I've also heard about detuning the strings by a semitone or something...what about that idea; would this help in long term storage?

[britheguy]

You can always store your Les Pauls (and your Tele) at my house.

Good company for the Marshall I borrowed from you earlier in the week!

Presumably this reply doesn't really help.

Thanks for the offer David.....but I don't think so! You had my half stack of a year before I even saw it again. Anyway you just moan about them being too heavy etc. ;-)

[Chris]

I read somewhere (probably total guitar) that if it's long term storage then you should slacken the strings off slightly to prevent the neck from warping.

[Guest lime ruined my life]

For the love of god' date=' take the strings off

I left my guitar for a couple of weeks, and the strings were god damn awful when i got back. Rust from them had spread to my pickups apparently, and i just plain dont like that!

Ill tell you now, i know nothing about properly storing guitars, but my best guess is inside a case, with one of those moisture collecting pouches that you get in shoes etc, and probably flat. Storing upright might put a tiny bit of pressure on the neck, but if its for a long time, who knows what could happen with that constant tiny bit of pressure.[/quote']

this is the worst peice of advice i've ever seen!

if you do take this advice take the precaution of compensating the truss rod.

[David]

There is a metal truss rod inside the guitars neck, that counteracts the pull of the strings to keep the neck straight (and give you some adjustment)

If you just whip off all the strings, the truss rod will still be pulling the other way, and the neck will most likely bend as the truss rod pulls, not a good result

So either leave the strings on it (detuned by a little bit couldnt hurt it really) or take them off and then loosen the truss rod so it isn't pulling the neck

David