Professionals know exactly how to store a guitar at home, but newcomers don’t! If you really want the guitar to be healthy for the coming years, you must learn the proper way of storing a guitar, because those plays are a pretty big role. I know, this might seem a very small matter but there is a lot worse that can happen to your guitar if you don’t keep it safe.
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What to know what could happen?
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- Scratch on the body: This happens most of the time, during keeping or picking the guitar up from improper place causes scratch on the guitar body. True guitar lovers don’t even tolerate the tiniest dirt on the guitar body, let alone scratch. And scratched guitars doesn’t look good, trust me!
- Neck cracks: Neck crack is another common harm that unsafe storing causes to the guitar. And once your guitar neck is cracked, you need to buy a whole new guitar, because repairing the neck wouldn’t give you the same tone as before.
Other Damages are
- High action.
- Glue failure.
- Body crack.
- Tuning issue.
- Swollen frets.
- Fret shrinking.
- Neck wrapping.
I am pretty sure, if you really love your guitar then you don’t want anything bad to happen to your guitar. So better, you learn the right way to store your guitar at home.
Below, we have designed an in-depth guide on how you can store your guitar safely at home. We have shown a couple of ways, go through them and save your beloved guitar from potential damages.
Ways of Storing Guitar at Home
You can store a guitar in different ways, below I have told 6 ways that professional guitarists follow. Go through them and keep your guitar alive for long years.
Use a Hard case
Hardshell cases are extremely beneficial and don’t matter how much they cost, having one is highly beneficial in the long-run. A good hardshell case will give your guitar the best protection. Once the guitar is inside the case, you can be sure that no damage would cause the guitar, unless the entire building crashes on it.
Not only that, but these cages also keep the temperature and humidity suitable for guitars. However, hardshell cages are heavy and carrying that around could be hard. You have to sacrifice comfort for safety. But if it is about me, I don’t carry the cage, I store the guitar inside the cage when I know I wouldn’t take out the guitar for a long time. And I carry the cage only when am traveling out of the town with the guitar. In travel there is a lot can happen with the guitar, the cage makes sure I stay stress-free.
Use Gig Bag
If you are a professional guitarist and do a lot of shows, gigs, etc. In other words, if you carry the guitar with you often then a gig bag would be the best solution for you. The reason why you should look forward to a gig bag is, they are extremely lightweight, easy to carry and provides decent physical protection to the guitar.
That being said, gig bags don’t as high protection as hard cases. They don’t protect the guitar from temperature and humidity. What gig bag does is make sure that your guitar doesn’t get damaged physically, like scratch and all. If you move a lot with the guitar, then a gig bag is the best solution since you cannot roam around carrying a heavy hardshell case.
However, whenever you make your mind up for a gig bag make sure you point your finger at the right one. Because picking up a cheap bag wouldn’t provide protection that a good gig bag would do.
Use Guitar Stand
Well, guitar stands are only for home or practice pad. There is nothing much they can do, except giving you very easy access to the guitar. The main reason why most people use guitar stand is that the stand holds the guitar in place securely and it looks good that the guitar is on a cool stand. It looks organized. Plus, people who love to show off, this is a great tool for them I must say.
This thing won’t protect the guitar from physical damages, not from temperature and humidity. The only protection the stand gives is, your guitar wouldn’t fall off.
Wall mount stands
Wall mount stands are also guitar stands but they are a little better. People who have a very tight place, guitar on the stand are not safe. When people move someone might knock the guitar down unconsciously. Wall-mount guitar stands come into play then. As you have already guessed, they are supposed to be on the wall so tight place is no issue.
Plus, if your guitar has good graphics that will look stunning in the wall. And you can access the guitar easily as well. However, for wall mount stands you will need to drill into the wall, this is something most people don’t love to do.
Make sure the temperature is okay
This is not unrelated; temperature plays a major role in the overall health of the guitar. Both low and high temperature is a threat to the guitar, you have to keep it moderate otherwise it can damage the guitar permanently.
The guitar fret can shrink because of the low temperature and the wood can start wrapping because of high temperature. So what is the ideal temperature for storing the guitar? Try to keep the temperature between 65 to 75-degree F. This is the best range for guitars.
Never keep your guitar in a place where you wouldn’t be comfortable. Don’t place it on the direct sun, not inside the car trunk, or any other place that is not suitable.
String tension
String tension highly pressurizes the neck of the guitar. When we do a different kind of tunings and when you play the guitar, overall everything puts pressure into the guitar neck. And over time that can cause the guitar neck to wrap which is permanent damage.
So when you are leaving the guide for a long time at home or anywhere else, loosen the string tension and then store it inside whatever you want.
Conclusion
This guide should be enough to give you a decent storing idea. Now teach your friends how to store a guitar at home and sound like a professional guitarist!