{"id":107658,"date":"2023-01-20T08:53:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T16:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=107658"},"modified":"2023-05-31T20:09:58","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T03:09:58","slug":"how-to-best-take-care-of-your-guitars-when-theyre-not-in-your-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/how-to-best-take-care-of-your-guitars-when-theyre-not-in-your-hands\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Best Take Care of Your Guitars\u2014When They\u2019re Not in Your Hands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Several years ago, Carolyn Sills of the Santa Cruz Guitar Company got a phone call from a guitar owner in great distress. A pair of antlers had fallen off of a wall and onto his F Model, goring the back of the instrument. \u201cI couldn\u2019t help but say, \u2018Well, in order to properly conduct the repair, we\u2019ll have to know what animal previously owned the antlers,\u2019\u201d Sills says, laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around the same time, Martin Keith, a luthier and repair guru based in Woodstock, New York, fixed a Ribbecke guitar that had sprung apart at the lower bout, the result of having been in extended contact with a radiant floor heater. But that\u2019s not the worst he\u2019s seen in terms of damage. Keith says, \u201cThe most egregious situations I\u2019ve encountered have typically been people bringing me guitars without cases, walking through freezing rain with the instruments barely covered by garbage bags.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had these instruments been carefully tended to, they would have avoided those hideous injuries. And with even just a little thought into how you store and display your guitars\u2014whether short- or long-term, on a limited budget or with an expansive one\u2014you can keep them in optimal shape, primed and ready to receive your ideas when inspiration strikes.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"D'Addario<\/a>
One way to keep tabs on the humidity level inside your guitar\u2019s case is with D\u2019Addario\u2019s Humiditrak<\/a>, which has a Bluetooth sensor for connecting to a free smartphone app with push notifications.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cases Closed<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Generally speaking, the safest way to store a guitar is in its case\u2014ideally, a good-quality hardshell, as opposed to a gig bag or ill-fitting chipboard case. As obvious as this might seem, if you have multiple guitars, don\u2019t stack them one on top of another in their cases. Instead, store them vertically, side-by-side, positioned in such a way that they won\u2019t be prone to topple over like dominoes. A product like String Swing\u2019s CC29 Folding Hardwood Guitar Case Rack<\/b><\/a> (from $59.99) is an excellent solution for storing guitar cases upright, with or without instruments inside. If you\u2019d like to store your guitars horizontally, use a heavy-duty shelving unit, and, of course, make sure that the weight of the instruments in their cases does not exceed the maximum recommended weight of the shelves. (Figure about 12\u201315 pounds for each guitar and case.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t be lulled into the false sense of confidence that your guitars in cases are impervious to damage. They might be protected from hazards like wayward antlers but are susceptible to the undesirable influence of string tension. Richard Hoover, the founding luthier of Santa Cruz Guitars, explains, \u201cAs the action rises [due to string tension], the change in your instrument\u2019s geometry decreases the guitar\u2019s resistance to the string pull and in turn increases the forward movement of the neck. Here the strings are pulling the bridge from a steeper angle, causing it to rotate and belly the top behind it. This bulge in the top will raise the strings even higher, which will further accelerate the now well-established\u2014and possibly fatal\u2014distortion of the whole instrument.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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