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By Eric
C. Shoaf
You may be saying to yourself that you can't really
enjoy your collection when the guitars are all packed away. Or maybe you
have a music room or home studio and the space to display or keep instruments
at hand. We also have some tips for you.
The environmental conditions under which your
collection lives are extremely important to their care and safety. Heat
and cold, humidity, and light levels all have an effect on your instruments
and need to be controlled. Note that controlling fluctuations and
avoiding extremes are the most important things you can do whether you
store, play or display your instruments. There are several other areas
of concern and things you need to watch for when displaying guitars by
various methods listed below:
1. Guitar stands.
Everyone's old standby, the trusty stand. Over
the past few years there have been several new designs which have appeared
on the market which are intended to keep the guitar steady so it cannot
be knocked over. This is a good thing, however all guitar stands have areas
where they contact the instrument itself and these newer stands often "grab"
at a larger section of the instrument's body to perform this function.
And while all the stands generally cover these areas with what they call
a "harmless no mar covering," it has been my experience that prolonged
contact with any rubberized, plastic, spongy, or even leather surface will
interact with the guitar's finish and produce flaws ranging from discoloration
to complete lifting of the finish off the wood. Finish problems associated
with rubber protectors are related to off-gassing of chemicals used to
produce the product as it ages. This leaves the rubber discolored and hard
and the process can interact with lacquer guitar finishes causing blemishes
and worse. Plastic protectors are similar but take longer to break down.
Leather, often envisioned as a soft protective covering, can be worse on
guitar finishes. The process of tanning hides to produce leather involves
using harsh acids to break down the skin and these acids are then neutralized
with a buffer on the surface. Over time, however, the acid in the leather
works its wayback to the surface to where your guitar's finish is in direct
contact. The result is predictable. Heavy electric guitars are more prone
to this sort of damage because of their weight. The other key concern over
a floor stand is that the instrument can still beknocked over by either
a toddler or pet if left unsupervised. While you probably would not have
your young children or pets in your music room, things do happen and a
stand is no guarantee of complete immobility.
2. Guitar hangers.
You have seen these in your local music store,
either v-shaped or u-shaped metal or wood designs which attach to special
racks or bolt directly to the wall and hold the guitar at the headstock
in two "fingers". The fingers range from painted bare metal (ouch!) to
"protective" coverings like rubber, sponge or leather. The idea here has
merit because a guitar hung on the wall can be out of reach to small children
and invulnerable to accidentally being knocked over. But the problems of
contact remain and are in fact multiplied because the weight of the instrument
is localized in two small one quarter inch spots where the neck and headstock
meet. On the other hand, any finish problem which developed would also
be localized and some might be able to live with that. But most collectors
would not. While metal hangers do need some sort of padded protection on
the fingers, there are some plain wood hangers available which could be
used but would require careful placement of the guitar after each use.
Some of these systems have been designed to hold several guitars and work
well for those who have separate player guitars and would use the system
primarily for display. One way around the problem of finish "protectors,"
that can actually damage the finish, which are used on most guitar stands
and hangers is to cover them with some sort of cloth. I use strips of 100
percent white cotton and use a sewing machine to make little "tubes" of
cloth which I cut to length and fit over the "fingers" of the guitar
stand or hanger and this seems to work well. Using a hanger with any Fender
guitar needs close attention, especially a Telecaster since these have
a narrow headstock and with a slight twist can fall out of the hanger.
You might want to use your pliers to close the fingers somewhat on your
Tele hanger.
3. Wire or string.
Some guitar makers advocate hanging the guitar
by the headstock by stringing wire or string around the tuners and
looping the top over a nail. This actually works pretty well and keeps
the guitar off the floor, but it does take longer if you take the string
on and off every time you play. Wire is less satisfactory for this
sort of hanging arrangement because it can scratch the finish and the string
needs to be strong enough to hold the weight of the instrument plus tied
so that it won't come apart. Of course, the nail needs to be in a stud
or otherwise securely located. Aesthetically, the string-on-a-nail
method is least attractive and it is not known whether the weight around
headstock or tuners has any long term effects on the neck. My own personal
experience is with a recent acoustic guitar by a maker who is known for
thin "fast" necks. I found that even after just an hour of being hung by
string on a nail the guitar would be slightly out of tune, especially on
the high E string.
4. Display cases.
Your imagination and pocketbook are the only
constraints here. Well-heeled collectors like Tsumura and Chinery have
custom-built glass display cases. Others I know use exhibit or store display
cases to great effect, often laying the instruments flat on glass to avoid
and problems. One collector I know uses a rifle case. Always be careful
of the points of contact between guitar and case. However, besides the
expense, cases can take up lots of space and may not be suitable for all
applications.
5. Rotation.
I know several collectors with sizable numbers
of guitars who use a "rotation" method to enjoy their guitars. They take
out one or two guitars and string them up, then play them for a month or
so after which they put them back in their cases and take out a couple
more. They enjoy small parts of their collection at a time but over a year
or two get to play and enjoy every one after which they start over.
A guitar collection is meant to be enjoyed, and
by considering your use and display of your instruments, you can devise
a system that works best for you.
.
In the early '80s, Sue-On made the mistake of putting a set of guitar strings for an acoustic 12-string in my Xmas stocking one Christmas - bewildering as I did not own an acoustic 12-string. Our Christmases are always a major gift-sharing event and we always save our biggest and best surprise gifts for each other until after the stack of little ones under the tree are opened. The early stocking gift sort of took away from the surprise she had planned when it came time for the final extravaganza. She gave me a card that directed me to look under our bed for a surprise. Hidden there was a Yamaha guitar in a brown hardshell case.
