Can a wall hanger twist a neck?

Bting · #1 03-29-2011, 10:44 PM

I have a couple of Hercules Wall hangers, Hercules Guitar Stand GSP38WB , and have my Epi TBird hanging from one.

Now it was hanging from it for a month or more untouched, the Jazz was getting a lot of play time, but I strapped on the other day, and the G String is now hitting the first 5 or 6 frets.

It was professionally set up for me a few months ago, and I was very pleased with the results, but now this.

I know the weather conditions may have changed it a bit, but this is I think kinda ridiculous. The other 3 strings are fine.

Can it be that the hanger twisted the neck a bit?

I'd like to know before I hang the Jazz on the other one. FOr right now, I'll keep it on the stand or on me.

Thanks

FretlessMainly · #2 03-29-2011, 10:55 PM

I have a good number of basses hanging from wall-mounted, stud-secured wall hangers. I'll admit that I check on them weekly, but unless you have the anchors rotated into a position that forces the bass to hang out of perpendicular to the floor, I can't see why it would induce neck warp (if it even can; I'd imagine that it's possible). To get it hanging, you need to make sure that the rotational angle of the hanger prongs accepts the geometry of the headstock to allow for proper hanging angle (sorry if you already are well aware of this - no doubt some folks aren't).

A small amount of error shouldn't matter, but I have no way of knowing how much error may or may not be the cause of neck warp.

T-Bird · #3 03-29-2011, 10:59 PM

Hi.

I've heard claims of that happening, but over these few decades I've been hanging my instruments by the neck only, I haven't found any twisting to take place.

So my vote would go for the seasonal changes.

A Pro-setup should mean that a slight twist on the TR nut is all that is required to make things right again.

Regards
Sam

4001 · #4 03-29-2011, 11:11 PM

Flip them around on the hooks every night.

BritFunk · #5 03-30-2011, 09:13 AM

My Friends,

While I doubt the neck will actually twist or warp, they WILL absolutely go out of adjustment. I hung all of my guitars and basses from slatwall in one room of the house - all of them were perfectly set up (I do setups for the local music store). In two weeks' time *nothing* played correctly except the couple of instruments I had left in floor stands - every guitar hanging by the headstock had shifted. I can only postulate that the weight of the bass on the neck caused the truss rod to shift a bit.

I'm can't say with 100% certainty that hanging the guitars was the only factor, but I am quite convinced there is a correlation of some kind.

----
Kurt

JDJen · #6 03-30-2011, 09:24 AM

I've got 2 hanging right over my desk at my office. Ones a MIK Tune TWX 51 five string and the other is an Ibanez BTB400 also MIK.....No Problems so far and it's been over a year.

Diogenes · #7 03-30-2011, 09:31 AM

I don't see them warping a neck but straightening it and reducing relief, sure. That happens to some of mine with heavy bodies but within a half hour or so of playing all is good.

Duke21 · #8 03-30-2011, 09:34 AM

My Geddy is hanged for over 2 years now, no problem, same goes for my CV p bass and the Hofner copy.

Bting · #9 03-30-2011, 10:07 AM

Thanks for the replies all.

If it is just a change in relief, that I am ok with. They'll be ready for a seasonal adjustment soon anyway.
I wanted to make sure it would not actually Twist the neck.
It was such a dramatic shift I was really concerned. You can actually see the string laying on the first 3 or 4 frets, when at rest.

Before i get to fiddling with the truss rod, I may, grit my teeth and play on it for a couple of hours as suggested to see if that changes anything back. Not a permanent solution, but a good bit of data to know.

As far as laying the hangers adjusted for the angle of the headstock, these hangers are pretty cool and have a Gimbal inside that rotates everytime you hang an insturment on them, to ensure it is prependicular. I also checked and the body is at least 3 inches away for the wall at it's closest.

Thanks again all. I will feel free to hang 'em up when not strapped on

JLS · #10 03-30-2011, 10:09 AM

Nope.

How could it?

chokeslam512 · #11 03-30-2011, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDJen

I've got 2 hanging right over my desk at my office. Ones a MIK Tune TWX 51 five string and the other is an Ibanez BTB400 also MIK.....No Problems so far and it's been over a year.

You have not one but TWO basses at work?!?! Apparently my job is teh suxxorz.

NCD · #12 03-30-2011, 11:23 AM

Only the G was touching, but had the others gotten a lot closer?

At first glance, I'd suspect two different things going on at once. One is just a seasonal adjustment but the reason the G was touching and others weren't may not be the neck at all.

Check how deeply your G string slot in the nut is cut, compared to the others. It's just a thought.

If the nut slot for the G is deeper, it'll touch long before any other strings when the neck gets too much tension on the truss rod due to seasonal changes. I just filled and re-cut the G string slot in my nut two days ago because it was sitting lower after I had re-cut the slots as part of a de-fret. I saw something similar during my own set up because the first time around I had cut the G slot too deeply.

fenderhutz · #13 03-30-2011, 11:26 AM

If that were the case every mom and pop shop and Guitar Center in the world that sells instruments are selling warped necks, and a good bit of them. Wall hanging has been a standard for instruments for a long time, if the neck warps it's probably just a bad neck.

Nomadskills · #14 03-30-2011, 01:19 PM

I have a couple of Hercules stands in which they hang by the neck and haven't had any noticeable problems... But now I'm going to have to check when I get home just in case...

Pilgrim · #15 03-30-2011, 07:05 PM

It's not the wall hanger. it's the neck.

F-Clef-Jef · #16 04-01-2011, 02:53 PM

I doubt the wall hanger caused anything - I've had several of my guitars and basses hanging by their necks for about 4 years now, no problems at all. I would suspect seasonal changes, especially if you have dry heating in winter, will sometimes cause issues. (and NEVER hand a guitar/bass over a heat vent...)
Besides, a bass has about 120 - 150 lbs of string tension, and a bass weighs maybe 10 lbs, I think the strings win that battle. I would think the neck would more likely warp if it was leaning in a stand or laying on it's back in a case. But, it usually doesn't.