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Hanging a Bass by the Headstock? Tuning Problems?

I always wondered about the stress put on the screws holding on neck when hanging a stringed instrument. That weight of the downforce has to hang in those 4 screws from neck to body i'd think.
A neck thru bass wouldn't have same stress at that connection point.

If the body and parts were a hefty 10 lbs and you have 4 neck bolts that WOULD boil down to 2.5 lbs of sheering force on those screws. In other words, next to nothing. That's if the bass is unstrung. Tuned up the strings are also providing 150ish pounds of force in the opposite direction most of which is applied to the neck pocket meaning the scews are feeling even less sheer force than the 2.5 lbs.

The screws and the bass are going to be perfectly fine hanging. Whatever is going on with the OPs bass is more likely due to temp and humidity fluctuations or worn out strings themselves.
 
Yeah you definitely have to screw into the studs. I can't imagine many people are screwing wall hangers into drywall.
I do, with proper anchors, without a problem at all.
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It has three anchor points and the bass weighs ~10 lbs or less. I think it's well within specs.


Until it gets knocked, or the instrument gets plonked too heavily in the cradle, taking the hanger, and a big chunk of plaster board out of the wall.

Some people just don't seem to figure out the mechanics, which is pretty scary when toddlers are reaching up to pull at them.

When properly mounted, they've got a lot going for them, particularly in terms of convenience, and reclaiming floor space (makes hoovering easier / less potentially hazardous to instruments on regular stands, too).
 
Until it gets knocked, or the instrument gets plonked too heavily in the cradle, taking the hanger, and a big chunk of plaster board out of the wall.

Some people just don't seem to figure out the mechanics, which is pretty scary when toddlers are reaching up to pull at them.

When properly mounted, they've got a lot going for them, particularly in terms of convenience, and reclaiming floor space (makes hoovering easier / less potentially hazardous to instruments on regular stands, too).

No toddlers, I'm not doing pull ups on them, they're fine.
 
Four of my five bases, my guitar, and my acoustic guitar are all on stands that hang them by the headstock. The stand I’m using for the fifth bass has the feet on the bottom to support the bass that way but, if I remember correctly, I didn’t buy that stand myself.

I’ve never noticed tuning issues on any of my instruments.
 
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I was just looking at a pack of new strings I bought, and D’Addario claims the total tension imparted by a 34” set of .045-.100 chrome flatwounds is 199.75 lb.

I may be thinking about it wrong, but to me it seems like the well-under-10-lb. weight of my Squier Affinity P hanging by its headstock is an insignificant counter-stress to the near 200 lb. compressive load and bending load those strings are imparting when tuned to pitch. That bass has a stout neck, not flexy at all, and appears to be dead stable in the 12 years I’ve had it. I only have to retune for bumped tuners or a couple times per year with major weather changes. It hangs on a wall hanger, with the only consideration being that I like looking at it over my desk when I’m not playing it.

Next to it is a Squier Bullet Special, sort of a one-HB hardtail plywood strat, and while it does have a flexy neck—sort of a wooden Bigsby—it always returns to pitch and in-tune-ness, and like the bass, it only gets out of whack with major seasonal weather changes, and once re-tuned, it stays there.

Conclusions:

1) I lucked into structurally solid beaters, and should feel fortunate for various reasons including stable tuning.

2) Because they stay in tune, hanging them on the wall proves I own them, and I am not Richie Sambora.
 
I think it is a temperature and humidity thing. Even the heavy body of a stingray is not significant where compared to the string tension, capacity of the truss rod and strength of the wood itself. A 1/4" truss rod can carry around 1,000 lbs if made from basic steel. A 1" x 1" cross section of maple can hold around 500 lbs in the direction of the grain.
 
I always wondered about the stress put on the screws holding on neck when hanging a stringed instrument. That weight of the downforce has to hang in those 4 screws from neck to body i'd think.
A neck thru bass wouldn't have same stress at that connection point.

I’d be curious what the “net” tension would be on those 4 screws, after adding the “hanging force” but subtracting the string tension force. Something tells me the tension/force on the neck screws from hanging a bass, when compared to the force already on those screws from the string tension, is negligible.

Yes, but a good 5 feet away and not aiming at the bass. Could that be the problem?

Sure could. Ambient temperature around the bass will cause temperature fluctuations of the wood. Cold = sharp, warm = flat.

Most materials contract as they get colder. Most metals do more than most woods. Strings get cooler, instrument goes sharp. Pull it down to play it, moving to a different spot in the room, even body heat, can cause a change. That's just my experience, so it was my guess on what might be going on with yours.


Annnnnnd /thread.

I’ve noticed countless times, especially in winter, that after tuning the bass cold then playing for 10-15 minutes, the whole thing is flat.
 
Went to the Bullock Museum today to check out Guitar - The Instrument that Rocked the World.
Point is, OK the first point is the Texas State History Museum is cool enough to have a guitar exhibit. But also, this is estimated 3,000 years old. This is just how you hang instruments.
 
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My basses are on wall hangers all the time, never experienced what you're seeing. Mine are usually still in tune when I take it down to play.

Just pulled one down that was hanging for a year ( and not touched in that year) and the only string out of tune was the B which was a very little bit flat ..
 
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