Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Hanging a Bass by the Headstock? Tuning Problems?
- Thread starter CoffeeLove
- Start date
Rickenbacher, before the spelling change. Serial number 11. Priceless.
Hung by neck.
Good enough to preserve relics from Leo, good enough for my janky basses.
Hung by neck.
Good enough to preserve relics from Leo, good enough for my janky basses.
I guess I'm too paranoid to trust drywall that much, but that's good that it's working for both of you.
I recently mounted my wall hangers on a wood-paneled wall (very old house) where the wood is about 1/2 inch thick and I have no idea where the studs are behind it... I hung a 15 lbs dumbbell from each hanger for a day before putting a guitar/bass on it. That's my level of paranoia with wall hangers.
I've hung my basses by the headstock, put them on a table face up or face down, leaned them back against something (putting pressure on the neck), leaned them forward against something (putting pressure on the neck), dropped them....
None of those things, as long as a tuner's turny part isn't bumped in the process, has ever put my basses out of tune.
So I don't personally have an issue with any of it. Same with guitars and any other instrument. They are built to take it. Any temporary flexing of the neck goes right back where it should after.
But then, I ensure my instruments' nut slots aren't grabbing the string. If they grabbed the string, and the string went out of tune from bending the neck, then that could cause it to stick out of tune.
However, hanging a guitar or bass by the headstock has never put one of my instruments out of tune even while it was hanging. Leaning the headstock against something can put it slightly out, but only as long as it's leaning (in other words, gravity pulls the instrument which is non level, and if headstock is the support at the top end then yea, it'll bend out of tune, like any bass just by pulling on the headstock while you're playing).
None of those things, as long as a tuner's turny part isn't bumped in the process, has ever put my basses out of tune.
So I don't personally have an issue with any of it. Same with guitars and any other instrument. They are built to take it. Any temporary flexing of the neck goes right back where it should after.
But then, I ensure my instruments' nut slots aren't grabbing the string. If they grabbed the string, and the string went out of tune from bending the neck, then that could cause it to stick out of tune.
However, hanging a guitar or bass by the headstock has never put one of my instruments out of tune even while it was hanging. Leaning the headstock against something can put it slightly out, but only as long as it's leaning (in other words, gravity pulls the instrument which is non level, and if headstock is the support at the top end then yea, it'll bend out of tune, like any bass just by pulling on the headstock while you're playing).
You might think, if you believe in physics, that hanging a bass it is giving the truss rod a boost to minimize relief.
Just like pushing back in the headstock.
Just like pushing back in the headstock.
Hey, has anyone done the "You shall be taken from this case and hung by the neck until you are played" joke yet ?.
Not sure if this has been mentioned, but I'm always careful how I position my P-bass with a Hipshot de-tuner on the E string on my Hercules brand stands. I wonder about it hanging on for prolonged periods. And won't hang that bass on my other style wall hanger (no foam).
I hang my basses from the neck at home using wallmounts, and at shows using a basshangar by... well, by @Basshanger.
At home, they are hung on an external wall with big, giant windows. My tuning problems are incredibly slight, almost non-existent, and almost always come from dealing with my soft gig bag, a mono dual bass bag.
Just another point of anecdotal data to put on the wall. I'm sorry for the difficulties you're having, and agree about looking to see if air is blowing on them.
At home, they are hung on an external wall with big, giant windows. My tuning problems are incredibly slight, almost non-existent, and almost always come from dealing with my soft gig bag, a mono dual bass bag.
Just another point of anecdotal data to put on the wall. I'm sorry for the difficulties you're having, and agree about looking to see if air is blowing on them.
I'm not knocking anyone who makes the effort to put their instruments away in cases....... but I'm also in the camp that it's infinitely easier to simply unplug the bass I'm playing, place it on a wall hanger or stand and grab a different one to plug in.... especially when recording or learning a new song where i want to try different basses or guitars to see what fits the song best. Sometimes swapping instruments 4 or more times in 10 minutes. Start doing that and you won't leave all your instruments in their cases all the time.
I had a short scale bass once and left it hanging while I went on vacation. When I got back it was a long scale!
I had my "studio" in the basement. Moved everything to a 2nd floor bedroom. After about a week I had to reset trussrods on a few necks
You already made it clear that yours aren't just into plaster board - so yeah, I'm not worried for you
Some of my basses I can hang for years and will still be in tune. Others go out of tune if I look at them funny.
Have you tried hanging them upside down to see if the tuning goes flat?
I can’t say that I have, but I have had temperature and humidity changes effect tuning. Certainly nothing that takes hours to resolve, just a quick tweak of the tuning gears and away we go.
