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hanging bass on wall hook

At a minimum, drywall anchors should support 25 lbs each. If installed properly, two should support
I have 2 guitars, 1 u-bass, 1 34" 4-string P, and 1 35" 5-string all on "off the wall" hangers. They've been up for years. Those hangers take 3 screws in a triangle pattern footprint. I used one of those stud locators that beeps to find where to locate the screws. Wall studs are supposed to be 16" apart, so once you find one of the wall studs, you can use a tape measure from there, or use a tape measure and stud located together. On all of my hangers, the width of the wide part of the triangle pattern was too wide to catch the wall stud. Only one side was able to be screwed into the wood. The other side was in sheetrock, so basically this:
Hanger P1.png
It's maybe a little hard to see, but I tried to color the screw locations in green that were able to "catch" a wall stud and be screwed into wood. The red screw location couldn't catch a stud because wall studs just aren't that wide. I used one of these where I indicated red on all 5 of my wall hangers:
Web capture_10-9-2021_135934_www.menards.com.jpeg
It doesn't matter whether you use the anchor on the right or the left screw location, just be sure to put the other two in wood. I've had my hangers up for a few years now and they are not loose/going anywhere until I take them down.
Alternatively, you can do this:
Web capture_10-9-2021_14556_www.pinterest.com.jpeg
That's not my stuff, just a random image I found on the interwebs. Basically all you do is get a board long enough that there's enough space for all your hangers/instruments. Make sure it's at least as wide as your hanger is tall. Don't get your hangers too close together otherwise you'll bump them into one another every time you put up/take down a bass.
Sort of the same story here; if you go this route, make sure you secure your long board with proper sheet-rock or whatever kind of screws you need for the kind of wall you have. Secure the long board with as many screws as makes you comfortable in every stud location you can reach. I had this arrangement before we moved. I did accidentally get my basses a little close to one another. live and learn... On one of the ends, my long board was a little warped, so rather than leaving up a board that had a 1/4" gap between the wall and that board, I just secured it flush using one of those dry wall anchor screws in the second pic. At any rate, once that board is up, you can enjoy knowing that all 3 of your guitar hanger screws are in wood and those baby's aren't going anywhere.
 
Other than the wall hook uprooting, or someone banging into it, the only other concern I would have is if your bass is hanging in a room that will be exposed to temperature extremes for long periods of time, perhaps a room that has no AC or heat. I keep mine in a room that is always 40-60 relative humidity. I think this is the reason I rarely have to adjust the neck.
 
The main 'problem' with hanging guitars and basses on walls is that I'm likely to pull one down and noodle for a while as I pass.
So long as you regularly dust them there's no issue with hanging them on the wall.
 
The only thing I think I miss about big, heavy rigs with racked heads is that I was able to attach a hanger from the rack, like this:

View attachment 4401252

I hate to generalize as everyone's experiences are different. In this case I will - anyone who has gigged in tiny, busy clubs like the ones I've been in would immediately understand the advantages of hanging the bass off the rig like this, versus sitting it on a stand on the floor.
When I'm not playing it, my bass goes its hard case. No stands, no hangers.
 
For me it boils down to:
1. It clears up the tight space I have available for my equipment.
2. I really like having my basses out where I can enjoy looking at them. I’ve spent a fair amount of time of time, effort and money assembling my lineup and I’m glad to have them up where I can see them.
3. I am significantly more likely to play them when they are in sight and close to hand. This would also be the case if I had them on a multi-bass floor-stand, but there isn’t room in my space for that. Hanging my basses on the wall leads to more playing time for me. I hate to admit it, but I’m too lazy to case/re-case my instrument every time I want to noodle about for 5-10 mins. My cases are stored under beds throughout the house (hard cases/gig-bags are not part of the approved decor at Chez ShawnG), it just wouldn’t happen.
4. Having them at hand allows me to switch instruments easily and often and they all get played more regularly.

FWIW, only one hangar is mounted to a stud, luck of the draw in my tight space. All of the others are using wall anchors. They are not going anywhere and would easily support 30+ lbs of weight all day, every day. As long as you use a decent wall anchor and are not just screwing the screws into the drywall, you’ll be fine.
 
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Good to know about this. I guess if we keep basses on a floor stand for long periods, it might be good to apply some furniture wax, pledge, or other, on the edge to maybe prevent this sort of thing.

The problem comes from the padding material in some stands chemically reacting with some finishes. Waxing isn’t going to completely stop that. Waxing may even make the problem worse.

Fortunately, reputable stand manufacturers are aware of this potential problem and use nonreactive padding materials.
 
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I found my wall hanging system at Lowes, it’s a heavy vinyl track that screws into the wall studs and has movable hooks, so you can move and arrange stuff however you want. I’ve been using this system for years, and never had a guitar fall or get stained from the soft covering of the hooks. My only issue is that I have about 9 feet of wall space where I COULD put several more hangers and guitars, soooo, I’m always looking for a guitar or bass that I just can’t live without, lol.
 
Here's one result from a 1975 P bass staying in a guitar stand on the floor too long.

View attachment 4401423

And the other side:

View attachment 4401424

I much prefer wall hangers but I don't have the room at the moment. But most of my guitar stands are K&M which use a clear rubber for the base or hang from the neck. This worries me as I never really thought about the foam coming in contact with the finish and causing problems.
 
The only thing I think I miss about big, heavy rigs with racked heads is that I was able to attach a hanger from the rack, like this:

View attachment 4401252

I hate to generalize as everyone's experiences are different. In this case I will - anyone who has gigged in tiny, busy clubs like the ones I've been in would immediately understand the advantages of hanging the bass off the rig like this, versus sitting it on a stand on the floor.
This is awesome, innovative as hell, good job