Storing basses in their cases or on the wall?

[Gravedigger Dav]

Mine are either in cases in a secure place or on stands. I usually have 1 or two on stands that I will pick up and play.
If a bass comes with a gig bag, it gets a case and the gig bag goes in the trash. They are mostly worthless dust covers.
There is nothing wrong with wall hanging other than the security issues others have mentioned, but neve on an outside wall. Outside walls will experience greater changes in temperature.

 

[Polfuste]

all my bass and guitars are in their gigbag and/or cases when i don't play during the week; On the evening i pull out the one i choose to play and she get back to her gigbag right after. And generally, one of them will be on a stand during the weekend. But when sunday evening come > back to gigbag.

 

[rydin4lifebass]

I keep 3 of my 4 bases in hard shell cases next to my amp/cab. I keep my cheapest bass (A Silvertone Revolver precision) on a stand next to the amp so it's easily accessible at all times.

 

[Fun Size Nick]

I used to always keep in cases/bags, but recently I've taken to putting my bass on a stand and covering it with a sheet to keep the dust off. We have, shall we say, a slightly higher particulate content in the air in Beijing, and the dust collected on the bass from a single day in Beijing is similar to a week or two in Australia!

 

[Alien8]

I've always been taught to tune down a step to store "without maintenance". I store in cases when not in use, but I maintain tuning on them once a month just to be safe. My dad stores with the maintenance free method as do his buds, all still great instruments aged well.

I don't trust wall hangers, so the ones I'm using sit on stands in a safe corner.

 

[Basspolizei]

I have about a dozen vintage basses. They all live on wall hangers in my climate controlled music room at my home.

I only gig with two or three of the basses regularly, the others I play once a month of so, sometimes less. I love seeing them when I walk into the room and if they were stored in cases I would certainly play them less.

Vintage music stores display their basses and guitars by hanging them on the wall. But they need to have them out in the open for potential customers to view.

Is it better to store them in their cases or on the wall?

Well, they certainly look much better on the wall so that you get that sense of instant pride each time you see them. I have two wall mounted and my best of all in a case hidden away. I still play it and want to let it's glory shine and it does as soon as its removed from the case. But I also fear burglary and the taking of my favorite axe. Therefore i show most but hide the best. I know criminal thief's and they want in and out very quickly. So, I feel that using my less favorite and less cost basses work as a decoy so that my ultimate bass gets overlooked. Pretty good strategy and has worked so far.

 

[Basspolizei]

What a miraculous catch!!!! (See post #5 above)

If you wall hang, DO NOT EVER trust screws that go into sheet rock. I don't care if you have a screw anchor the size of a dinner plate, don't trust it.

Wood screws into solid wood ONLY.

When I set up this room for hanging basses, I used oak 1x4 strips as a mounting base. Each oak strip was secured to wall studs by a dozen 3-inch sheetrock screws; then the hangars were mounted on the oak wood strips.

 

[Basspolizei]

What a miraculous catch!!!! (See post #5 above)

If you wall hang, DO NOT EVER trust screws that go into sheet rock. I don't care if you have a screw anchor the size of a dinner plate, don't trust it.

Wood screws into solid wood ONLY.

When I set up this room for hanging basses, I used oak 1x4 strips as a mounting base. Each oak strip was secured to wall studs by a dozen 3-inch sheetrock screws; then the hangars were mounted on the oak wood strips.

Great advice! Love your collection which is awesome. I envy you......

 

[Chef]

I put them back in their cases between uses.
I'd never hang them on the wall. Falling is bad for things.

 

[bluesblaster]

when not being played they always stay in the case

 

[Coolhandjjl]

I've always been taught to tune down a step to store "without maintenance". I store in cases when not in use, but I maintain tuning on them once a month just to be safe. My dad stores with the maintenance free method as do his buds, all still great instruments aged well.

I don't trust wall hangers, so the ones I'm using sit on stands in a safe corner.

Myth. No need to tune down for storage of any lenght of time.

 

[D Bopp]

I keep most of mine in a locked closet in gig bags. My expensive ones stay in hard cases.
I live in an area where I fear getting broken into from time to time, so I don't want to keep them out when I'm not home. Plus I have two young kids that love to "play guitar". That's why my Squier Jaguar bass stays out on the rack

 

[Bassamatic]

I have stored my basses on walls for years.

Having said that, make sure your hanger is attached to a stud or a piece of horizontal wood attached to studs.

My 1 month old custom Fodera fell off a hanger that pulled out of drywall. The hanger had been there for at least 5 years. Miraculously I was there and caught it in midair. Not making this up. I almost passed out with shock. Hell of a catch if I might say so myself.

How awesome that you were there!! Good Bass Karma.

As an engineer, I see that ALL the wall hangers are improperly designed. BOTH of the screws should be above the hook. Otherwise, as with yours, when the top one becomes loose, the weight on the hook simply prys the bottom one out of the wall. C'Mon String Swing - get with it!

Mine are screwed into an oak 1 x 4 that is screwed into several studs.

 

[OldCityBassman]

I like them on the wall, I like the look of them there and it is easy to grab and start playing. I usually play more than one when I practice. I have them in a dining room converted to a music room, no outside window.

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[Coolhandjjl]

.......As an engineer, I see that ALL the wall hangers are improperly designed. BOTH of the screws should be above the hook. Otherwise, as with yours, when the top one becomes loose, the weight on the hook simply prys the bottom one out of the wall. C'Mon String Swing - get with it!....

Not these. Hercules, the only way to go. Foam is safe for all finishes as well.

 

[rtslinger]

In cases in a modified gun safe

like this one but mine has two doors

 

[gmjhowe]

Its nice to see all the storage options.

What are peoples solutions for storing instruments outside their cases, without hanging them on the wall?

 

[rtslinger]

Found a picture of it

looks exactly like this

 

[Pilgrim]

You've inspired me to set up my wall hangers in the same format. What is the centre-to-centre distance between your hangers if you don't mind me asking?

Sorry to delay - I'll check tonight and post.

The key is to space the hangars for the basses YOU own. If you have a Casady bass or similar hollow or semi-hollow basses, you will need to space the hangers farther apart than if you have EB-0 or Mustang basses. And if you do two rows, don't forget that headstocks have tuners sticking out of at least one side, often two. If the bodies of the basses on the top row hang down into the area where the headstocks on the row below are, you need to space the bottom row out farther to keep the bodies on the top row away from the tuners on the row below. (Note the tuners on the Casady and the Univox 335-style bass in the photos below....VERY close to the body of the bass in the row above.)

And don't forget the scale length of the basses and the length of the headstocks. Fenders have long headstocks. If you're mounting near the ceiling, you need to make sure that you not only have room for the headstocks, but add 3-4 inches of room to lift them off the hangers! You don't want to bang the headstock into the ceiling every time you pick up a bass.

Conversely, if you do two rows like I did, make sure that you have enough room on the bottom row to hang a 34" scale bass and not have it resting on the floor.

My setup wasn't perfect, although I managed to move basses around until it worked. I did have to be careful not to chip the bodies of basses on the top row on tuners of the row below. I was trying to get a LOT of instruments into a small area.

 

[preside]

Wall hangers. As art.

Basses in cases live in dark lonely places. Put it in a case and the next thing you know you haven't played it in six months.


View attachment 521328

Is that white semi hollow a DeAngelico? Man that is a pretty bass.