Storing basses in their cases or on the wall?

[Matty Koff]

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.

I might have cried... feinted.. pooped myself.. had a stroke..my head might have exploded.. all of the above if I were lucky enough to own a Fodera and wasn't able to make that catch lol

 

[RockinRonnie]

I use stud mounted wall hangers for all the reasons previously mentioned (easy access for ready use and enjoyable artistic display). My second story music room has only one small blinded window, so no issues with sunlight or prying eyes.

I gave up on floor stands because I found they increased the exposure to damage from clumsy feet, careless vacuum cleaners and brooms, pets, children, etc. In short, for me they are safer stored up high on the wall.

I consider cases to be used only for the safe transportation of instruments when away from home.

 

[Bulldog]

Found a picture of it

looks exactly like this

View attachment 521657

Wow!

I've got this modified Ikea closet that I thought was pretty cool until I saw that picture .

 

[James Hart]

I bought a few Hercules hangers for peg board SUPER cheap on Amazon (like $6 a piece!). So when I was starting to build my music room, I took 3" drywall screws to attach 2x4s to the studs:

Then I attached peg board and solid trim with 2.25" drywall screws:

Here is what it looks like currently:

 

[35hundy]

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.

A thousand truths! I'll probably hang my bottom row a little higher than you did yours. Everything on my GAS list is 35" or 34" scale and solid body so hopefully they don't vary too too much. My backings are 6' long and 4"x1/2" pine. I'm hoping to get away with 6 on each row.

 

[rtslinger]

Wow!

I've got this modified Ikea closet that I thought was pretty cool until I saw that picture .
View attachment 521796

That is a good idea for that closet love it. the guitar safes made of gun vaults aren't horribly expense, the price depends on how many you need to store. I currently have 11 bass and gas has always been a problem ha ha ha so I need away to protect my children. I had a tree fall through the house a few years back. I didn't lose any basses but a couple of amps and my home studio weren't lucky enough to make it. After that I started looking for something that was fire and water in that last situation resistant. Sometimes life brings about need as opposed to want you can quote on that ha ha ha

 

[BassHappy]

The answer for me is neither cases nor hanging.

I had a cabinet built for mine by an Amish carpenter.

A cabinet with locking sliding glass doors is just the ticket to keeping them all handy, dust free and at the proper temperature - complete with humidity control - all at the same time.:

The original design included a tambour roll top desk type from door, but even counter balanced and weighted, the door proved to be too heavy:

Mine holds 16 bass in 68" wide.

 

[iriegnome]

I keep mine all in hard cases. I also keep a small humidifier in each case. Really it is a moist sponge in a empty pill container with 5 small holes poked into the lid. The sponge takes about 9 months to dry out. So every 9 months or so every bass gets pulled out, played well, water added to the sponge, tuned and put away. All are safe and ready to play a show at all times.
Here is a pic showing my little humidifier trick.. Sponges are 10 for $1 at the Dollar store and the pill bottles are free when they are empty.

 

[strost]

Follow-up question if I may...

When in cases, is it better to lay them flat or stand them up (body down of course)? Or does it not matter?

I am going away for 6 months so seeing them is not an option (I usually have them on the wall).