Warning!broken wall hanger = broken guitar!

[beninma]

Guitar stores have to hang them on the wall cause they probably go out of business if the potential customers walk in and can't actually see the guitars. That's not a factor at home.

While I would not worry about the mounting with butterfly/toggles or direct into the studs I still have little interest in wall hangers. I've done a bunch of butterfly toggles in my house in the last few years to fix damage done by the previous owner using poor mounting on picture frames, towel racks, etc.. if you do the toggles right you can easily end up with something that supports 100lbs+. For example my son pulled a towel rack out of the wall. After I redid it he can do pullups on that towel rack and the metal rack will fail before the drywall will.

Wall hangers are still just not worth it though from my perspective:

+/- Feeds your vanity/GAS by putting the guitars in view
+ Slightly faster to pull the guitar down to play it (5 seconds?)
- Worse control of your guitars from a humidity perspective
- Guitar is more likely to take sun/radiation damage
- No protection from other sources of damage (kids, pets, friends in the house)
- Cost extra money & time to set up
- Takes longer to pack up the guitar to play somewhere else
- Risk of guitar falling
- Risk of hanger failing & causing a fall

[Misifus]

I’ve been hanging my very expensive Kinscherff on a wall hanger since 2003, and it’s doing fine. I did make sure that the screws were in studs, and I do check them from time to time.(all my instruments are on wall hangers)

[ylekot]

OP I am sorry for your your loss.....that truly sucks

I have had 2 String Swing brand ones for years with no issues mounted per instructions using supplied hardware.....

$0.02 deposited

[fazool]

Originally Posted by beninma

G...
Wall hangers are still just not worth it though from my perspective:

+/- Feeds your vanity/GAS by putting the guitars in view
+ Slightly faster to pull the guitar down to play it (5 seconds?)
- Worse control of your guitars from a humidity perspective
- Guitar is more likely to take sun/radiation damage
- No protection from other sources of damage (kids, pets, friends in the house)
- Cost extra money & time to set up
- Takes longer to pack up the guitar to play somewhere else
- Risk of guitar falling
- Risk of hanger failing & causing a fall

There are two camps on this topic and everyone's situation is completely unique. A lot of these arguments are made with conviction but without actual scientific data.

The most important of these is the humidity control.

If you have a properly humidified and environmentally controlled house/room, your guitar is much safer than putting it in and out of a case. The case gives a false sense of security that it's humidified OK. When you open your case, you've just exchanged "all" the humidified air with your room's dry air so your case is not very controlled at all.

It takes longer to pack up if you pack up and go somewhere.

It costs massively less to have a hanger than an expensive case. (I'm just being contrarian here).

I've read significantly more stories of case bite damage than hanging damage (that's true). And cases lying on the ground are a breeding ground for trips and step-ons.

I *WANT* the vanity of looking at my guitars - they are beautiful works of art that I enjoy viewing.

So, you see, I don't care if someone cases their guitars but you cannot mandate and criticise as if everyone who doesn't do it YOUR way is wrong. Because (just to prove my point) I can prove everyone one of your pro-case arguments faulty.

[vindibona1]

Originally Posted by Placida

Of all the many guitars I have owned, cheapos and quality stuff alike, I would never think of hanging any of them on a wall. Just too much potential for a ruined musical instrument. Floor stands or cases for me.

The truth is that NONE of the methods guarantee safety for your guitars. How many times have we seen threads like "the case lid closed on my guitar and the latch dinged my guitar". Or "the dog knocked my guitar stand over". So, while a case makes a guitar relatively safe while in it, how many accidents happen taking it out or putting it back? Perhaps the damage isn't as drastic as a guitar falling a few feet off a wall, but care needs to be taken regardless of how the instrument is stored.

So all you can do is make sure your wall hangers are good quality and securely fastened...

... But one other common sense thing that needs to be mentioned is taking care when placing your guitar on a wall hanger. Be sure to place it GENTLY on the hanger so the weight of the guitar isn't suddenly being added to the hanger and doesn't act like a gentle hammer stroke working to pull the screw/anchor away from the wall each time you park your guitar on it. Also be aware of the weight of the guitar. Heavier guitars and basses will probably need more robust anchors. But again, the constant repetition of adding and subtracting weight from the hangers over time will require periodic inspection.

And again... Insure your instruments. Insurance is too cheap not to have it.

[stuco]

I've been using string swing hangers for probably 15 years. Never had a problem, I have them mounted in drywall with anchors and on studs. Expensive guitars and heavy guitas go on studs.

Guitar stands are more dangerous in my opinion and I'm not going to take my guitars out and put them back in their cases every single time I play them. Cases are good but instruments sometimes get damaged by case latches, nothing is foolproof. Your house could also flood (ala Tony Rice or the Nashville storage building ), burn down, someone fall on your case, your bed could collpse and crush your case, whatever. If I had something super valuable, then I wouldn't mind using a case for that one instrument.

All of life involves risk, and for me life is too short to not play my instruments as much because they are in cases tucked away. I'll take my chances and won't be losing any sleep over it.

[Goat Mick]

I've been hanging all my guitars on the wall for about 30 years. All on quality hangers and all hangers mounted to studs. Not one of them has jumped out of the hanger and committed suicide.

[Jcamp]

Everybody is real concerned about attaching the mount to a stud and I agree that its a good idea for a single guitar but where I hung so many guitars I ran a 1x6 along the wall and mounted it directly to the studs then I mounted the hangers along it at whatever spacing I wanted. You could do the same thing for a single guitar it just might look weird.
Also I have two kids so my guitars are safer hung on the wall (reasonably high off the floor) than they are in stands or in my cases

[MChild62]

Originally Posted by fazool

So, you see, I don't care if someone cases their guitars but you cannot mandate and criticise as if everyone who doesn't do it YOUR way is wrong. Because (just to prove my point) I can prove everyone one of your pro-case arguments faulty.

You forgot kindness to the birds, too!

[Edgar Poe]

Originally Posted by Jabberwocky

But here's a neat idea:



Them lateral thinkers: screw the hanger to the guitar.

Shouldn't you add flat washers under the screw heads ?

Ed

[Edgar Poe]

Originally Posted by hat

Right now I'm very upset. I was just sitting down, when I heard a loud crash from my music room. One of the guitar wall hangers had broken, and my guitar hit the floor! The damage I can see so far amounts to several large splits in the back, as well as a portion of the back coming apart from from the binding/kerfing. There is also a crack across the endpin area. ARRGGHH!
I am contacting the manufacturer, and so far have no idea what to expect out of them. While I won't mention the brand name, I will say this:
IF you are using wall hangers, please inspect them on a regular basis if you value your instruments! or better yet, don't use them.

Did the hanger break, or did it come off the wall.

Ed

[vindibona1]

Originally Posted by beninma

Guitar stores have to hang them on the wall cause they probably go out of business if the potential customers walk in and can't actually see the guitars. That's not a factor at home.

While I would not worry about the mounting with butterfly/toggles or direct into the studs I still have little interest in wall hangers...

Wall hangers are still just not worth it though from my perspective:

I understand your points and preferences, but I have to disagree with several of the points you made. I'll enumerate...

+/- Feeds your vanity/GAS by putting the guitars in view
Not so sure, but they are pretty to look at. I don't need other art or decor.

+ Slightly faster to pull the guitar down to play it (5 seconds?)
I've been playing/teaching music for a very long time. And I know from my own experience and students that AN INSTRUMENT IN THE CASE TENDS TO STAY IN THE CASE. AN INSTRUMENT LEFT OUT TENDS TO GET PLAYED.

- Worse control of your guitars from a humidity perspective
Only for those who don't take care. I have two hygrometers where my guitars are out hanging and try to keep humidity between 40%-50%. Right now with a/c it's 40%. Just had to look across the room to find out. Humidifiers run in the winter to keep humidity constant. I have hygrometers in the case and they are reading roughly the same.

- Guitar is more likely to take sun/radiation damage
Only direct sunlight will could hurt the guitar. Indirect UV will have no effect other than allowing your guitar's woods to increase in color density.

- No protection from other sources of damage (kids, pets, friends in the house)
My guitars are out of the way and way out of kids' and others' reach.

- Cost extra money & time to set up
Each case costs how much?

- Takes longer to pack up the guitar to play somewhere else
Actually it takes less time because I don't have to remove the guitar to pack cables, picks capos and small preamp.

- Risk of guitar falling
If you're talking about a guitar falling out of your hands the solution is simple: Be careful and sure handed. As a side note, this is why I don't like Hercules stands. The wingy-thingys require more attention parking and removing guitars to make sure the mechanical mechanisms are functioning properly. It would be a near impossiblity to knock a guitar out of a well designed wall hanger.

- Risk of hanger failing & causing a fall
Probably statistically no different than a lid falling on a guitar causing damage

Everyone has their preferences and personal schtick. But I can tell you right now, my guitars are hanging and my trumpets are right now cased. Guess which instruments are getting practiced? [I'm teaching a trumpet lesson later this afternoon but otherwise would be out too].

[guitar george]

If you install a hanger using the appropriate wall anchors, even when attached to wallboard, there is almost zero chance that the weight of a guitar could break the anchor or pull it out of the wall.

[junkyard]

Frankly, I have no opinion about the wall hangers but I always get a chuckle out of the argument that uncased instruments get played more often. All of my instruments are stored in their cases. I play daily. I am fairly disciplined around my practice time. The guitars being in their cases is not a factor that deters me from picking them up and getting to work.

[guitar george]

This type of wallboard anchor is almost fail proof for securing wall hangers:

WALL ANCHOR.jpg