Hello Forum people!
OK, here's what may seem to be a dumb question. It's not about triplets nor keys relative to the capo . . . it's about guitar stands. I just bought one. Why? In an attempt to get my daughter interested in the guitar that she announced she wanted to learn one year ago today. (It's a long, but interesting story, but not for now.) I feel that if it's visible, she'll be more likely to play it!
I've seen a lot of guitar stands--even in Neil's videos--but can a guitar just be left in a stand? We store ours in the case. Can it be left out? Even in winter when it needs a humidifier? We live in a four season climate with hot, humid summers and fairly cold winters, but no forced-air heat. I like the way it looks out and it's more accessible this way.
Any answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Jean
Guitar stand question
Jean,
Good question.
I know lots of folk put their guitars back in their cases after playing. In a country where you have dramatic seasons that is probably a good idea.
It doesn't work for me. I have all of my guitars and ukuleles on stands. It's the only way I keep playing them. At one point, I used to put my nylon string back in it's case and then into the bottom of my wardrobe. But, it just ended up meaning that I never played it. The hassle of getting it out of and back into the cupboard was just too much. And more importantly, it was a classic case of out of sight out of mind. I just kept forgetting that I had it.
My nylon is now on a stand. Sometimes it lives in the lounge room on a different stand for a while, sometimes it's with the rest of the herd in my music room. I play it regularly.
My stands are all non-reactive rubber, so they won't injure the guitars.
The added advantage of having them out is that I get extra value from the enjoyment I get from just looking at them every day. Seriously, I often smile just because I've walked into the room and seen them there all wanting it be played. Although....occasionally I feel bad for neglecting one or two of them.
I should add though, that Sydney is fairly kind to guitars. We do have hot humid summers, but our winters while often wet as it is now, doesn't get too cold (around a low of 6 when I am). Of course, that doesn't mean I don't still complain about it being bloody freezing.
Enjoy.
Michele
Good question.
I know lots of folk put their guitars back in their cases after playing. In a country where you have dramatic seasons that is probably a good idea.
It doesn't work for me. I have all of my guitars and ukuleles on stands. It's the only way I keep playing them. At one point, I used to put my nylon string back in it's case and then into the bottom of my wardrobe. But, it just ended up meaning that I never played it. The hassle of getting it out of and back into the cupboard was just too much. And more importantly, it was a classic case of out of sight out of mind. I just kept forgetting that I had it.
My nylon is now on a stand. Sometimes it lives in the lounge room on a different stand for a while, sometimes it's with the rest of the herd in my music room. I play it regularly.
My stands are all non-reactive rubber, so they won't injure the guitars.
The added advantage of having them out is that I get extra value from the enjoyment I get from just looking at them every day. Seriously, I often smile just because I've walked into the room and seen them there all wanting it be played. Although....occasionally I feel bad for neglecting one or two of them.
I should add though, that Sydney is fairly kind to guitars. We do have hot humid summers, but our winters while often wet as it is now, doesn't get too cold (around a low of 6 when I am). Of course, that doesn't mean I don't still complain about it being bloody freezing.
Enjoy.
Michele
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Music Junkie
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Jean:
I subscribe to your philosophy of leaving the guitar in sight in order to spur interest.... I do the same, and it seems to work a bit. Not only for my two sons, but it makes it easy for me to just grab one and play for a few minutes when I get the chance. Fortunately for me, I live in a one season climate here by the beach in Southern California. Our temps stay fairly mild (62-75) year round, with a few exceptions from time to time. More importantly, our humidity stays about 45-50% most of the time. If it ever varies, it usually drops to about 35% or so, and I just turn on the room humidifier I bought a while back. It gets the living room up to 45% in a couple of hours or so. Since I am in that situation, I have most of my guitars hanging on the walls. The biggest problem I have now is the dust...
My wife laughs at me, because I don't dust the whole house, but my guitars get dusted almost every night.... 
If you have four seasons and a wide range of humidity, you may think about keeping them in the cases, or getting a nicer unit that is a combo humidifier/de-humidifier. They can get a little costly as a fair warning. Or, you can purchase the nice self contained humidifier stands that I have seen floating around on the web.
Jason
I subscribe to your philosophy of leaving the guitar in sight in order to spur interest.... I do the same, and it seems to work a bit. Not only for my two sons, but it makes it easy for me to just grab one and play for a few minutes when I get the chance. Fortunately for me, I live in a one season climate here by the beach in Southern California. Our temps stay fairly mild (62-75) year round, with a few exceptions from time to time. More importantly, our humidity stays about 45-50% most of the time. If it ever varies, it usually drops to about 35% or so, and I just turn on the room humidifier I bought a while back. It gets the living room up to 45% in a couple of hours or so. Since I am in that situation, I have most of my guitars hanging on the walls. The biggest problem I have now is the dust...
My wife laughs at me, because I don't dust the whole house, but my guitars get dusted almost every night.... If you have four seasons and a wide range of humidity, you may think about keeping them in the cases, or getting a nicer unit that is a combo humidifier/de-humidifier. They can get a little costly as a fair warning. Or, you can purchase the nice self contained humidifier stands that I have seen floating around on the web.
Jason
Hi Jean,
Whether or not you can leave a guitar in a stand depends on a couple of factors:
1. If the relative humidity in your house remains between 40 and 55 percent, you're good to go.
2. If the relative humidity in your house falls outside of that range, either some or all of the time, I'd be concerned.
A guitar kept on a stand in a too-dry environment may crack from the lack of moisture in the wood. I've seen it happen many times. And a guitar kept in a too-wet environment may expand, causing the bridge to pop off. In both cases, you may also experience severe neck (the guitar's, not yours) damage.
Some people are lucky and have gotten away with it. Others aren't so lucky. I can only say that I would never ever leave a precious guitar on a stand if I were the least bit worried about the future of that guitar. I keep my Taylor GS Mini on stand; I keep my Taylor 12-fret, my Taylor 814, and my Martin baritone guitar in their cases with humidifying devices.
Having said all this, the only way you can know for sure what the humidity in your house is like is to buy a hygrometer and measure it. If you're in the U.S., you can get a cheap one from Radio Shack and other places.
Here's a short video produced by Taylor that will give you the skinny on humidity:
Whether or not you can leave a guitar in a stand depends on a couple of factors:
1. If the relative humidity in your house remains between 40 and 55 percent, you're good to go.
2. If the relative humidity in your house falls outside of that range, either some or all of the time, I'd be concerned.
A guitar kept on a stand in a too-dry environment may crack from the lack of moisture in the wood. I've seen it happen many times. And a guitar kept in a too-wet environment may expand, causing the bridge to pop off. In both cases, you may also experience severe neck (the guitar's, not yours) damage.
Some people are lucky and have gotten away with it. Others aren't so lucky. I can only say that I would never ever leave a precious guitar on a stand if I were the least bit worried about the future of that guitar. I keep my Taylor GS Mini on stand; I keep my Taylor 12-fret, my Taylor 814, and my Martin baritone guitar in their cases with humidifying devices.
Having said all this, the only way you can know for sure what the humidity in your house is like is to buy a hygrometer and measure it. If you're in the U.S., you can get a cheap one from Radio Shack and other places.
Here's a short video produced by Taylor that will give you the skinny on humidity:
My 2 cents are......guitars are meant to be played and I'm going to die. Enjoy them. I'm going to bet that those amazing circa 1940's Martin or Gibson guitars weren't stored in their cases or even on stands way back when. I'm guessing they were left propped up in a chair on stood up in a corner or even left lying on the floor. Look at Willie Nelson's guitar, I'm guessing he doesn't store his in a humidity control cases!
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Hydroman52
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I tend to agree with Daryl. The only reason that I keep my guitars in their cases most of the time is because I have an English Setter dog in the house. In his great fits of canine enthusiasm, he tends to knock things over on a regular basis. In the wood heating months, they are usually in the cases with lots of humidifying devices, unless, of course, I'm playing one. Actually, it's a bit more handy to keep them in the cases, because at least once a week I go to rehearsals. If it weren't for the out of control (hey! what are you getting into now?) dog, I'd probably have a guitar on a stand in every room of the house (probably not the bathrooms . . . . that would be a bit sick), one in the garage, and one on the front porch during spring, summer, and fall.
Buy it. Play it. Leave it behind for someone else when you're dead and gone . . . . . if there's anything left of it.
Hydroman52
Buy it. Play it. Leave it behind for someone else when you're dead and gone . . . . . if there's anything left of it.
Hydroman52
Thanks guys, very helpful. I think I might try to find some compromise position. When September comes and my daughter is back at school, the guitar can stay in its case most of the day. During the summer I think I'll put it away at night and maybe try to limit the hours it's out. We'll at full humidity now and we limit air conditioning when possible. But the idea is to try to get my daughter interested again. We'll see. :S
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TGNesh
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Well.....a third of my students are children indeed and I always encourage them to put the stand down where they actually are most of the time, which is often the livingroom, indeed on a stand (definitely nót in a case). Otherwise they just simply forget etc. I take it's not like a 'fancy' expensive guitar or something?
But there is another thing, parents are often trying to be helpful and encouraging, but they have busy lifes and like the kids, sometimes they forget to encourage or stick/remind their child to the daily practice/playing-routine. My point, please don't forget to take the guitar out of the case by the time your daughter comes home!
Ness
But there is another thing, parents are often trying to be helpful and encouraging, but they have busy lifes and like the kids, sometimes they forget to encourage or stick/remind their child to the daily practice/playing-routine. My point, please don't forget to take the guitar out of the case by the time your daughter comes home!
Ness
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neverfoundthetime
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I like to have a stand in each room so that I can leave the guitar I am playing where I am. That way I pick it up more often. And I like to see guitars in a room... I have never left a guitar in a case. But that was a scary video from Dennis!