apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Don't know if you've seen these, but Hercules makes a great wall-mountable version of their "auto-grip" system. I have two hung in my house right now. The stands are sturdy and safe because of the clips. It has a wood base that is easily paintable to any color you like.

http://www.herculesstands.com/guitars/GSP38WB.html

We have two guitars mounted with Hercules clips, too. My husband bought them at Guitar Center. I can't remember what we paid, but I know they were inexpensive.

Yeah, those Hercules stands are the way to go. They're the only thing that I'd really trust with a decent guitar.

I have ukuleles, not guitars, but I display them along the wall as art, hung by the neck. I've seen this featured on apartment therapy as well, maybe a year ago.

I have similar hangers to the ones mentioned by C-U CoopLiving above. I mounted them on my wall with 4-inch screws and thick wall plugs. You have to put the screws in either brick wall or directly in the studs due to the weight of the guitars.

In my previous apartment, it used to look like this.

I staggered the height of the hangers to reduce the chance of the bodies banging into each other when putting them up or taking them down.

I have since moved and now have my "studio" in a room with 4 windows. I have a guitar on a hanger between each window and it looks cool.

Is all that stress on the neck OK?

So far, I haven't had any problems with stress on the neck. That is how most guitars are displayed in music shops.

My boyfriend has two guitars---an acoustic and a semi-hollow body---and I purchased wall-mounted hangers for them. Not Hercules, but something similar in appearance. My boyfriend says the stress on the neck might cause them to go out of tune faster, but that's it. We haven't put the mounts up yet, but I'm looking forward to getting the guitars up off the floor (they are currently in stands that sit on the floor).

Good-quality acoustic guitars or banjos should be kept in their cases with a "Dampit"-type humidifier to ensure the wood doesn't dry out (of course, this depends on the climate you live in). Yes, it's a pain to have cases everywhere but if you actually want to play the instruments and have them sound good you need to take care of them.

My fiance also has a growing guitar collection, and I have encourage him to hang them up on the walls as art - just because I think they're so pretty.

The stress on the neck is a force that is applied directly upwards from the body. Think of the amount of force applied to the body/neck joint from the strings. The extra few pounds of vertical force from the guitar body is likely negligible.

I second that, Sally305. If you want the guitar to maintain the same sound over it's lifetime you should keep it in it's case. If you want to hang them then you'll need to maintain constant humidity, just check out the acoustic guitar room at a Guitar Center, it's like a humidor. Why not get some vintage cases and stack them up against a wall?

I LOVE how guitars look on the wall mounted hangers. My boyfriend is a producer/musician and I keep asking him to bring all the guitars home from the studio so I can decorate with them, but apparently he needs them or something...

Or if you're going to keep them in their cases, I always thought that a couple stacked would make a cute table of sorts.

My husband has a bunch of guitars and he keeps them cased. A few of his are high-end Taylors and he mentions that they need a specific amount of humidity which he maintains with a little humidor-type thing inside the case. He has another "beater" guitar that he takes camping, etc. I don't know how good your guitars are, but if you want to display them, make sure they are away from direct sunlight and not in a room that gets too dry.

Oh, I just read ECB's comment and it's pretty much saying the same thing.

One other thing my husband says is "Guitars are better played, not dis-played."

Can you hear the sustain?

:D I love you Seaside.

My two cents were to only add to what other people have said, and be sure there is not direct sun beating in where ever you decide to hang them if you do. My hubby has most of his in floor stands lined along a wall in his office, so I'm no help really on displaying them. I think they would look great on a wall, but there is a sloped ceiling in there unfortunately.

Yep. Guitarist here. All my guitars are hung by Hercules wall hangers. They're displayed like artwork, because they are. Seeing them all over my space inspires me to play.

Make sure you have adequate wall support for Hercules or similar wall-mounts. Many older homes in the Boston area have inadequate plaster walls, not drywall. (Like ours where the plaster, combined with the upstairs heavy-footed neighbors cause large paintings to fall off the wall!)

We use single and double stands in the studio... which migrate to the living room sometimes.

We found some nice rubber coated hangers at the Container Store. My husband made sure they were well anchored. They are beautiful on the walls and he plays more now.

http://megramey.blogspot.com/2009/04/making-our-nest.html