How do you house your guitars..?

[pdbeaton87]

I've always been under the impression that my guitars sitting at home should be in a controlled climate like Guitar shops do with their High-end Acoustics. Proper temperature and humidity levels.

I am living in Japan in a pretty nice house, however they do not make houses like we do in America with a ton of insulation in the walls. The walls are pretty thin and my house gets pretty cold whenever I am not there. The way people tend to heat their homes in Japan is by heating the room that you are currently in.

So with that in mind, the only time that my guitars see any heat is when I am in my guitar room playing. Other than that I guess you could say it would be kind of like having them sitting in a car.

How do you tend to keep your room that houses all of your guitars?

 

[Kobalt]

How do you tend to keep your room that houses all of your guitars?

Comfortable for me, regardless of being in the room or not.

My room gets cold pretty easily, so the heat is on regularly all winter...and I live in a part of the world where winters range from -20 to -40°C between January and March, and summers that can top 45°C ("feels like" with high humidity), so the room also gets ridiculously hot and humid...

My guitars have survived fine. I've always them in their cases when I don't use them...and I remember reading through a thread on here in which it was popular opinion that it helps them a bit climate-wise.

 

[mnemonic]

I'm in the UK and heating is expensive so it's usually only on when I'm here so it gets very cold with my guitars out. Never had a problem. Maybe I have to retune them more often than the summer but that's it.

One of my guitars I had in a guitar stand by a radiator for three years and it's fine.

 

[Beavis83]

I live in Ireland and my flat can get cold enough sometimes.
that said, I keep all my guitars in their gigbags or cases when I'm not playing them, and always wipe down with a cloth after I play, even if its only for a few minutes. Bit OCD I know but works for me.

 

[Sumsar]

I keep all of my guitars in stands, in the same room that i sleep: Sometimes it gets abit cold, sometimes a bit hot, and the humidity also changes a good about .. but i live in a 1 room appartment as a student so dont have that many other options, but i have never had problems with my guitars.
On the "keep things in gigbags" i once had my acoustic guitar in its gigbag for more than a year, and i dunno if water condensed on the inside of the bag or what, but there was some rust on the strings and frets, while the guitars that was in stands in the same period was fine, so yeah, gigbags / cases is not always a good thing.

 

[Deadnightshade]

On the "keep things in gigbags" i once had my acoustic guitar in its gigbag for more than a year, and i dunno if water condensed on the inside of the bag or what, but there was some rust on the strings and frets, while the guitars that was in stands in the same period was fine, so yeah, gigbags / cases is not always a good thing.

And that's why you never keep a guitar inside a closed gigbag/case. No matter how well you wipe the strings and hardware, some humidity remains and this kind of thing happens. I don't know if you can fight this a bit by using silica gel and/or keeping the case half-closed, but I wouldn't risk again rusty hardware to try it out.

Guitars are fine on the outside. At most you'll need to fiddle with the truss rod when the weather changes a lot. Also they entice you with their curves and you can grab them more frequently to play !

 

[Dayn]

In their hardshell cases where they're mostly protected from temperature and humidity changes.

I'm pretty sure my guitars would have rotted away if I left them out. Warm, dry winters are of no concern. But blistering hot summers, drowning in humidity during summer storms, with the air con on is no way to treat a guitar. It can get so humid that the walls and floors are wet to the touch; so is the fretboard, and I don't want to play a wet guitar. I'm sure my guitars would burst into flames if they were left in the light without air conditioning. Okay I might be exaggerating, but my strings would probably go limp and I'd burn myself on the frets.

 

[Ikiharmaa]

Preferrably on my lap, but if that's not possible they can stay ready on the stands right next to me. I just use the cases for transporting, but I do cover most of the guitar with a shirt I don't like to wear to keep the biggest dust away from them while they're on their stands.

 

[rahahoo]

I live in a country with the whether like in post #2. I use air conditioner in the winter all the days and I keep my guitar in the hard case. In summer my guitar stays often on a stand in my room.
If I were you I`ll keep them all in their cases.

"On the "keep things in gigbags" i once had my acoustic guitar in its gigbag for more than a year, and i dunno if water condensed on the inside of the bag or what, but there was some rust on the strings and frets, while the guitars that was in stands in the same period was fine, so yeah, gigbags / cases is not always a good thing." - If the strings were not-coated I think it is normal that they had rust without any playing or cleaning

 

[Spectre 1]

I keep my main guitar on a stand behind the PC. Its within easy reach to play, and looks good in the corner. I just make sure the fretboard is never too dry, some lemon oil a couple of times a year helps. My other crappier guitars all stay in the closet with the bass, they can rust in peace.

 

[monkeybike]

I have a finished basement man cave/music room. It stays pretty constant temp and humidity. I keep them all out on a 7 guitar rack except for my BC Rich that hangs on the wall, its too pointy for the rack.

 

[Riverrunsred]

Keep 'em out and play 'em, they aren't made of spun sugar or the like.

I keep all of mine on wall hangers.

 

[Splenetic]

most are in cases or gigbags, a few of the beaters are on the sofa with the strings/hardware being covered by hoodies.

 

[UV7BK4LIFE]

I've always been under the impression that my guitars sitting at home should be in a controlled climate like Guitar shops do with their High-end Acoustics. Proper temperature and humidity levels.

I am living in Japan in a pretty nice house, however they do not make houses like we do in America with a ton of insulation in the walls. The walls are pretty thin and my house gets pretty cold whenever I am not there. The way people tend to heat their homes in Japan is by heating the room that you are currently in.

So with that in mind, the only time that my guitars see any heat is when I am in my guitar room playing. Other than that I guess you could say it would be kind of like having them sitting in a car.

How do you tend to keep your room that houses all of your guitars?

Well, my Edwards Aoi signature guitar and ESP Ultratone SL7 are holding up very well in a totally non-controlled room. Winter temperature is 15 degrees celsius and summer goes up to 28. I think that will be quite similar to your situation.

How about going onstage during the winter? Or a guitarist on tour from Canada to Brazil?

Acoustics are more vulnerable but don't worry about solidbody electrics.

 

[The Q]

Hanging on the wall. My current home has moderate temperatures all year round (well the summer gets a bit hotter than usual but it's usually accompanied by an increase in humidity as well), though I wonder where I'm gonna end up when I move during the easter though...

 

[Thanatopsis]

When at home, mine live on stands and I consistently keep my place about 22C. Have done the same thing everywhere I've lived and never had an issue.

 

[spilla]

I keep my Colar Clark acoustic, ET Tomahawk and my ESP Eclipse in their cases. Seems to give them the best protection. When they are taken out and played they are always still in tune. My 2 ibbys, bass and a few guitars ive built are kept on a rack/stands. These fluctuate tuning a little.

 

[Mprinsje]

On wall hangers or in the gigbag (when i went to practice but haven't yet played that guitar, i'm too lazy to get it out if i'm not going to use it).

Guitar room=bedroom so temperature is between 18-20 degrees C.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

When I'm at home (but not playing), I keep my guitars on a 7-guitar stand covered with a plush blanket to keep dust off. The room they're in goes through more temperature changes than the rest of the house since it's above the garage, but overall it has consistent humidity and I only need to make adjustments to the guitars when the seasons change.

Whenever I'm away for more than a day, I put all of the guitars I can into cases and leave them in that room. I have one fewer cases than I go guitars, so the last guitar stays on the stand covered with the blanket