Owning multiple guitars is great, but before long you will be faced with the question of how to store them properly. And it doesn’t take a rockstar sized collection to begin thinking about guitar display and guitar storage ideas. Depending on the size of your apartment, house or music room, you may be looking to upgrade from typical guitar case storage when you’ve got a handful of guitars!
Guitar Storage Basics
First off, it’s good to understand your own needs and habits around the way you play your guitars. Ask yourself these questions:
- How many guitars do you own and what are your space considerations?
- Do you switch guitars every day, or multiple times per day?
- Is displaying your guitars important to you?
How many guitars do you own?
This is an important question because this is related to the size of your available space. If you have a large room or dedicated recording studio, you are fortunate. If this is the case you might just get away with lining them up on the wall. If, like most of us, you are faced with space considerations, you will want to look into some guitar storage ideas. I always say it’s better to have fewer, nicer guitars, but that is a decision you’ll need to make for yourself.
How often do you switch guitars?
This is an important consideration because it concerns ease of access. Personally, I tend to favor one guitar for a matter of weeks, at which point I switch to one of my other guitars. Since I’m not concerned about instant, daily access to many of my guitars, I’m able to store some in a large closet in another room of my house, away from where I typically play. If you typically play multiple guitars on a daily basis, you’ll want to ensure that your guitar organization reflects this.
Is Displaying your guitars important to you?
This is important because you can’t show off a guitar that you can’t see.
Which would you rather say to your guests? 1. “Hold on, let me go to the closet and grab a couple of guitars to show you”, or 2. Say nothing at all as they gaze upon your beautifully lit up, climate controlled guitar cabinet, in which reside your prized possessions. I think we all know the answer! The great thing about guitar display cases is that they are beautiful and functional, combining storage with ease of access.
General Guitar Storage and Guitar Display Ideas and Guidelines
Before we get to some recommendations, let’s quickly review some best practices for storing your guitars. Both electric and acoustic guitars need to be stored properly, but pay particular attention to acoustic guitar storage. Acoustic and Archtop guitars—especially ones with solid tops—are the most sensitive to temperature and humidity fluctuations. Remember that under that finish, most guitars are constructed primarily of wood, a natural material that is sensitive to moisture and temperature. Here are some guitar storage best practices:
Always store your guitars in a living area of your home
You should store your instruments in a living area, not in an unfinished attic or basement. The temperature and humidity fluctuations in unfinished spaces such as attics can be extreme, and basements are often prone to flooding.
Store guitars in a room with minimal temperature fluctuation
Ideal guitar storage temperature is the temperature of the living area of your home. The general rule is any temperature that is uncomfortable for you will be uncomfortable for your guitars. Do not put them near a heating source, such as a radiator, or forced air register. Rooms with fewer exterior walls can be colder than interior rooms, but I wouldn’t obsess over this—you may have to tune the guitar up a little more often, but you’ll most likely do this every time you play anyway.
Keep a close watch on relative humidity
I saved the best for last here, and it is important. First, buy a room humidifier for the winter, and a dehumidifier for the summer, if needed. Room humidifiers are not particularly expensive, and have the additional benefit of humidifying the entire room. Short periods of humidity outside of this range are generally not a problem. Long stretches at the extremes are where people tend to report problems.
Next, buy an inexpensive hygrometer for the rooms in which you keep your guitars. The best humidity for guitar storage is 45-55% relative humidity. That is the ideal range, but If you can ensure that the range stays within 30-70%, your guitars will love you.
What about guitar case humidifiers, you ask? There are a number of inexpensive case humidifier systems. They are certainly better than nothing, and when properly used they work quite well. However, if you have a significant number of guitars, keep in mind that you’ll need to keep filling the water reservoirs in each guitar case, which is time consuming. Better to buy a room humidifier and fill it when needed!
The ThermoPro TP50 hygrometer linked below is inexpensive and reliable:
Guitar Storage Options
Let’s review the pros and cons of each option for storing your guitars.
1. Guitar Case
Pros: Easy, stackable, compact. Offers some protection from temperature and humidity fluctuations.
Cons: Many new guitars do not come with a hard case. Soft cases are not as versatile and lack many of the benefits of hard cases.
2. Classic Guitar Stand
Pros: Inexpensive, reliable.
Cons: Footprint is large due to the tripod base design. Not as compact as an A-Frame stand.
3. A-Frame Guitar Stand
Pros: Does everything a classic stand does, but in a smaller footprint. Good for music rooms where space is limited.
Cons: Typically more expensive than classic-style stands
4. Guitar Rack
Pros: Compact storage for multiple guitars in one area. Some are expandable.
Cons: Not needed if you have guitars you don’t play often.
5. Guitar Display Case
Pros: Safe and secure storage with accessibility. Luxury vibe that highlights your guitars.
Cons: Expensive
Guitar Stand, Guitar Storage Rack and Guitar Storage Cabinet Picks
Guitar Display Cabinets
If you want to truly “next level” your guitar storage, guitar cabinet display is the route for you. For those where price is no option, American Music Furniture’s guitar display cases are both beautiful and functional, and available in a number of sizes and wood options, in addition to built-in humidification. They offer LED lighting in their cabinets which shows off the wood grain of any guitar. We particularly like the looks of the Guitar Habitat, which can accommodate 4-7 guitars, depending on the size. These are solid wood cabinets that are made in the USA. Truly a luxury item, and definitely spouse-approved! If you are in the market for a high quality, lighted guitar display case, American Music Furniture is worth checking out.
Conclusion
We hope that we’ve given you things to think about when storing your guitars. We encourage you to keep storage conditions at top of mind, and appearance second. Proper temperature and humidity and the room(s) where you keep your instruments is crucial to the long term health of your instruments.
One more thing… Some say you should detune the strings if you are keeping the guitar unplayed for a long period of time. I don’t typically worry about this, since guitar necks are designed to carry standard string tension. I have an old acoustic that mostly sits in the case for long periods of time, and when I take it out it is typically pretty close to perfectly in tune.
Happy Playing!