Long Term Storage

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Author Message   Arney Username: Arney Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Thursday, June 16, 2005 - 7:17 pm:    Gentlemen, I know guitars were made to be played. But as one's collection grows, eventually, some have to be retired...or, (gulp) sold. Assuming one does not want to sell a guitar, how does one store a guitar long term? I have heard, to store long term, it is better for the guitar to loosen the strings (but not to remove the strings altogether) to remove stress from the neck and bridge. True or false? Also, it is best to store guitars long term in their cases, lying down, face up, NOT stored standing up. True or false? Why lying down as opposed to standing up? In addition, guitars should be protected against light, radical temperature and humidity changes, as in a closet, for example. What else needs to be done or to be taken into consideration? Let me hear from you that I may learn from you. Arney   Arney Username: Arney Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Thursday, June 16, 2005 - 7:29 pm:    For the sake of this discussion, let's assume that "long term" means years.   Brentm Username: Brentm Registered: 03-2005 Posted on Thursday, June 16, 2005 - 9:10 pm:    Those are some good questions!   Fg100 Username: Fg100 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 6:01 am:    the guys that have huge collections could give us some ideas on how they keep the instruments in good shape and health. Do you guys play on each one every now and then? Clean? Strings? Etc… Thanks.   Fg100 Username: Fg100 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 12:34 pm:    Harry.... John.... ??   Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 7:02 pm:    I have less than 20 guitars. Between my house and office, I usually only have 3 guitars out of the case at a time. Both environments are air conditioned, so no extremes in heat or humidity occur. I keep the majority in their cases; on the sides, rather than flat. Just because they are easier to get at, that way. Some haven't been played in years. Although I have taken them out occasionally ..to admire them, if nothing else, I haven't put a lot of thought to how they're stored. No loosening of the strings, but I suppose that wouldn't hurt. Oh yeah, the deteriorating pickguard issue is something I'm really aware of. But this only affected my GB10. I'm interested in hearing other opinions.   Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 8:07 pm:    I will post pics in a few days of a poorly stored Martin that is over 100 years old. It needs some restoration work but it is fixable.   Brentm Username: Brentm Registered: 03-2005 Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 8:43 pm:    Isn't the string tension important to keep the neck in position? Although, it seems applicable for acoustic guitars. I'd say that having a guitar stored in a HSC solves most of the obvious problems, regardless of orientation.   Banjometal Username: Banjometal Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 8:26 am:    I found a guitar at a garage sale one time that had been stored for a few years with the strings loose. The neck was fine but the strings were so corroded that they kind of gunked up the fretboard. I bought it and cleaned it up but it was a serious pain getting that rust or whatever it was off the neck, especially around the frets. While I was working on it, I remember thinking it might have been avoided if they'd slid some paper or something between the strings and fretboard. Just a thought.   Fg100 Username: Fg100 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 2:09 pm:    Thank you all for the comments... Ibanezfreak, I'm curious about the Martin... what do you mean with "poorly stored"? Case, humidity control,.....?   Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 2:48 pm:    I 'll let you all be the judge of it. I believe this thing was made in the 1870's. The case is solid wood like an old coffin. I'm picking her up this week. The frets had made their way out of the slots in a strange way. As far as storage it was in the attic of one of my guitar students for the last 10 years but prior to that I don't know. John you'll get to see it live next week!   Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - 11:22 pm:    As promised a few pics of the old CF Martin   Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - 11:24 pm:    This thing is not as bad as I thought it would be. I'll post some outdoor daylight pics in the misc section tomorrow! This guitar is at least 130 years old!   Brentm Username: Brentm Registered: 03-2005 Posted on Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 4:33 pm:    Cool guitar, what are your plans for it? As for the long term storage options... seems like there are some "ah-ha" methods to store your instrument. I'll throw some out that I think are fairly obvious and see what happens. 1. Loosen the strings on guitars with bridges that are glued on. However, it seems that the string tension would be important on most instruments, to keep the neck true. 2. Case the guitar and lay the case flat. Hopefully the guitar case has some locks to prevent unauthorized entry. 3. Climate controlled enviornment (no extremes). 4. Apply some guitar polish to the instrument to keep the finish from drying out over time.. Perhaps this should be done on occasion as the guitar ages. 5. Perhaps polish the fretboard with some lemon oil before storage. Thoughts, suggestions? -Brent   Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 5:05 pm:    Thanks Brent, I plan on taking this thing to a luthier to see if it could be made playable. No restoration just bring it to a playable state. My thoughts on storage are, I agree with the string loosening on acoustic guitars. As far as case strorage I think airing them out every now and then is a must. Also climate control helps. If you look at the guitar I posted the top is cracked behind the bridge because it was stored in a attic and subjected to hot and cold temps through all seasons. Polish I don't know if that matters on all finishes. Lemon oil is questionable IMO   Brentm Username: Brentm Registered: 03-2005 Posted on Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 5:28 pm:    Was the instrument strung when it was pulled from the attic?   Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 10:46 pm:    No it was just as in the pics.

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