My Private Stock fell 7 feet but it survived and then some

[Utkarsh]

Hi folks
Hope all of you are doing well.
I'm hoping some of you remember my 7 String Floyd Private Stock that I got from Japan after eyeing it for years. The NGD post is below.

NGD: PRS Private Stock 7 String Floyd in Faded Peacock Blue

Do you know that dance you sometimes do with a guitar? Should I? Shouldn’t I? Sometimes that dance is abruptly cut short by another suitor, jumping in bravely. Sometimes that dance continues indefinitely. Well my dance with this guitar (or rather its internet listing on Ishibashi Japan’s...

forums.prsguitars.com

It quickly became my number 1 (well definitely 1 or 2. I have a PS 594 trem that I also like a lot). About a month and a half ago, in the middle of the afternoon, I was dealt quite the unpleasant surprise. My wall hanger had pulled out (the first one to do so in almost a decade) and the guitar had fallen 7 feet headstock first. The good news was that it missed my dogs and though the guitar was fairly banged up with chunks of wood missing, it surprisingly had no substantive damage like a neck break or anything.

I have an amazing luthier/guitar tech here in Singapore called Goose who is quite the local legend. And he lived up to his reputation restoring the guitar almost perfectly. And it plays as good as ever

Pictures, videos and the entire tale is relayed in my Youtube channel

A few lessons learnt:

1) PRS's are incredibly tough. Given the extent of the fall and hitting a hard marble floor, I am just shocked that it wasn't worse
2) Even if your favourite guitar falls, life will be fine. Guitars can generally be fixed
3) Now that the Guitar is back to life, play more music with it

 

[d^rren]

The wall hanger didn't fail. It was improperly installed.

If you're trusting your $10k+ guitars to a couple of 2-cent plastic drywall plugs, you're doing it wrong.

Always screw anything you hang on the wall directly into wood studs, or to a piece of wood that is directly screwed into studs. Never use drywall plugs to hang anything more than a picture frame.

 

[Utkarsh]

The wall hanger didn't fail. It was improperly installed.

If you're trusting your $10k+ guitars to a couple of 2-cent plastic drywall plugs, you're doing it wrong.

Always screw anything you hang on the wall directly into wood studs, or to a piece of wood that is directly screwed into studs. Never use drywall plugs to hang anything more than a picture frame.

Thanks for the advice. Appreciate it

 

[bodia]

that's a big ouch! and a great repair!

 

[d^rren]

I would take all of those guitars down, remove the hangers, plug the holes, then re-install the hangers properly (or put up slat wall) before you have another disaster.

 

[Davey]

@Utkarsh
So sorry to hear buddy. Those drywall hangers are sketchy at best. As others have said, you'll want to anchor into the wall studs to ensure this doesn't happen again. There are several ways to do this.
Here's what I did at my previous place.

Get a good stud finder to locate both sides of the wood stud behind the wall (not necessary but a stud finder helps if you don't know how to find studs otherwise).
Once you locate the studs, mark their locations on the wall (both sides of the stud so you know where the center is) with a pencil (just a small mark will do)
Then mount the slat to the wall using longer wood screws and screw into the studs.
Note the screws in the wood. Those are 3 1/2" wood screws and anchor directly thru the drywall and into the wood stud.
The guitar hangers are then screwed to the wood "slat" and that should give you a good anchor point for all things valuable.

Also important note: make sure there are no electrical wires running near to where you are mounting. If there are no electrical outlets or switches you should be ok. You just don't want to nick a wire by mistake and cause more problems.

Hope this helps!

 

[Bogner]

Glad You Got It Sorted.

These Types Of Stories Are Why I Don't Hang Guitars.

 

[Utkarsh]

@Utkarsh
So sorry to hear buddy. Those drywall hangers are sketchy at best. As others have said, you'll want to anchor into the wall studs to ensure this doesn't happen again. There are several ways to do this.
Here's what I did at my previous place.

Get a good stud finder to locate both sides of the wood stud behind the wall (not necessary but a stud finder helps if you don't know how to find studs otherwise).
Once you locate the studs, mark their locations on the wall (both sides of the stud so you know where the center is) with a pencil (just a small mark will do)
Then mount the slat to the wall using longer wood screws and screw into the studs.
Note the screws in the wood. Those are 3 1/2" wood screws and anchor directly thru the drywall and into the wood stud.
The guitar hangers are then screwed to the wood "slat" and that should give you a good anchor point for all things valuable.

Also important note: make sure there are no electrical wires running near to where you are mounting. If there are no electrical outlets or switches you should be ok. You just don't want to nick a wire by mistake and cause more problems.

Hope this helps!

Thank you so much. This is very instructive. I don't think I can do the work myself (I am terrible at these things) but I can make sure that the professional whose help I seek has these instructions

 

[Utkarsh]

Glad You Got It Sorted.

These Types Of Stories Are Why I Don't Hang Guitars.

Yeah it's only been two falls in 10 years but yes it hurts a lot. And now with all the warnings about drywall, I guess I have to change things up

 

[RedGuitars]

The wall hanger didn't fail. It was improperly installed.

If you're trusting your $10k+ guitars to a couple of 2-cent plastic drywall plugs, you're doing it wrong.

Always screw anything you hang on the wall directly into wood studs, or to a piece of wood that is directly screwed into studs. Never use drywall plugs to hang anything more than a picture frame.

What do you use for brick? That’s what mine fell out of. Had 3 PRS damaged. Ugh. I’ll never use one again but I also had a 75” TV mounted in brick, but I didn’t hang it.

 

[DISTORT6]

What do you use for brick? That’s what mine fell out of. Had 3 PRS damaged. Ugh. I’ll never use one again but I also had a 75” TV mounted in brick, but I didn’t hang it.

https://www.hilti.com/c/CLS_FASTENER_7135/CLS_MECHANICAL_ANCHORS_7135/r67855

 

[d^rren]

What do you use for brick? That’s what mine fell out of. Had 3 PRS damaged. Ugh. I’ll never use one again but I also had a 75” TV mounted in brick, but I didn’t hang it.

In brick, you use proper masonry anchors. Always use the correct tools for the job you're trying to do.

Never use cheap plastic anchors for anything you care about.

 

[d^rren]

Yeah it's only been two falls in 10 years but yes it hurts a lot. And now with all the warnings about drywall, I guess I have to change things up

Why did you not change your mounting system after the first fall?

 

[Moondog Wily]

Dang Dude, sorry to hear that happened! As others have said, drywall mounts should not be trusted for such treasures!! In my world, every one of those guitars on the wall came down that day and went into cases until proper mounting was established. You may want to consider doing so right now!!! Yes, obviously you can have them repaired, but allowing them to live in such peril is a recipe for future disappointments IMO ;~((

I did the new song! Reminds me of the message of my "Demon Dance Party" song I released at the end of July (post in studio & stage section of you want to check it out)!!

Best wishes on getting this stuff all properly mounted and congrats on avoiding a catastrophe on this incident!

 

[direwolf08]

Thanks for sharing that. The repair job is truly impressive! And I agree, damage like that can feel so bad, but it is good to remember that life will go on.

I don't hang guitars for this exact reason, but if I did, and I *had* to put a hanger directly into drywall only, I would only use SnapSkru anchors. You can get them rated to hold >100lbs.

 

[Glide-bpm]

I hit several studs per wall on mine with 2 screws per stud...

 

[Utkarsh]

Why did you not change your mounting system after the first fall?

It was a different mounting system with different hangers in a different house the first time

 

[sealysea]

I have an amazing luthier/guitar tech here in Singapore called Goose who is quite the local legend. And he lived up to his reputation restoring the guitar almost perfectly. And it plays as good as ever

This Goose luthier sounds absolutely amazing, does he have a website or other contact information like a shop address?

 

[show_a_little_faith]

I hit several studs per wall on mine with 2 screws per stud...

TWSS!

 

[László]

Glad it's fixed!

Nothing good ever happens to a guitar when it's hanging on a wall.

Changes in temperature and relative humidity that occur throughout the day in every home cause the wood to swell and shrink, affect the neck and setup (not to mention finish); dust and the cooking oils that evaporate and travel through a house accelerate the buildup of gunk on the finish, hardware, pots and switches; the light affects the finish (electric light is almost as bad as sunlight, unless you're using special museum-grade lights that filter out the bad stuff - and this includes LED bulbs, many of which emit more of the stuff that degrades finishes than incandescent bulbs).

They can fall. Bang one guitar into another one when you're taking it down to play, and you have a double-dinger: two dinged guitars.

But I don't understand the attraction of a bunch of guitars hanging on a wall like a freaking guitar store anyway. I'm probably alone in this, but I think it looks goofy. I'd probably feel differently about a high quality display case that protects the guitars from most of the above problems.