To Case or Not

[Tom Bradovich]

Couple of questions regarding cases. I get down to my music room to play about 3 times a week. Kids all grown and gone, no cats or dogs to mess with stuff. Is it best to keep my McCarty in the case (I ended up going with a Gator) or should I keep it out on a stand? The weather here in MN shifts of course from hot & humid in the summer (home has A/C) to cold and drier in the winter.

Second question is when an electric guitar is in a case for longer periods of time (like my Carvin will be now that the McCarty is here) do I need to humidify it in the winter months? I know acoustics are a different beast, but what about electrics?

 

[bodia]

Your call on the stand or the case. When the weather changes, you may want to case as the seasons change. I'm in the Chicago suburbs and I keel all of my out of the case. I can usually keep the humidity above 40% during the winter, and don't experience any adverse reactions. If it's a new McCarty (2020 or newer) make sure your stand is nitro friendly.

 

[Drew]

Solid bodies don't need to be cased. Acoustics, semi's, and hollows need to have more careful attention to humidity levels. I have a whole house humidifier and keep it at least 30% in the winter and my semi does fine. I'm in the northeast so I also deal with extremes on the ends of the weather spectrum.

 

[Tom Bradovich]

Your call on the stand or the case. When the weather changes, you may want to case as the seasons change. I'm in the Chicago suburbs and I keel all of my out of the case. I can usually keep the humidity above 40% during the winter, and don't experience any adverse reactions. If it's a new McCarty (2020 or newer) make sure your stand is nitro friendly.

Yeah on the nitro-friendly stand. My stand is from 2013 so I just assume it doesn't play well with nitro. I have it covered with a pillow case.

 

[SinSir]

I'm in Chicago and keep them all out on Hercules stands or hangers. I've never had an issue with humidity until this last year in one room. Otherwise solid. Your call on the stands, but I've never had an issue with Hercules and nitro. year of and isn't going to matter nitro isn't a new finishing process. Maybe to PRS but not guitars.

 

[aphantomvaper]

I'm in Chicago and keep them all out on Hercules stands or hangers. I've never had an issue with humidity until this last year in one room. Otherwise solid. Your call on the stands, but I've never had an issue with Hercules and nitro. year of and isn't going to matter nitro isn't a new finishing process. Maybe to PRS but not guitars.

Same here. Cased guitars don't get played often. I do switch around the guitars that are out every few weeks except one.

 

[RC Mike]

I'm in MN, too. I keep my guitars on wall hangers in the basement, other than the acoustic. That one lives in its case. I put a humidifier in the case in the drier months.

I'm fortunate in that we've got a zoning system for the house. That lets me keep the temps in the basement stable. Humidity is an issue in the summer, so I keep a dehumidifier going downstairs all the time at 40% RH. It runs continuously and pumps its water into a sink.

We've got a whole-home humidifier for the winter, but... in MN it gets too cold to keep things at a comfortable RH in the winter. If you do that, you'll get frost on the windows and in the walls. That's very bad stuff for the health of the home. Mine system tries to adjust itself to outside conditions, but I have to keep an eye on it.

In the warm months, everything is great. Guitars stay in tune really well from day to day. In the winter, I spend a little more time tuning or adjusting a truss rod now and then.

 

[markie]

Mine are hanging on the wall of my basement. Been doing it for 20 years.

 

[Song]

Hang it in a case. Ready to play...

 

[Silvertree]

I have mine sitting on Hercules stands in my office/computer room/music room. I do what I can to keep the heat and humidity constant. I know they would be safer in their cases but 1) I would never play them and 2) I love seeing them out. I don't trust any of the stands when it comes to finishes so I went to a fabric store and bought some cloth to throw over all contact points.

 

[Tom Bradovich]

Hang it in a case. Ready to play...

That is a beautiful quilted maple top, and a great color as well. That one deserves a display case!

 

[Tosca]

Mine are hanging on the wall of my basement. Been doing it for 20 years.

Pics or it’s a Hello Kitty collection.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I’m leaning towards Les’ approach.

I keep mine cased.

 

[László]

I'm in Michigan, the weather is very much like Minnesota. Like you, my kids are gone.

I case them. The case buffers temperature and humidity changes. I also put a D'Addario or Bovida humidipak in each case year round to keep the humidity around 45-50%.

Since I started using the humidipaks, only one of my 6 has ever needed an adjustment, and I got that one before I started using them.

Also, in a house there are enough things floating around in the air, like evaporated cooking oils, to combine with dust and gum up your electronics controls so they get scratchy. The nickel plating is harder to keep clean if you keep them out, and there's dust. I hate dusting guitars.

It takes about two seconds more to pull a guitar out of a case than to take it off a hook or a stand. I just don't see the point of keeping them out. There are only pros to casing them, and only cons to keeping them out, unless you're very lazy or absolutely MUST look at every guitar.

They're still wooden musical instruments, not paintings. Wood is hygroscopic, absorbs moisture when it's wet, and releases moisture when it's dry, So it's going to swell and shrink every season, and that means nothing good. Blah blah blah blah. You probably know all this.

 

[Huggy Love]

I case my guitars except when I'm using them. Even without extreme weather, kids, or pets, I just find the benefits of keeping dust out of the electronics, preventing finish fade, or my own clumsiness, to make cases their home when not in use.

 

[11top]

Other than a few display cases like this one which is in my office (in a basement), I keep mine cased. It’s not that much of a chore to get them out.



The back panels are figured sapele and the sides are birdseye maple.

Well, ok, and maybe a few uncased others.

 

[aphantomvaper]

Other than a few display cases like this one which is in my office (in a basement), I keep mine cased. It’s not that much of a chore to get them out.



The back panels are figured sapele and the sides are birdseye maple.

I'd definitely case all of mine if I had one of those. Killer awesome!

 

[11top]

Pics or it’s a Hello Kitty collection.

His Hello Kitties:



I still want that LP.

*photo with permission of the proprietor.

 

[Tosca]

I do a combination of cased (lower right corner) and on display…

 

[Tom Bradovich]

His Hello Kitties:



I still want that LP.

*photo with permission of the proprietor.

I want to be this guy's neighbor.