OffsetGuitars.com

Two existential threats have hit me this year as a Bay Area vintage guitar player:

- Fender is apparently nixing the American Vintage series, pretty much the only guitars I ever even consider playing or buying. Now I have to live with a guitar collection that will gradually become irreplaceable in the coming years. Fantastic.

- Whether 2018 is the year of the 11.0 apocalypse quake that has been predicted since either 1989, 1906 or the splitting of Pangaea (depending on where you start counting), apparently we have an increased likelihood of seismic activity ahead of us here in the Golden State.

And there actually has been a handful of decent sized earthquakes lately (4.4-ish; enough to rattle your building pretty well depending on proximity), which got me thinking about my AV/AVRI's, proudly standing on Fretrest stands like these:

https://www.amazon.com/Stage-XCG4-Tripo ... s=fretrest

...which I now realize are begging to fall face-first given a good enough jolt. Fenders are sturdy enough guitars, of course, but tuner and truss rod damage is still perfectly plausible in such a scenario, whether or not the wood itself takes any major damage.

Any other Californians with thoughts on this? I like keeping my guitars out, both for aesthetic reasons and convenience in playing, but I'm increasingly worried that there might not be a safe way to do so when you can't trust the ground beneath you to keep still. Input welcome.

Disclaimer: In case the obligatory smartass wants to suggest I'll have bigger concerns than my guitars in the event of an earthquake, let's clarify: 99% of them are barely felt, and 99% of the ones we do feel cause minor property damage at best. It's only the rare exception that we associate with structural collapse, fatalities and infrastructure crises.

I'm talking about the overwhelmingly more likely quake in which belongings can fall to the floor and... not much else happens. So I won't likely have an unfolding Mad Max scenario to take my mind off my destroyed instruments.

Ack, just realized I posted this in the wrong forum. Any chance this can be moved to New and Reissue?

I would imagine just about any rack stand would work as the guitars are generally leaned back and wedged with. Four point base of support

They also make tripod stands that have a protective rubber piece that goes in front of the neck. If you found one with substantial wait I really can see it being easy to turn with a 3 point BOS

I think the key is finding something heavy or modifying one so it would be. Then make sure there is some good harness that won't give way when the shaking starts


The weight and base of support will make all the difference

amv wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 08, 2018 1:03 pm

...which I now realize are begging to fall face-first given a good enough jolt. Fenders are sturdy enough guitars, of course, but tuner and truss rod damage is still perfectly plausible in such a scenario[...]

No, not really. All of mine have taken (probably all too numerous) face-down tumbles in rehearsal spaces (concrete floors with cheap carpet), without ever so much as having bent a tuner key (even if that did occur they can be replaced for <$50 for a full set or ~$10 for a single replacement).

You'd need a sledge hammer behind such a fall to cause 'truss rod damage', but suspect the disintegrating/delaminated fretboard would have a more visceral impact.

Wow, really? I genuinely wouldn't have guessed that.

I'd still love to find a more stable way to display my guitars, but your experience definitely makes me more optimistic about my current situation. Thanks!

zip73 wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:19 pm

I'd love to see a company try this now. "Let's find the fattest guy in the factory, single him out, and use him in an ad to show how much weight this neck can handle!"

My god, the lawsuits...

Lol ^ yes

Keep them in the cases? If I were worried about quakes I'd probably forget stands

mbene085 wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:27 pm

zip73 wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:19 pm

I'd love to see a company try this now. "Let's find the fattest guy in the factory, single him out, and use him in an ad to show how much weight this neck can handle!"

My god, the lawsuits...

60s fat got nothin on 21st century fat

You might look at this On-Stage A frame stand: https://on-stage.com/products/view/11239/116925 It's got pretty wide stable base, the guitar sits low to the ground and the guitar leans well back. Too far back in fact for my limited space. I wound up making a 1 1/2" thick block to go between the upper foam pad and the frame to stand my guitars more upright.

Cheers......................Todd

I used many different types of stands over the years, incl. stands provided by venues, festivals other bandsetc. Best portable /easy to carry one that is safe is the K&M heli. Main reason: It's sits really low and the guitar rests in a really secure backwards angle (probably not so ideal for gibson style headstocks but great for everything else).

It works well with offsets and I would prefer this a thousand times over guitar stands that have a neck rest. those are the ones that I've seen falling more often together with a guitar since some of the constructions tend to overbalance easily mainly because the guitar sits far too high (see example in 2nd pic.



but if you really want something earthquake safe then leave them in the case or get a proper rack stand

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Hercules-St ... r-Stand.gc
Pricey but worth the money bought mine when they were doing demos at guitar center. The rep asked me to try to tip it over while it was loaded with a mexican strat an epi 335 and a Gibson les paul. thought it was silly but it is a great stand. They same the foam is nitro safe and ive had my marguar resting in one with a 52 reissue tele next to it for over a year with no damage.

I wish Guitar Center would sell the locking wall hangers they use in their vintage/high-end room. I like my String Swing wall hanger, but am nervous about quakes and theft in LA. And damage by toddler, I've got to raise the height now.

I use stands by German manufacturer K&M because they have a translucent material that won‘t damage Nitro, if that is of any concern for you; maybe they have something for your needs. I like the „Guardian“ model, rock solid and pretty much every guitar model will fit:

https://www.k-m.de/en/mobile/mobile/overview/lpd/148

amv wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 08, 2018 1:03 pm

I'm talking about the overwhelmingly more likely quake in which belongings can fall to the floor and... not much else happens. So I won't likely have an unfolding Mad Max scenario to take my mind off my destroyed instruments.

You could be missing a trick here, imagine the mojo of an earthquake reliced guitar, I reckon people might pay for that, you could be sitting on a fortune*

* other than that frivolous nonsense I'm afraid I have no practical advice to offer you. Good luck with your search.