Storing a guitar?

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ifallalot
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Storing a guitar?

Post by ifallalot » Wed May 24, 2017 1:39 pm

I'm thinking about storing my old Squier Strat for a while until one of my kids are old enough. It would be cased under the bed in my room

Is it best to take the strings off? Should I relax the truss rod or something?

I probably should just figure out a way to keep it out with the others but since I don't have a dedicated music room more than two guitars starts to get clutter (according to my wife)

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PixMix
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Re: Storing a guitar?

Post by PixMix » Wed May 24, 2017 3:59 pm

I have stored a guitar for 13 years. Bought it for my son when he was born and gave it to him this year when he started showing interest in playing guitar (he is proficient in piano and has been playing since the age of six).

I have left his guitar in the hard case, strings on, did nothing to the truss rod. I kept it in the area of the house that has the most comfortable temperature in any given time of the year: winer time in one of the bedrooms (second floor), summer time in the lower floor, and when we were gone for long stretches of time in the summer the guitar was stored in the basement. I might have checked it 7-8 times total during the 13 years it spent in the case, but each time was almost in tune. We put some fresh strings on it a couple of months ago, and it was as good as new.

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ifallalot
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Re: Storing a guitar?

Post by ifallalot » Wed May 24, 2017 5:30 pm

Cool thanks. We don't have the temperature extremes that you have in MI so I think going in a case under a bed will be fine

I just hesitated because I stored this same guitar under a bed when I lived Santa Cruz for 2 years, and then didn't open the case for another year or two after I moved down south and the frets looked like the Statue of Liberty and the fingerboard was all "dry" looking. It was easily remedied with Brasso and lemon oil though.

Its just a MIM Squier from the 90s but it was my first electric so I'll never get rid of it

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Re: Storing a guitar?

Post by PixMix » Wed May 24, 2017 7:01 pm

I believe you should be fine in California climate. The climate extremes here can indeed be harsh, but the worse I had happen on a guitar is a bit of a fret sprout on a MIM tele a few years ago during an extremely cold and dry winter. But after humidification it was back to normal, I didn't really have to do anything to the guitar.

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windmill
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Re: Storing a guitar?

Post by windmill » Fri May 26, 2017 4:02 pm

You need to keep some tension on the neck so leave the strings on.

Think of it like you played it every day over that time, it would be strung up and in tune.

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Embenny
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Re: Storing a guitar?

Post by Embenny » Mon Jun 12, 2017 4:39 am

Guitars are made to be kept under tension, especially electrics. There are more opportunities for damage if you take the strings off - e.g. you didn't fully relax the truss rod when you thought you did, resulting in backbow. There's a small argument to be made for acoustic guitars, where over time, the string tension can cause a "belly" to raise behind the bridge. But a strat? It'll be perfectly fine - it'll just need a setup in a few years when you bring it back out of retirement :)
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