Hanging instruments on the wall?

Subject: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 02:54 AM

I have a small number of instruments (2 guitars, mandolin, banjo, dulcimer), some of which I play, all of which I enjoy dabbling with. A friend recently suggested I hang them on the wall instead of leaving them in their cases. I've just moved into a place that has wall space, for the first time in years. Any thoughts on whether to do this (my guess is some will say absolutely, others will say absolutely not, but we'll see), and if so, what's the best way? From the looks and percussion notes of the walls, they're probably painted sheetrock over woodframe. One consideration is that I'm renting this place, so I would have a preference for methods that don't involve drilling large holes in the wall.

And, yes, this is an earthquake area, and that may eventually dissuade me from doing this, but I'm interested in ideas anyway.

I don't plan to include my little red Camerano 2-octave, 32-bass accordion in the wall collection; it's very pretty, but somehow I don't think it would be happy up there.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 04:39 AM

The Piano accordion should only be placed in a vertical position with its base downward - you might be able to arrange it on the wall that way. I'd love to see a picture of it.


Personally I think some musicians would be better hung on a wall - or ar least hung...

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: mooman
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 04:41 AM

Do you mean hung or hanged Foolestroupe? There's a world of difference!

Peace

moo

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 04:43 AM

999 piano accordions hanging on the wall,
and if one of those instruments should accidentally fall...

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: GUEST,AnneMC
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 04:49 AM

I have an old mandolin that I hung on the wall very simply , just tied a loop of a twisted cord, encircled the upper neck and then pulled the remainder up between the pegs at the back and put the end over a picture hook. Very secure but easily removed. Doesn't damage the old mandolin, costs next to nothing for an old piece of plaited cord or rope, you don't need anything fancy , the more natural looking the better. It does look nice on the wall, gets the attention of musos who would like to take it down and try it out, too.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 04:56 AM

The only instruments making a decorative look on a wall are, in my humble opinion, string instruments. I have hung my old guitar, banjo and balalaika (or should it be hanged? with a noose around the top of the neck), because I don't drag them out of the house; I can easily take them down for playing.
All other instruments like flutes, fifes, mouthorgans I keep in their cases ready to go. They are too small for a well looking hanging.
An akkordeon I would only place on a shelf for display.

Aloha ohe!
Wilfried

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Paco Rabanne
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 05:03 AM

Evostik contact adhesive is fab.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 05:05 AM

Place them so high up the wall that you need a stepladder to get them down.. that should disincline you to ever play them again, which, in the case of an accordion or a melodeon, a good thing.

We used to have a display of instruments... the bagpipes were displayed under a sign saying 'do not feed the octopus'.

LTS

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 05:12 AM

Hung, hanged - who cares about musicians?

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Ernest
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 05:12 AM

I have got one banjo (zither-banjo type, not playable) and a bodhran standing on a bookshelf, the instruments I am playing are sitting in their gigbags in a corner of my sofa or within reach. Harmonicas etc. are in their cases on the bookshelf to, with the exception of one on the table...
Is your friend suggesting to hang them on the wall on the chance that the banjo falls down and dameges?????????
Best wishes
Ernest

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 05:45 AM

If you don't want lots of holes in the walls you could fix a solid wood batten along a wall, with just a couple of firm fixings (or even supported by posts)., and hang the instruments from hooks or whatever on it.

I'm all for keeping string instruments on walls - they look attractive, and they are readily to hand when you want to play them, and cases have a kind of imprisoned quality. "Only a bird in a gilded cage"... But then I don't live in an earthquake zone (touch wood).

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: SereneHeroicEveryDeed
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 05:53 AM

Ted
are you really using evo stick to mount your guitar?
do you consider it to be well hung

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Splott Man
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 06:05 AM

Stringed instruments like being out in the room, hung or otherwise, they pick up all the ambient vibrations which help prevent their sound going dull. Watch out if the walls are painted with matt emulsion, the slightest condensation and the instrument may stick to the wall. A velcro pad behind where it touches should prevent that.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Hand-Pulled Boy
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 06:36 AM

I'm thinking of doing something similar. As long as they're not hung above a radiator or a south facing room with wide temperature variations. For similar reasons I wouldn't hang them near a shower room, a toilet or a kitchen as the woods would absorb all sorts of nasties such as curry smells (I don't usually eat currys whilst doing my ablusions). I wouldn't hang them in the garage or the loft because that would be f-----g stupid. In fact the best option would be to leave then in their cases where they would be nice and save. So back to square one...............................

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Mooh
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 06:42 AM

Music stores do it without problems. Martin Guitars sell leather hangers that attach to the tuning machines to facilitate hanging. Many companies sell products designed to hang instruments on the walls. That's good enough for me.

I've been hanging instruments with homemade hangers forever. Everything from fairly heavy solidbody basses to feather light ukuleles. There are no good physical reasons not to.

But there are some qualifiers. Do not hang instruments over radiating heat, or air conditioning. Drying or condensating conditions aren't good for the instruments. Uninsulated exterior walls can cause a sort of mini climate behind the hung instrument which may cause condensation, or expansion/contraction conditions to avoid.

However, I've hung scores of instruments without trouble, including the 11 in my studio now. My hangers are made of a backing plate of whatever hardwood I have at hand, usually either maple or cherry, and a pair of dowels set at the appropriate distance apart, mortised into the backing plate. The dowels are wrapped with leather, except in one case where insulating pipe wrap pads the headstock. Mine are high enough to avoid small children and pets, attached through the drywall (or plaster and lath) and into the stud with a 3.5" deck screw. (One hole through the drywall shouldn't piss off your landlord and is easily fixed when you leave.) Gravity keeps the instrument on the hanger.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 11:42 AM

Think about the microclimates on your walls. I live in a region where temps can vary from -20 to 110. I would never put an instrument on an exterior wall.

As others have said, consider moisture from the kitchen or bathroom.

Don't hang an instrument where the sun will shine directly upon it. Don't hang it over a heat register.

Make sure nobody will brush an instrument with a shoulder and knock it down.

If you have any wall space left once the problems are dealt with, I think it's a great idea to have instruments out in the open where they can be grabbed and played whenever the mood strikes.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: mooman
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 12:03 PM

I have only one on the wall (a very pretty 1890s Brazilian rosewood parlour guitar I use exclusively for slide).

All the others are in their cases but are now nearby to aid regular playing (which is the most important thing).

Peace

moo

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 12:15 PM

My dad was a welder by trade. He designed a lazy-susan type stand on which he hung his mando, fiddle and bow, and banjo. It stood in his music room right beside his 4 track recorder and chair, so they were ready-to-hand to practice. He also took it with him on gigs as it made it easy to switch instruments whilst playing. It was quite ingenious, really.

I thought about hanging the fiddle and my dulcimer but we have so much dust and dryness in this high desert, I know they are better protected in their cases. We also have wide temperature ranges and swamp coolers which add humidity for a good ninth months of the year. I have one of those little moisture absorber packs in my fiddle case.

I do have a plucked psaltery and a very inexpensive baritone uke sitting in an antique rocker, just two-year old grandson height so that he can pluck them. He gets the uke down and plays it across his lap. His cat, on the other hand, jumps up in the chair and plucks it, very loudly, with her teeth!

kat

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Grab
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 12:28 PM

I believe "sheetrock" is what we in the UK call "plasterboard", right? A half-inch thick sheet of plaster/cement/whatever with paper covering either side?

I've used plasterboard fixings to hang my fiddle and mandolin on a partition wall. I don't think I'd trust them for anything heavier though. My guitars are attached to exterior walls where a rawlplug can be use. All these use StringSwing hangers which are fairly nice to look at (varnished wooden backing plate, metal prongs to hang instrument on).

I'm also lucky in having a wife who'll let me display them in the living room, since we both think they're at least as attractive as paintings. :-)

Graham.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: GUEST,Russ
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 12:37 PM

I second what McGrath says. I'll repeat what he said in American English.
Get an 8 foot long 2"x4"
Paint or stain it or leave it unfinished.
Use 2 large hex headed lag bolts to attach it solidly to two studs as close to the ends as possible. (The hex heads will make it easy to remove them with a socket wrench at a later date.)
Use the hooks of your choice.
If you've anchored it into the studs. It won't come down unless the wall comes down. (a distinct possibility during an earthquake, but in that case I won't make any difference where the instruments are).
I've done this for years on both inside and outside walls.
No problems.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 12:54 PM

Ask your LMS (Local Music Shop) and the Martin folks what temp/humidity controls they have in place where all their instruments are displayed. Ask a good luthier. Then consider if you can match that, in which case hang away, keeping heat/sunlight comments above in mind.

~S~

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Mooh
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 01:12 PM

"If you've anchored it into the studs. It won't come down unless the wall comes down." Not necessarily Russ, a simple wood screw backs out as easily as it goes in. Mooh.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 01:20 PM

And that means that, if it was properly screwed in in the first place, it is going to stay there unless you actually unscrew it.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Bev and Jerry
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 01:33 PM

Mark:

We've hung our instuments on the wall for decades. We use a long one by four, stained, with several one quarter inch dowel rods coming out of it. One dowel per instrument. Dowels have a slight angle to them so the instruments are held in place by gravity. We have a piece of cheap cloth material attached to the board, about four by ten feet, covering the wall behind the instruments. This keeps the instruments away from the wall and it looks better, too.

Each instrument has a hanger on it which is easily removed. Right now we're using rope but we have used insulated wire. One caution. We once had one of the wire hangers fail and Jerry's guitar fell down the stair well. Had the five huge cracks professionally repaired for $600 so be carefull.

Bev and Jerry

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Don Firth
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 01:37 PM

Howdy, Mark!

I have mixed feelings about this because, frankly, I don't know. I've seen a lot of people hang instruments, usually guitars, on a wall (and they certainly make a nice-looking wall hanging and sometime conversation starter), but I've had a few people tell me that this is not a good idea because moisture tends to gather around walls. Neither Al Roker nor my local meteorologist has confirmed this, however, and music stores routinely display guitars by hanging them on walls. It makes quite an elegant display, but of course their main concern is selling the instrument, and unless there's a store warranty, once it's out of the shop, it's no longer their problem (sounds like a good bit of advice from WYSIWYG, just above). I keep my guitars in their cases, partly because I'm in a wheelchair and hauling a guitar down off the wall is a bit more exercise than I care to get, and most of our walls are covered with book cases.

Splott Man raised an interesting point about ambient vibrations possibly helping prevent an idle instrument from growing dull. Some years ago, a friend bought a classic guitar from a luthier in Oregon (no Ramirez or Fernandez, but a very nice guitar indeed), and when the friend was leaving the shop with his brand new guitar, the maker said, "Now, don't forget to feed it." "Huh?" sez my friend. "Feed it?" "Yes," sez the luthier. "Put it on a stand or prop it up securely near your stereo speakers and play music for it. It takes awhile for a new guitar to 'play in,' and this will help the process."

Now, that may by a total crock, but unless you're real clumsy and knock the guitar over, or crank the stereo up so loud that the guitar explodes (along with several of your neighbors), I don't see that it could hurt. Sounds kinda plausible.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 01:49 PM

Glad you brought that up, Don. When I told her my old fiddle, which had not been played in a long time, sounded kinda flat and shrill, she said the local music store, which she's been going to since the 60's, told her to cure that by putting it next to stereo, radio, or other instruments being played, etc. as the wood needed the vibrations to stay in shape. Makes sense to me.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 03:46 PM

I've only hung one instrument on the wall ... and that was an old madonlin that was virtually unplayable. I keep all my guitars (4 in total) in the case to protect them from the environment. Since I'm not a collector or don't suffer from GAS they are all used quite regularly. As for the keeping and improving the 'ambient sound' the only and best solution is to play them.

sIx

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 03:49 PM

Ooops .... that was me, Number 6 who posted at 3:46.

sIx

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 06:39 PM

Anyway, it's traditional:

Oh, my ol' banjo hangs on the wall,
'Cause it ain't been tuned since' way last fall,
But the folks all say we'll have a good time,
When we ride up in the chariot in the morn. (Golden Slippers)

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 07:18 PM

I have 2 guitars , a fiddle and a bohran hanging on my rec room wall with another guitar on a stand. ( inside wall out of any direct sunlight or heat ) Seems to work fine and all are close at hand. I have another guitar being delivered so I guess I'll have to make another hanger. Soon I'll have to buy another wall. :-}
                     Sandy

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Deckman
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 07:27 PM

This thread reminds me of what I was doing about 13 years ago. Note ... "Bride Judy" and I have been married 12 years. In the ten years I was single before "Bride Judy" brought me to my senses, I always hung my musical instruments on the walls of my bachelor house.

All the walls were covered. Once I think I counted about 54 instruments hanging everywhere. As someone already mentioned ... they were more beautiful than pictures.

I had guitars, mandolins, zithers, autoharps, several banjos, a couple of banjo ukes, many stringed instruments from the American praries of the depression years that nobody could identify or play.

One day, shortly before I first met "Bride Judy," one of my music friends made the comment about my house ... "Hmmm. Looks like a hock shop!"

Shortly afterwards, "Bride Judy" met my house for the first time. Her first comment was ... "Hmmm. Looks like a hock shop!"

Today, as "Bride Judy" is a wonderful artist, we have removed the instruments and replaced them with art ... except that I still hang my two vintage Martins on my bedroom wall. CHEERS, Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 08:12 PM

"if it was properly screwed in in the first place"

Hmmm, reminds me about a joke about 'carpet'...

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: GUEST,Russ
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 08:34 PM

Mooh,
With all due respect I am talking about lag bolts, not dinky little wood screws. If they are the right size, once they're in they won't be coming out accidentally, ever.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: tarheel
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 08:39 PM

guest,i'd make one suggestion on this...if you hang instruments on the wall(we are talking string instruments) it's GOOD IDEA to LOOSEN the strings on them...especially in very cold weather!we had a mandolin hung up as a decoratoion in my den and it gets colder there duriong winter than other rooms in the house...
one winter night just as we snuggled under the covers,wee heard a loud CRACK!!!it sounded like a gun shot...no kidding!
it took us quite awhile to figure out what happenred.
our mandoling hanging on the wall had a broken neck on it...split ritght up the middle of it...we knew exactly why...the COLD weather was the culprit!
anyway,just a thought and hope you have a wonderful decoration on your wall space!!!
tar...

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Mooh
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 10:27 PM

Russ...I was simply offering an alternative, and a good one at that. Mooh.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 10:56 PM

Thanks, folks, lots of good advice and discussion here, as expected. I was kind of surprised this topic hasn't been covered earlier, but nothing came up on the search. Sounds like the consensus is positive. My "ideal" spot is on an outside wall, so I'd already ruled that out--even though it's protected from the sun and it doesn't freeze here, it still gets a mite chilly overnight (especially for somebody who's spent the last 11 years in Hawaii!). But I like the idea of putting up a board and attaching hangers to it; that only makes two holes in the wall. And I was a homeowner for long enough that I still remember how to find studs!

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 11:09 PM

I would say keep the humidity constant, and the room for extreme temperatures. I know a great musician here (Chicago area) who keeps all sorts of instruments on the wall, all tuned to concert pitch. This was so, if jamming occurs, anyone could pull an instrument off the wall and join in.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 18 Oct 05 - 05:38 AM

"I still remember how to find studs!"


Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 18 Oct 05 - 11:01 AM

Ouch...I didn't even see it! I'm losing my--no, never mind.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Oct 05 - 12:55 PM

instruments should be out in the room that is the main thing.
on the wall or whatever
mike

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Jon W.
Date: 18 Oct 05 - 04:40 PM

You can snatch it, you can grab it, you can hang it on the wall.

I find I play more when the instruments are more accessible (i.e. out of the case).

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Inukshuk
Date: 18 Oct 05 - 05:00 PM

There's a product available at your local building supply called slatboard. Comes in four by eight foot sheets and can be cut and painted to suit your needs. Your music store can provide you with a variety of instrument hangers. Very flexible system. Look into it. Most of the music stores around here use it.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Fliss
Date: 18 Oct 05 - 07:24 PM

I wonder if the best way to hang a bodhran is to nail it thru the middle. If you are in an earthquake zone, hang a beater across it and it can play itself when the earth moves!!!

On a more serious note my two older guitars are on the wall, hung from a tack by bootlaces. Ive been told off by a friend who says they will warp. But its nice to get them down and play them when I want to. My best guitar is in its case ready for taking out to sessions.

I keep my ancient concertina in its box and the one I play at sessions in a travelling case with my purse, mobile phone, digi camera, on occasions walkman recorder, and an assortment of junk just like any ladies handbag!

And yes, we do get the occasional earthquake in the UK.

fliss

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: GUEST,Lynn Koch
Date: 18 Oct 05 - 09:17 PM

I'd advise against it, especially if there will be direct sunlight on them. My wife's deceased husband had his guitars hung on the wall for easy access, and the finishes suffered as a result. We have cats, too, and if they're hung over something the cats can get up on, they'll gladly play (claws and all) with this new toy you've hung for them!

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 18 Oct 05 - 09:27 PM

Many years ago I picked up some Xmas store decorations that were used in Myers, then sold off after Xmas. They are brass instruments of varying shapes and sizes, and have now nicely patina'd. They don't have real mouthpieces and were made in India, but I will get around to hanging them up - at least, that was The Plan!

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Gurney
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 02:25 AM

Some of you guys live in extreme places! Necks freezing to the extent that they crack! Brrrr.

It seems to me that the instrument gets just as cold/hot INSIDE the case, but changes temperature more slowly. Otherwise why would you have to take it out of the case to acclimatise when you get to the club? I do understand the comments about the finish, varnish being a fragile covering. An acoustic guitar weighs about 4 kilos. You can get ADHESIVE mounts that will take that, not that I'd trust them, but you take my point.

The music-shop owner mentioned above is right, stringed instruments love to be in amongst the music, and sing quietly to themselves all the time. Cruelty to lock them away from it.

Chris, temperate-zone dweller, whose guitars only go in a case to travel. Cheap ones, though.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 04:52 AM

... and don't forget to hang additional 10 green bottles on the wall to take over the part of accidentally falling!
Might interest your cats, too, Lynn.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 07:47 AM

Green (or any colour) bottles make fine percussive instruments, hanging on the wall or not. You tune them by adding water.

As they fall off the wall, your tune selection possibilities diminish.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 11:39 AM

An for a Largho you also can use them as wind instruments. I prefer green, green as the German Inf.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: GUEST,J
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 09:37 PM

In a 2 room apt I've got 2 bicycles and 3 instruments attached to the walls. The bikes are mounted with flowerpot hangers available in the garden section of Home Depot. They(the bikes) are parallel with the ceiling. The guitar, mandola and mandolin are mounted with finished squares of treated wood and 'garden tool' 'U' shaped hangers. The hangers have a plastic coating. I think I've got about $25.00 in all of them. Saw some hangers at a music store and thought I could make something similar and cheaper. The instruments are on an interior wall and have been there for 3 years other than when they're being played.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 09:52 PM

Any songs about well hung musicians?

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: number 6
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 10:36 PM

HeHe ... good one Q !

I still don't know why one would hang a $2k guitar up on a wall exposed to dust, humidity in summer, dryness in winter. ... speaking of Canada here ... anyway, I'm still leaving mine in their protective cases ... after all that's what the manufacturer's suggest.

OK ... if you want the look, I guess you can hang one of those garage sale intruments up on a wall.

sIx

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 11:04 PM

The Casino in Brisbane has lots of instruments hanging on the wall near the back (think it is a little cafe place - haven't beenin there for years) - many look like old instruments, some might have even been valuable before being stuck up there in the smoke, etc.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: GUEST,wld
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 11:32 PM

I don't really like the idea.

If someone asks to have a go, a refusal often offends.

They would NEVER put them back without damaging them.

They would remind you of how you should be practising.

Burglars would be attracted by tales of a yamaha stradivarius collection.

Next time you wanted to buy another guitar, your wife would say whats wrong with all these?

The ones that don't get played very much would feel hurt and rejected.

You would forget where you put all the cases.

Every time you get one down, someone would say, I can see its a while since you decorated in here.

Take my word, it could affect many aspects of your life adversely - its what in modern parlance we call a crap idea.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: JennieG
Date: 20 Oct 05 - 04:17 AM

I have my father's 3/4 size fiddle hanging on my wall - neither I nor anyone else in the family plays fiddle but it looks nice. It's the only thing I have of my father's. My good guitars are in their coffins (sorry, cases) for safety as we have cats, but I have a cheapie that I might hang on the wall after I replace the broken pegs.

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: GUEST,Dave
Date: 25 Oct 05 - 02:45 PM

I use "slatwall" comes in 4ft x 8ft sheets , i cit into 1 ft x 8ft , get slatwall hooks for guitars and have 8 in a row no problem. am in need of something for my saxaphone if anyone knows of anything.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: GUEST,bOAB
Date: 25 Oct 05 - 10:47 PM

Stefan Sobel has a fiddle hanging on his wall [stringless!]. Brian McNeil wrote a song about it!

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: GUEST,cushty
Date: 26 Oct 05 - 01:35 PM

99 piano accordians hung on a wall
99 hung on a wall
take one down,pass it around
98 piano accrdians hung on a wall

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 26 Oct 05 - 11:11 PM

999999999999999999999999 piano accordion players hanging on the wall
999999999999999999999999 hanging on the wall
take one down, pass him around
there's still more piano accordion players to hang on the wall

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Bard Judith
Date: 26 Oct 05 - 11:32 PM

As I have a collection of musical instruments from the various countries (mostly South-East Asia) that I've travelled in, all artistically attractive and none over about twenty dollars Canadian, I have no compunctions about displaying them.

There are Malaysian and Thai bamboo flutes, a Chinese ar-hu (Asian violin), a Korean hand drum, a Taiwanese drum rattle, and a couple of other oddments... all lined up along the basement stairway wall (insulated and drywalled), with a Korean poster showing a Chinese orchestra in calligraphic style at the centre of the collection. Very artsy, and very inspiring - as indeed it reminds me to take them down off the wall and practise often!

And not only me - my 21-month old daughter, an aspiring musician, will ask me almost daily, "Mama, p'ay biolin, p'ease? P'ay Mama's biolin?" Or possibly 'dwum' or 'weecorder', but the violin is the favorite.

"Be ca'full," she reminds me solemnly as I take it off the wall, parroting my oft-repeated warning. "Kaf'rine be ca'full!"

Yes, she needs help to keep the bow from sagging, and her little fingers repositioned, and it makes a sound like a cat being forced to do aerobics, but it's worth it to see the delight she takes in 'making music like Mama' - and in getting a sound out of the recorder and remembering to put her small thumb over the bottom hole - in finding 'Middle C' on the electronic keyboard correctly - in trying to repeat a rhythm I've tapped out on the drum for her - in naming a melody I've just played on the flute.   

So maybe an outside basement wall isn't the best place for a two-thousand dollar guitar... but I don't think I'd care, if keeping it hermetically sealed deprived the world of another music-lover and potential musician....   :)

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Ebbie
Date: 27 Oct 05 - 02:05 AM

"stringed instruments love to be in amongst the music, and sing quietly to themselves all the time." Gurney


Beautiful, Gurney.

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: leftydee
Date: 27 Oct 05 - 05:03 PM

97 piano accordions hung on the wall ...... take one down set it on fire, 96 piano accordions hung on the wall...etc (now we're getting somewhere!) Sorry accordion enthusiasts, I play in a band called "Death By Accordion" and I'm honor bound to dis accordions at every available turn. Keep Squeezin'

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: Gurney
Date: 27 Oct 05 - 07:40 PM

Thank you, Ebbie.

Guest wld at 11.32, we'll take that as a no, then?

Subject: RE: Hanging instruments on the wall?
From: GUEST,cushty
Date: 28 Oct 05 - 03:16 PM

99 piano accordian players hung on the wall
99 hung on the wall
take one down
push them around
98 piano accordian players hung on the wall