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Hi folks - I'd love your advice please. I'm finishing out a music / home recording room in my basement. My question is how I keep my basses (and some guitars) in the room. Do I hang them all on the wall? Keep them on multi-guitar stands? Keep them in their cases? I have about 20 instruments. Currently, they're in cases with the exception of about 2 that I rotate out to play, but that's because I don't have the room to do anything different. The music room will give me more options. Aesthetically, hanging the instruments on the walls is most beautiful to me. One concern I have with the wall option is that all the strings might vibrate when I'm recording, but realistically I doubt that will impact the recordings. Maybe the solution is a little of both -- some wall hangers and some guitar stands.

What's worked for you? Also, post some pictures of your music room - I'm gathering ideas!

Thank you.

Richard

I'd go with wall hanging to maximize floor space.

If rattling strings are a concern stuff each hanging bass with a bit of foam under the strings by the bridge.

Cases actually wick some moisture out of the air, which helps... and when instruments are in their cases, sudden changes in temperature and humidity won't be as harsh on your guitars... so it is technically best to keep them in their cases... but it's WAY more fun to display them for a ton of reasons.

I have mine hanging as well, as seen here:



Just be careful... having your instruments exposed like this will dry them out, if you live in a cold climate and your heaters run all winter. In the summer, humidity in my basement music room maintains at about 45-50%, however, in the winter it will get as low as 20-30% and stay there unless I keep a humidifier in the room.

So, if you decide to do this, at the very least I would buy a decent hygrometer and keep it in that room so you can monitor your humidity levels... if they get too low, consider getting one of those little filterless humidifiers. They work great if the room isn't too large.

A few things:
1. Thanks for the replies. Seeing all of your basses definitely is a beautiful thing. Makes me realize I should also look through the "Lefty Bass Photo Gallery" to see how others manage their basses. (I recognized Addison's photo from there.) I'm definitely leaning towards hanging them all up. It's just so beautiful and makes the basses enticing to pick up and play.

2.
Great suggestion. If I get a filterless humidifier, what's the proper humidity % level for the room with the basses out? I assume it would be the same % year round. Is that right?

Thanks again everyone!

I keep my instruments in a humidity-controlleld room in their cases. Winter time, I use a humidifier, and summer I use a dehumidifier. I have a few acoustic guitars, so they're my biggest concern, and I leave them in their cases during winter with case humidifiers, while in the summer I leave them with their cases open. (FYI, here's a great cheap solution for case humidifiers using Dixie cups: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxRB3Gcdsls). I try to keep the humidity around 40-45% as suggested, but it takes my humidifier full power to keep up with that level and requires constant refilling. Truthfully, it's a pain in the ass.

A few things to keep in mind if you're planning on leaving your instruments out:

Water in my area is fairly hard and lime deposits develop easily. The ultrasonic humidifiers are lower maintenance and require less cleaning, BUT they leave white powder all over your stuff. Not a good choice if you're planning on hanging your basses on the wall. You can avoid it somewhat if you use distilled water or filtered water, but I've yet to eliminate it completely. The nice thing about mine is I don't have to refill it for 48hrs.

Now on the "resonating strings" issue. I had a few instruments hanging in my home studio and I would say that anything with a solid body does not affect your recordings but any acoustic instrument is a big fat no. Even with a piece of cloth muting the strings, the body of the instrument will vibrate and make some noise you will hear on your track.