Storage of a thousand dollar guitar

Hello people,

im in the process of buying a dream guitar of mine. But when i get it. I want to know how to properly store and take care of it. Should i keep it in it's case or what should i do?

Thank you

That depends on the environment where you use it..
Follow the standard care suggested by the manufacturer.
Know your finish type and use appropriate cleaner/polish.
When in doubt put in case or gig bag and lay in lowest traffic area. For practice and gig breaks, put in quality stand. Remove cord.
Good luck and rock on...

I baby my guitars. I keep 'em clean and protect them from the environment, pets and people. I virtually always wear relatively clean clothing that won't hurt the guitar, i.e., no belt buckles, no buttons. If the guitar is not to be in my hands for more than fifteen minutes it's in its case (if it wasn't for breakfast breaking up my morning practice, it'd be no more than five minutes).

But that's just me...and most manufacturers, I think. ;) Why put one's dream at more risk than need be?

Thank you for the advice!

In short - I think if you keep them in your main living area where the temperature and humidity are relatively constant, you should be fine whether it is on a stand or in it's case.

Long version...
My guitars are American made models (you can see them in my sig below). They are not the most expensive guitars you can by, but the Strat and the LP Standard cost me well over $1k each.

I'm particular of how they are taken care of, but I wouldn't say I baby them. I keep them out on stands where I can grab them on a whim to play them. I learned the hard way to get good stands that has material on the contact surfaces that won't react with the finish. Rubber = bad!! They are in our living room where they can be seen, but are out of the way. I have a small practice amp there. In my practice area in the basement, I have a stand sitting there where I can put it. None of my guitars stay in the basement. When transported, they always go into a hardshell case.

My strat had a music stand fall into it once. Another time it fell face forward onto the floor. It's carpeted, so it wasn't bad. It's kind of like a car - until you get that first ding, you live in fear of something happening to it :-).

Carrying the car analogy further...you ever see those people that park their super expensive car on an angle in the parking lot for fear that somebody will damage their car? They live in fear of their precious car being damaged. How much can you really enjoy it? Might as well keep it in the garage.

Much like I would never own a car that I lived in fear of it being damaged, I won't own a guitar like that either. I buy my guitars to play them, not keep them as museum pieces. My LP is still pristine and I'm in the "please don't let anything happen to this guitar" phase. One day, I'll bang it into something or knock something into it. In a way I look forward to it so I can get it over with...because I know it's going to happen. :-).

Dings and stuff on the guitar can also be like scars and are part of your story as a guitar player. You can reminisce about your war storys :-).

All of my guitars hang on hangers or sit on stands where I can grab them with zero effort or time.

I understand why people pamper them ... I just can't do it.

Too many of my best time playing were totally ad-hoc grab and play times. If everything had been stored away, those times wouldn't have happened. I would have kept walking.

My '99 LP Custom has been on stands or wall hangers most of it's life and it hasn't suffered any at all because of it.

I'm also in the bob/maggior school of thought - keep it handy and easy to pick up and play. I once bought a brand new Guild acoustic - "stored" it in it's case and managed the humidity. In the meantime I had this cheap (but nice playing) Samick acoustic that sat out all the time. In the 5+ years I had the Guild I played it for, maybe ...10 hours ....the Samick I played the hell out of (still do).
So last year I'm trimming the herd and I sell the "case queen" Guild ($100 more than I paid for it :) ) and as I'm putting on the new strings - for the new owner- it occurs to that "damn....this is a REALLY nice guitar....I wish I had this guitar!" . . . That kind of changed my viewpoint on
storing" guitars. I have several but I always leave one out (whichever one I'm "re-discovering" that week) where I can slap it on and play it on a whim. Even though I live in Florida where humidity can wreak holy havoc on guitars - even my best guitars will sit out ... I ain't breeding no case queens no more.

"case queen"...gotta remember that term...good one!

It's nice to look after your guitar but I think I'd prefer the Stevie Ray Vaughan approach. Just look at any pic of his battered old 'SRV' Stratocaster....never seemed to harm his playing!

I kinda keep my wood ready on the stands when really working.That is the axes I feel the need for at a particular point during the session...Cocked and locked and ready to respond..
Then when the house is full of grandchildren,lottsa traffic etc. throughout then,they are grudgingly placed in their respective cases...Bummer!!!!
I love to just look at them even when at rest....

I readily concede I'm odd man out on the way I treat and protect my guitars. But dudes!

While I've played/practiced more than 20 hours some weeks, my normal schedule is 18 hours. This week I started a summer schedule which drops my weekly time to 16 hours. Not once...never in the four years I've been doing this... did any of the cases deter me from holding my babies. :D

But, I agree...I like looking at 'em. And here's a compromise; http://accessnsight.com/ . Trouble is, the price!

John ... please don't get the idea that mine are abused in any way. There is zero risk to them. I wouldn't have it any other way.

If there were things running around here that might do harm to my guitars, it would be a hard decision. Put the guitars up, or expel the demons ;)