Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Are drywall anchors (3) enough to hold the weight of a guitar? I don't know how thick the drywall is but think it's 3/4". I'm installing an "Off The Wall" brand guitar hanger.

From personal experience, "Off the wall" hangers work great and will hold the guitar fine with the included anchors/screws. I have this model and the 'bass' version. After I put the first one in the wall I did a couple pull-ups on it - it certainly held me. The guitar isn't going to fall....

That looks like a massively large Ric headstock stuck in some powerlines....

Thanks John. Now the hard part is deciding where I want to put it. Bedroom or living room...

Bedroom='Out of sight, out of mind'. Living room='Play me 'till you drop' .
The living room is the best place so you can inspire and admire...

Then again...Bathroom='Cancel my newspaper subscription'...

But some things that occur in the bathroom may cause paint to peel...

I think I learned to play both guitar and bass in the bathroom when I was a kid. Our little bathroom was a natural echo chamber and guitars sounded great in there. I bought my first bass when I was about 13, but couldn't afford an amp for about two more years . There was a little hollow boxed-out section of wall in one corner of the bathroom where the utility stacks passed through on their way to the roof. If I rested the head of my old Hagstrom against the wall there, I could hear what I was playing. I think I spent 90 percent of my early bass playing days either in the bathroom or standing next to a hollow-core door.

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dangerously off course here...

OK, back on course ... Owning an old house where a lot of stuff had to be fixed, we had to learn how to do drywalling (mostly because we're too cheap to have somebody who knew how to do it come in). A drywall anchor can certainly be pretty strong, especially if it's the kind with toggles, rather than one made of a little toothy chunk of plastic or lead which expands in the hole - but - we're not hanging up a soap dish here, or a velvet Elvis painting, we're hanging a Rickenbacker! A cheap fitting, forced into two layers of paper sandwiching a half inch of plaster (which may or may not be somewhat internally fractured from the drilling and/or anchor-mounting processes) is all that's keeping your guitar from accelerating 32 ft. per second, each second, as it heads for the floor. Is it safe? Probably, but behind most drywall surfaces there are 2x4 studs every 16". Wouldn't you sleep better with your hanger securely screwed to something like a nice looking strip of oak that spans a couple of those 2x4's and is attached to them with a couple of nice long screws?

Don't they get all dusty when left on hangers? I'd love to leave my guitars out all day but those damn bridges and headstocks are so hard to dust.

Ahem. Well before I provoke an inaccurate image of me with a feather duster I think I'll sign off there.

I personally would never hang a guitar on a wall. I prefer to keep them tucked away in their cases, safe and sound. I always have one or two out in stands to play, and I rotate these guitars so that all of the guitars in my collection get some playing time. I don't like the idea of exposing my collection to sunlight and other environmental factors. Perhaps I'm overly protective...

You're not, Randy. That's probably the best way to handle it.

Here's being even more protective:

My non-Ricks sit on stands in my living room and my bedroom. The Ricks (only 4 currently) stay in their cases when they are not being played.

The non-Ricks are dusted a couple of times a week with a feather duster (by me!) and thoroughly cleaned each time the strings are changed.

"Wouldn't you sleep better with your hanger securely screwed to something like a nice looking strip of oak that spans a couple of those 2x4's and is attached to them with a couple of nice long screws?"

Yes, I think John W has something like that, but I couldn't find it. The off-the-wall mounts well though...

"Don't they get all dusty when left on hangers? I'd love to leave my guitars out all day but those damn bridges and headstocks are so hard to dust. "

Tip: canned air. It will help you with the dust.

"I don't like the idea of exposing my collection to sunlight and other environmental factors. Perhaps I'm overly protective..."

Sunlight - not a good idea IMO. Environmental factors - get a humidifier. 70 degrees, 40% RH is what I've read.

I've found that with my guitars out, I play them all often. When they are in the case, they are in the case... So I have them all out now, minus a few. I need to get more hangers. Actually I'm kind of out of wall, so I switched to the Fender case-stands. These are the ones that hold 7 or 3 guitars. They are nice, they work, and they don't take up that much space. You can find them for $100-175 on ebay from time to time...

On last thought on the 'fear of falling' - get insurance. If you want to sleep at night I think that is the best way to go...

I put much thought into 'the wall' and didn't want to do the wrong thing, but I wanted the guitars out so it was easy to pick them up and play them. Then I saw the pictures of the Ric factory. I'm sure those guitars have been hanging on the wall for years, and I'm sure they've thought about it more than I could.

And you no doubt live in an area where dust is not a factor, nor is there a problem with salt in the air.

In Orange County, where I lived for 20 years, all my houses (beach communities) had serious problems with black hydrocarbon residue. I lived within a few blocks of the Pacific, and it took its toll on my Kawai grand and my old analogue synth keyboards. Guitars left out would develop finish freckles. Chrome would spot or tarnish, strings would go bad very quickly, frets turned green if not wiped regularly.

Up in NoCal, things are a bit different. No black junk, little salt spray (I'm between the Bay and the Pacific, but don't seem to be getting any salt residue. Dust is non-caustic and a twice-weekly dusting does the trick. The climate and humidity are both very good for guitars.

It depends upon where you are. Safe rather than sorry...