If you play the guitar everyday, not much point in worrying about a case to put it in overnight, it won't really help. Putting in a case everyday, then removing from the case everyday will put more wear on it than just leaving it in a stand overnight.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

That is what I thought. My tele is important to me, and I don't want it to wear out. But there is little point if I never play it. And it seems to me that putting it in optimum conditions then taking it out and playing it in different conditions, several times a week, will just wear it more.

A question to those who keep theirs in a hard case-do you play them every day? a few times a week? a few times a month? If I play mine several times a week, I should just leave it out, right?

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"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

I rotate my guitars in and out of cases for weeks at a time - hang 'em up and play them regularly when they are out, tuck them into the guitar store room when they're not.







I built racks to handle any guitar case I use. I prefer the smaller molded cases for my Fenders when I am gigging, so I have a lot of those. And yes, I label the outside so I know which guitar is inside. This time of year I dig out the humidifiers and I keep two going at all times in the Music Room.

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

Wow thats a lot of guitars! At least I don't have the same case costs you do! When you say music room, is that the room with the guitars in the cases, or the room with the guitars on the wall?(or one room with all the guitars in, cases and on hangers) And is that a humidifier as in http://www.humidifiers-shop.co.uk/conte ... fAodvz0lNA ?
Thank you all very much for your help. It has been very helpful. I think I have decided that I will get a hard case as soon as possible, although that may be some point in jan/february at earliest. But I will keep my guitars on their stands, as the room conditions do not vary greatly, and as shimmilou said, putting them in a hard case but taking them out several times a week to play would not help. I will use the hard case for transport, and sometimes storage when I know I won't use them for a time.

One more question if you can-would it be worth putting my tele in a hard case with better conditions, if I was away for a week? four days? two weeks?

Thanks all, this has been very helpful for a relative novice like myself.

_________________
"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

Put your guitar in a hard case, rectangular Fender case with a storage compartment for strings picks and other accessories, one with a lid that latches as others have said.
Each and every guitar you own needs it's own form fitting specific case, not a generic will fit Ibanez or Fender.
As far as the Logo on the outside of the case.... If you leave your guitar's around for two hours unattended, then you probably deserve to have them stolen...
You Do Not leave Instruments Unattended...... There has been too many stories of stolen instruments because the owners just left them out of sight or in an unsecured place...Wether it says Fender or not, a Thief is not going to take the time to look inside, look into the storage compartment and then decide to take your guitar or not....They are just going to grab and dash......
Wear and Tear of an Instrument.....Over the years they are going to get nicked, frayed, damage will occur from playing, it's an instrument meant to be played, if it is just to sit in a crystal case and look unspoilt, then perhaps this is the wrong item for you.

A Good case designed for that guitar by the manufacture is best, you may not want to spend $200 on a case but you will regret that decision one day when you open up your case and your guitar is broken from mishandling. A case is for protection first and foremost.
I like yhe plastic molded case if I have to go somewhere and the guitar is going to be in the Avant boot for a while...It fits and with the Tonneau cover it is out of sight..Otherwise I prefer the rectangular cases that Fender provides.
But there again I do not leave my guitars hanging about out of sight....

As far as hanging on a peg on a wall, the only guitar I have hangin is a 40 year Old Yamaha Student Classical, because of the aging of the top it looks great ( and still plays well amazingly, it sat in a basement in its case for over 10 years.)
My Strats, CS or MIM or Rebuilds sit on their stand if I'm playing them, at the end of the session or day, they go back into their respective cases. You can always replace the case and the rectangular cases will probably outlast you unless you are using them for tobogganing, hopefully not.....

Actually if you want the expert opinion on guitar storage, ask Alain, I don't believe he and his collector friends store any of their excellent guitars on hooks......

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

53magnatone, I actually had to google "tobogganing" because i thought you were crazy that shows how little experience I have around snow

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I was golfing at a course next to the Austin airport one time - there were signs all over the place saying: DO NOT leave your golf clubs unattended at any time! But if you went to use the rest room, there was another sign saying: NO golf clubs allowed in the restroom! We took ours into the restroom...


I don't think you need to go by what Alain does with his guitars. If I had a collection of $2-5,000 guitars, I'd keep them in cases all the time, too.

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

Thank You....Iv'e always been a bit around the twist....

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Well it doesn't have to be a Custom Shop...A $500.00 MIM still needs to be in it's case.
$300 to $500 is a lot of cash for a lot of people, so wether it's a Squier, MIM, MIA, or a NOS 56 Custom Shop it is still a guitar which needs to be treated as an instrument, not some print or painting that you hang on the wall for visitors to oggle....

Groupie in Pinks suite..."..Are All These Your Guitars... "

BTW...that's Pink in " The Wall " not Mis Pink ...

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Personally, I don't hang guitars on the wall for visitors to ogle. In the five years that I have lived in this house, all of six people (not counting the wife and kids) have been allowed into the Music Room and have seen a portion of my collection. I hang them up primarily for access - I don't want to have to dig through cases to get one guitar out to play for a while, then shut it back into the vault. I don't know why, but in an average night I will frequently play 3 or 4 or more guitars - they're all different.

I don't think a guitar "needs to be in its case" any more than I need to be in a suit. It's a piece of wood with strings and pickups and it's meant to be played. A guitar can hang on a wall for years in a climate controlled room and be none the worse for wear than if it moldered in the back of someone's closet or under their bed, safely tucked into it's case.

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

Yep...Well to each their own,,,My guitars go in their cases when not in use, I know what they look like and Iv'e never had so many that I needed a GPS to find my way to the red Strat.

_________________
"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Thanks 53. Thats very helpful. Unfortunately, I have to leave mine (with MIM Standard strat) untended in the instruments room at school...I may put a small lock on it though.

I will get a case soon-but surely by keeping it in there and getting it out to play every now and then you are changing the conditions quite often, especially if you had a humidifier in the case.

But I will get a case. I will probably store it in there.

Thanks all, you have been very helpful, I knew nothing about this previously, and now feel more confident. And 53 is right, £600 is alot to some people.

_________________
"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

If I understand correctly that your guitar is left in the instrument room outside of a case...??
as soon as possible it should be in a case, you can lock the latches so no one takes it out and plays it or knocks it around, since it is in a music room, which I didn't understand before than hopefully it is a safe and monitored area...I didn't connect that you are in school I just thought that you often just left it somewhere, which is why I thought that is crazy.
Your guitar will have much less wear and tear by being kept in a case than it would always being out. As far as the climate difference issue from opening it in a room. If the temperature is similar from outside to inside the building I would not worry.
But it is now in winter when you bring a guitar indoors that it is critical that it is left in its case until the case and its contents warm up. Depending how cold outside I would say up to an hour, but at least 15 to 30 minutes..
But it is worse for your guitar to go from outside to inside without being in a case.
The wood and paint will expand and contract from the temperature difference, in a case it will be gradual as it warms up slowly. Ou of a case it is almost instant contraction and/or expansion. The paint cannot elasticize that quickly, thus it will crack and that is why you often see checking on fairly new guitars. in addition the entire guitars stress areas, strings an neck will do the same which is not good for its intonation....

Speaking of music room, ask the other students who are string players how long or what they do to acclimate their instruments. Violins and Violas are quite expensive and much more fragile (as acoustic instruments that are built in the same methods they used centuries ago )
You will never see a violin out of its case unless it is about to be or just has been played .
They always are transported in a case...

BTW....The Gig Bags, don't waste your money, they do not provide enough protection in the event of colliding with anything, Table / desk corners and anything sharp or....
If you take care of your guitar in a case, it will give you back many years of playing...
A lot of Strats and Teles have been shuttled around from gig to gig and have suffered a bit, but in their cases it ensures they are ready to play after arriving at the venue..
More often you will probably ding or dent your guitar when you are playing it rather than any other time.....

Good Luck..

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Which red Strat?

The Music Room today - north wall...





40 in cases - 20 on the walls or on stands - ready to go at a moment's notice - I wouldn't have it any other way. Adios, amigo.

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963