I have a serious question about the proper way to store a guitar. I know it sounds wierd but I have a Stratocaster that really gets no playing time but I do not want to part with it so I want to store it. I have it in the hardshell case in a temperature/humidity controlled environment but I am wanting to ask this.

Might sound like a dumb question but do I ease the string tention to the point that the strings are not tight anymore? I do not want this guitar to set for a while and me end up having to do a neck reset or something.

The reason I am asking this is that I have never had to store a guitar and just leave it be for a long period of time. I just want to be sure I am storing it right without causing any damage to the instrument.


hotrod

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1983 Gibson Explorer 1 (main axe)
2004 Fender American Standard Stratocaster (Butterscotch on ash 1 piece maple neck and fretboard) (my baby)
2008 BC Rich Assassin neck thru(fun toy)
Peavey 5150 212 combo (early model) FREAKIN CRUNCH MONSTER!

Personally I would put it in standard tuning. The string tension acts against the force of the truss rod so if you take away the strings any force created by the truss rod is acting directly on the neck.

Sure the strings may tighten or slacken with a change in temperature but not by much, at the most a half step. The truss rod can do far more damage.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

I disagree, kind of.

I wouldn't bother detuning either. is there any difference between a guitar not being played, kept at concert pitch for 5 years, and one that gets played, but is always tuned. They are both under tension for the same time.

I have guitars that have been in tune for over 20 years, no damage to the neck at all.

However, where i disagree is, i really don't think detuning the guitar will cause any issues either. If your guitars truss rod is actually stressing the neck you have serious problems. The function of the truss rod is to reinforce the neck, it is not there to actually provide the reverse tension itself. people misunderstand the function of this part. It should not be providing archery level or car leaf spring levels of stored tension.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

I've got several guitars that I leave tuned and in the case for long periods of time too. So far no problems at all. Like 12B said maybe a little tuning when removed from storage.

Gosh, you are so right. A guitar is not a bow and arrow. We can all see the difference:



- C

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

I tune em down a step to DGCFAD on the few guitars I dont touch and have under the bed at my mom's. They never get touched. Been 3 years now since they saw daylight. Just enough tension to stop backbow on a guitar set for concertpitch and no fear of forwardbow.

If their going away for just a few months or a couple of seasons, I wouldnt bother. Just get em setup before you put em away.

To add a point to 12B's 20years played against 20years stored. The played guitar would have had constant tweaking, wouldnt it? A guitar that hadnt seen daylight wouldnt have had that attention.

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No no and no

yeah Niki, I guess you might have to worry about uneven tension, a little bit. I would worry more about getting a twist in the neck than anything else.

But that Ibanez I was fixing up sat for over a decade and no issues with the neck. i will admit, it was no longer in tune, but there was no damage done.

Detuning won't hurt, and I guess if I actually planned for it to sit, rather than just neglecting it (like I did with the Ibanez, ), I would detune as a precaution.

My real point was that detuning wouldn't be dangerous for the neck, as Voodoo's post implied. The truss rod just doesn't work that way. it's not a leaf spring.

the rod is more rigid than the neck. the idea is to use it to support the neck at it's desired relief. Then the pull of the strings will only alter the bow slightly.

it is not there to "pull" away from the strings. it is there only to add rigidity, and lessen the effect of the pull of the strings. So if you remove string tension, you should suffer no ill effects.

i wasn't specifically advocating storing your guitar under string tension. But unless you plan on storing your guitar for really prolonged lengths of time, like years to decades, it's kind of a waste of time.

My 5 years comparison was just to illustrate that string tension isn't great enough to ruin your guitar, on its own. To be honest, the only times my relief has been out, and I have adjusted the truss rod on my Strat have been when I have changed string gauges. and once when I moved to a higher altitude. It has been a little over 9 years since I have adjusted the relief on my Strat.( I know this because it was the summer set up the first year I moved to the city I am in now.) I check it every time I change strings, and it has been spot on. Some of my other guitars have needed several adjustments in that same time span. This wasn't the case when I was still playing gigs. But since i have become ,I guess, a hobbyist now, it really needs a lot less upkeep.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Sir you remain absolutely correct once again. A hard used guitar does pretty much need constant mucking about with. I fully understand and appreciate what you were saying about how trussrods work, on that too your bang on the button. Fender necks do seem to be really stable and require little fannying around with. Perhaps I ought go dig out my old guitars and check em over.

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No no and no

I didn't know that, I stand corrected.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

A lot of people (maybe even most,) misunderstand the truss rod. I think it's the main reason you hear horror stories about people overtightening and either compressing the wood of the neck, or even breaking the rod itself.

I learned about it long ago when I took the afore mentioned Ibanez in for some electronics work. I was young and new to guitars.

Anyway the tech really screwed the guitar up. He decided to give it a set up, and he adjusted everything wrong. It was unplayable. the neck was even twisted a bit.

I had to learn how to fix it. having to take a neck off, and make a kind of press to get it back straight really teaches you how things work.So i try to help people if i can. I don't want everyone to have to learn the hard way.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

You won't have any problems if you leave the strings as they are.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

I've had my Ovation for over 20 years (at times stored). I've always kept it at standard tuning, and I've never had a problem. It still looks and plays like new (except for a little fret wear).

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"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."-John Wayne

When I was 13 yrs old our family moved away for a year,I put my Harmony archtop in a closet tuned to standard pitch and when I returned after a year it was still in tune so I guess that doesn't do any harm.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.