Since I’ve seen the section of this site with all of Steve’s guitars, I figured I’d ask my question here. What is the best position in which to keep your guitar when it’s not being used? I have six guitars and regularly play two of them. It seems that the others are always out of tune. I keep them in their cases. Music stores hang them from the headstock. Is that the best way to keep the neck from bending? Thanks,
Marc
p.s. Who was the opening guitarist at the G3 show in NYC, Mike Kin…..?
Hanging the guitar by the headstock will not hurt the guitar and is a good way to store it, but not necessarily better than any other way. Provided that there is no undue pressure on any part of the guitar and the humidity/temperature is okay, you should be fine. Steve keeps some guitars hanging, and some in cases stored either horizontally, vertically, sideways, inside out…. The humidity is probably the factor you want to worry about most, because that can play havoc with your neck especially, and that means tuning problems, intonation problems, and possibly even warping and serious damage. If the room is normal room temperature and not too humid, you should be okay. Avoid leaving guitars near windows where they’re exposed to direct sunlight, because that can warm up the guitar, and it will cool down at night — you want to keep the temperatures pretty stable. Heat or cold is usually okay but going back and forth between the two is bad. This might be part of the problem you’re having with keeping your other 4 guitars in tune. You should get it checked by someone who knows these things, in case you have some warpage. Maybe you just need it set up again or a simple adjustment. Take them to a professional and neglect them no longer! (The guitarist you speak of is none other Mike Keneally, whose band Beer For Dolphins opened the US shows in Nov-Dec 1996, and who also played in Steve’s band each night. For info on our boy wonder, check out his magnificently magnificent website at http://www.keneally.com)