In case or on stand?

[FLATROCK HILL]

Most important to keep it humidified. If you have a humidity controlled room that stays at 70%, great... for most of us, the only reasonable option is in the hard case.

70% is too humid for my own personal comfort. I prefer something in the neighbor hood of 40-50%. Whether they like it or not, my mandolins have learned to deal with it.

[Londy]

70% is too humid for my own personal comfort. I prefer something in the neighbor hood of 40-50%. Whether they like it or not, my mandolins have learned to deal with it.

Nice Clark...hope your mandos treat you well too. He he he

[Emmett Marshall]

In a humidified case when at home in the winter. On the wall about 4-5 feet high, when at home in the summer. ALWAYS in a case when not being played while in any public place, or anyone else's house, etc. I've seen for myself and heard tons of stories as well about the bad stuff that happens when instruments are left leaning against walls, sitting on chairs, propped up on floor stands, and even sitting inside an open case. I'm not pushing my luck anymore. These things cost too much money, and some are truly irreplaceable.

[DGtryin]

This type of inexpensive stand is for sale on Amazon/ebay etc... Does anybody here use one ?

[Marjorie Carman]

On a stand!

[Bill Baldridge]

I do not and would not. It looks like it is easy to tip over. I also do not have the $69 stand from Amazon. The difference may not be worth the cost, but the difference in design is enough to tell you why you don't want to first one unless it is for display only. Look for one that hangs/locks the instrument at the top of the neck as well as arms to cradle the body. The legs should adjust and splay much wider than those. A low center of gravity and weight also are important for stability. Stability trumps everything when it comes to stands.

[Jim Garber]

I know this topic can always be revived but this is the 4th page of an almost 4 year old thread. Just so you know. I have a feeling that lots of this has already been discussed. For me, all instruments are in their cases.

[Bill Baldridge]

I do not and would not. It looks like it is easy to tip over. I also do not have the $69 stand from Amazon. The difference may not be worth the cost, but the difference in design is enough to tell you why you don't want to first one unless it is for display only. Look for one that hangs/locks the instrument at the top of the neck as well as arms to cradle the body. The legs should adjust and splay much wider than those. A low center of gravity and weight also are important for stability. Stability trumps everything when it comes to stands.

[Mandobart]

Not case, nor stand. On the wall in my insulated, temperature and humidity controlled finished basement. Accessible, ready, not easily knocked over.





There are way too many for me to wade through a pile of cases or fill up the floor with stands. If you think this is bad let's see a pic of Allen Hopkins' instrument room....

[Eric Platt]

Most in cases. One on a hanger on the wall near the couch. It's got a good neck shape for my hand and has become the default practice instrument.

[Brian560]

In a case. I think the case gives better humidity control,especially in places where there are large fluctuations in humidity. A case is also protection.

[J Mangio]

Not case, nor stand. On the wall in my insulated, temperature and humidity controlled finished basement. Accessible, ready, not easily knocked over.





There are way too many for me to wade through a pile of cases or fill up the floor with stands. If you think this is bad let's see a pic of Allen Hopkins' instrument room....

Impressive collection Bart...gotta love your Trimline phone, nice touch.

Mine are in cases during Winter.

[Mandobart]

Impressive collection Bart...gotta love your Trimline phone, nice touch.

Mine are in cases during Winter.

Check out this phone; little older

[Mike Romkey]

I do have one absolute rule about mandolins and stands. If I'm playing a job, the mandolin is either around my neck or in a case. The first Gibson F5 I bought got literally kicked of its stand by a coffee-addled musician the first night I played out with it.

At home, I have a couple of mandolins I keep on stands in the family room, and a couple sitting in unlatched cases on the dining room table. The ones in the cases are the ones I'm a little more protective of.

[Dan Ready]

All 3 Gibson mandolins are on stands, living room, den and music room. If we expect company especially little ones or pets, all instruments get put somewhere safe. All guitars, acoustic, electric and bass are in stands as well. For me , if they are put in cases, the don’t get played.

[dhergert]

In the cases. All my instruments, whenever not being played.

This isn't to say cases have a perfect safety record either, but they are safer than unprotected on an instrument stand.

[Charlie Bernstein]

It depends.

At home and gigs, it's usually on a stand.

Going from one place to another, it's usually in its case.

When I'm playing it, it's in my hands.

The last time it was on a wall was at the music store it came from.

[Mike Arakelian]

My mandolins always stay in their cases. My guitars are on sturdy stands simply because of where I keep them.

[Dave Greenspoon]

Context. At home, 3 (electrics) are on a triple hanging stand, one (acoustic) on a stand by itslf, and a couple in cases. At work, in case. Playing out, it depends on environment where the mando goes when I'm not playing it. Sometimes on a stand if swapping, sometimesin its case. Always closed in the case on breaks.

[HappyPickin]

It is easier for me to control humidity in my house than guess at how 12 different case humidifiers are doing. I keep a guitar and at least one mandolin on the wall behind my practice chair. I live alone except for my dog, Dobro. He's long and low and about as athletic as a garden snail. If I am expecting company or out of town they go into their cases and a cheap guitar and ukulele go in those spots. My String Swing hangers are anchored in wall studs. My instruments are insured. The biggest reason I put them on the wall is because I like to look at them. My Pava is eye candy to me.

[JeffD]

I agree that mandolins, and most musical instruments, are very visually appealing if not actually works of art. That to me is not enough, however, to leave them in a stand or on a wall, subject to sunlight, quick humidity and temperature changes, dust, and the vagaries of exposure.

One solution I have talked about, and which a friend of mine actually did, is to have a very good photographer take face on pictures of your instruments, and have the pictures framed and placed around the house. My friend had his guitar collection photographed by a commercial photographer, and the pictures printed on special paper, and to see his guitar collection in framed pictures hanging around his house is pretty dramatic. The actual guitars, (20 some in total), are in cases in one of the bedrooms.

So here is the kicker. He has had to arrange his pictures so as to keep them out of any direct sunlight, in order to preserve and protect the pictures. Sheesh, I was thinking that the whole idea was to make life easier.

[OldSausage]

I agree that mandolins, and most musical instruments, are very visually appealing if not actually works of art. That to me is not enough, however, to leave them in a stand or on a wall, subject to sunlight, quick humidity and temperature changes, dust, and the vagaries of exposure.

One solution I have talked about, and which a friend of mine actually did, is to have a very good photographer take face on pictures of your instruments, and have the pictures framed and placed around the house. My friend had his guitar collection photographed by a commercial photographer, and the pictures printed on special paper, and to see his guitar collection in framed pictures hanging around his house is pretty dramatic. The actual guitars, (20 some in total), are in cases in one of the bedrooms.

So here is the kicker. He has had to arrange his pictures so as to keep them out of any direct sunlight, in order to preserve and protect the pictures. Sheesh, I was thinking that the whole idea was to make life easier.

I thought the kicker would be that his entire house was a life-size map of his real house.

[Jim Garber]

I agree that mandolins, and most musical instruments, are very visually appealing if not actually works of art. That to me is not enough, however, to leave them in a stand or on a wall, subject to sunlight, quick humidity and temperature changes, dust, and the vagaries of exposure.

One solution I have talked about, and which a friend of mine actually did, is to have a very good photographer take face on pictures of your instruments, and have the pictures framed and placed around the house. My friend had his guitar collection photographed by a commercial photographer, and the pictures printed on special paper, and to see his guitar collection in framed pictures hanging around his house is pretty dramatic. The actual guitars, (20 some in total), are in cases in one of the bedrooms.

So here is the kicker. He has had to arrange his pictures so as to keep them out of any direct sunlight, in order to preserve and protect the pictures. Sheesh, I was thinking that the whole idea was to make life easier.

I thought the kicker would be that his entire house was a life-size map of his real house.

Hmmmmm... very surreal or kinky or odd. Jeff's friend must be loaded. He owns twenty guitars in probably high-end cases, hires a professional to photograph them then has prints made and framed.

I must admit I do like to look at my instruments but I enjoy laying them a lot more. Hey, if you got the bucks to burn...

Old Sausage: I love your thought process...

[Joe Dodson]

At home most of of my guitars and mandolins are hanging on my wall, with a couple of exceptions that don't get played a lot. The easier they are to reach, they more often they get played. I live in Houston, so low humidity is rarely an issue, but if we've got a cold snap comming that will take us down below about 40 degrees (don't laugh, that's cold for us), I'll put them in cases to guard against humidity dropping as the heater kicks on more. My house is 104 years old, and the insulaton is probably 104-year old horse hair or something.

I'll use stands when I'm picking with friends or playing a contra dance, but I watch them like a hawk. I have two border collies who aren't as careful as I'd like them to be!

[V70416]

I am fortunate enough to be able to play every day at differing times and have seen enough dings from extracting and placing into cases
to refrain from always having to case my instruments multiple times a day

My mandos and a couple guitars(the ones I play frequently)are always hanging in String Swings in a lower level walk-in basement area that has a fairly constant temp and humidity.

Floor stands just make me very nervous.