Guitar & Case Storage Made Spouse Friendly with Guitarstorage.com – By Eric Dahl from Christian Musician Magazine
My only request for any home that I live in is that I have a separate guitar room that I can humidify and parking space in the garage for my Harley. My better half always does a great job of scouting out a room for my musical passion (addiction) but somehow I always end up asking, “Where do the cases go?” Many of you can relate to my predicament as every instrument that you own is also accompanied with a hard shell case or gig bag – so where do you put them? My previous storage methods have included: under the beds, at a friend’s house, at my mom’s house, closets (top and bottom), attics, garages, at my Mother-in-law’s house, car trunks and basements. I have a friend that actually used his hard shell guitar case as coffee tables and end tables in his living room (for the record he was single then). As most of you know, our spouses are usually not pleased with our distribution of what they consider “unsightly” cases either, but the cost of quality cases and gig bags keep rising also!
Guitarstorage.com took a new approach to an age old problem, by designing case and guitar holders that are actually visually appealing furniture, easy to assemble and won’t break the bank! Even their slogan made me feel at home “Storage Solutions for Guitarists and Collectors”- luckily I fit into both of these categories. Their current product line consists of the Carousel Multi-Guitar Stand, Guitar Case Storage Racks, Multiple Guitar Stands, Wall Mounted Display Case, Ukulele and Mandolin Hangers and the Twenty Guitar Racks.
I spoke with the owners of Guitarstorage.com to acquire a better understanding of their products and how they have gone over with collectors, studios, music stores and churches! Just think how nice your platform at church would look with this type of organization and good looks! And their biggest selling point is that spouses actually like the appearance of their storage systems and have sent them glowing reviews by mail and e-mail.
The two products that I received for this review were the Carousel Multi-Guitar Stand and a Guitar Case Storage Rack. When the shipping boxes arrived I didn’t believe that anything that looked as cool and functional on their website could come out of these containers. To my surprise everything I needed to setup both pieces was included in the boxes all the way down to hex wrenches so I didn’t even need my tool box or cordless screw driver! I didn’t time myself, but assembly was easy and fast and all of the individual pieces had plenty of padding so none of the wood finish was scratched or scuffed up.
The Guitar Case Storage rack was done first. As soon as I finished I started testing it with different size and shaped cases and gig bags and all of them fit easily. Plus the moveable dowel rods allow you to separate the case by size so they don’t bump into each other and are easy to remove from the rack as well!
The Carousel Multi-Guitar Stand took a little more assembly time but only because it had more pieces to better protect the six instruments it would soon be cradling. The coolest part of this piece is that it spins like a Lazy Susan so you can grab the instrument of your choice easily and it has a locking dowel rod so you can keep it from moving as well. The finish is nitrocellulose-safe so it won’t react to the finish of your instruments and the wool felt is secured at the neck pockets and base of the guitar so they won’t get damaged. The example I assembled only took up 3 feet of room and handless six guitars (3 face forward and 3 sideways). Each instrument is secured in place with metal retainer at the neck position so they can’t flip out on the floor either, while being spun. They also offer an “Expansion Tier” that attaches to the top of the carousel allowing you to display a total of twelve acoustic or electric guitars.
Guitar Storage products are American Made and they really like to hear from their customers and post photos of how they have put their storage devices to use. I was thrilled with both pieces after assembly, but more importantly my wife really loved how good they looked on our hardwood floors and that they made my music space seem less cluttered!
If you have more than a few instruments and need to store them and their cases it’s worth taking a closer look at Guitarstorage.com and their spouse approved storage units. The Carousel Multi-Guitar Stand as reviewed sells for $599 plus shipping and the Guitar Case Storage Rack goes for $399 plus shipping.
Eric Dahl resides in Nashville TN with his wife and daughter. He is the author of “B.B. King’s Lucille and the Loves Before Her” and he does a weekly TV gear review show called the FOX 17 Rock and Review.