Creating guitar storage in the man cave

impmann

Are they water pipes in the corner? As in *hot* water pipes...?

I truly wouldn't put doors on that if they are hot water pipes as you'll trap the hot air inside the 'box' and the guitars will suffer. I'd be cautious about putting guitars too close to them anyway...

I hope I'm wrong. :-)

CloudNine

Totally agree with Impmann. Would not be happy about any guitars spending the majority of their time in that corner with the central heating pipes. No amount of putting foam round it would make me feel any better either. Will be a low humidity zone in the winter months. May get away with it with electric guitars (still wouldn't be happy, they are made of wood), would be horrendous for acoustics.

hubobulous

@impmann - They are hot water pipes indeed, but I'm covering them with insulation foam so that should minimise the heat coming from them. I've put my hand nearby them with the foam on and there's very little leakage of heat. There's also the practical issue of them taking a little too much depth to allow a guitar to be located directly in front of them, so I'm banking on it being ok for the guitars.

Doors are now out of the equation, with a roller blind being preferred, so heat escaping should be possible as well.

hubobulous

Dinosauria said:

Be really careful what foam you use with this, you don;t want your guitar finish being melted!!  

@Dinosauria - I plan on putting a material over any foam, so hopefully that should remove that possibility, but thanks for the heads up anyway. Although its progressing well, I'm changing my mind on things as I move forward and don't for one minute think that I've got all the aswers covered, so any input is welcomed :-)

impmann

I'd still be a little cautious - it doesn't take a *lot* of heat to affect the stability of a neck. Perhaps boxing them in with a vent at the top to let the heat escape would be an option.

Good luck, fella. :-)

hubobulous

impmann said:

I'd still be a little cautious - it doesn't take a *lot* of heat to affect the stability of a neck. Perhaps boxing them in with a vent at the top to let the heat escape would be an option.

Good luck, fella. :-)

The thought of a vent etc at the top is one I've been mulling over too.

Essentially, I've got to hang the roller blind from the ceiling, and to hide that, will need to put a piece of wood across the width of the gap. This piece of wood can't be so big that it impedes getting the guitars in and out of the upper rack, but if I can, I've been thinking of putting some sort of white grill into it to allow for heat removal. Along with the blind which obviously won't be airtight, it should be ok.

I'm not dismissing this concern at all, and the fact that a couple of you have bought it up has solidified some of my thoughts. Venting sounds like it would be sensible, so need to give this some extra thinking time.

Thanks again :-)

CloudNine

Can you take out the shelves, box the pipes off properly and enlarge the hole a little at the top to make sure all the heat goes upwards? These are nice instruments, worth the extra caution. Low humidity and you could be getting wood shrinkage which might cause set-up issues or fret ends poking out etc. etc.

Aside from the pipes, really cool idea man.

hubobulous

Yeah, boxing in is also a contender. I was hesitant at first given that I though it could be complicated, but the more time I'm spending actually working on it, the more it seems a bit easier.

samzadgan

this is pretty cool...i'm following this to see how how it turns out.

I hope sometime in the future I have a house that i can do something similar.

Sassafras

Obviously, a blind is a good idea to keep your guitars dust free but personally, I'd rather have them on show. You've got some nice guitars, let them be seen.

hubobulous

@Sassafras - its just a question of numbers!! I'm definitely having some on the walls, but this storage is to cater for the others. I'll rotate I'm sure, but there are some like the acoustic and 335 that are too big to go in this new racked area anyway.

samzadgan

you could do something very simple and tacky...and got for bead curtains?? but that doesnt keep dust off.

or something more complicated yet nicer, nice dark wood french doors.

hubobulous

Yeah, I've considered doors, but it'll be too hard to hang them, make sure they're vertical and deal with the heat issues from the hot water pipes.

Bead curtains and dark french doors - salacious environments running through your mind at the moment perchance?

samzadgan

most likely...who knows whats going on deep in my brain when i spend all day on excel!

NPP

I'd definitely recommend boxing off the pipes. I have a similar setup of two hot-water pipes running through an airing cupboard under the stairs. They are sufficient to heat the space which is quite a bit larger than your guitar rack.

Otherwise a very good project! 

kaisos

I would recommend IKEA closet + the guitar hanger.

Lew

Lookin good Hubob. I too would have massive concerns about the heat but I'm certain you will make it work. Nothing wrong with bead curtains ;-)

All going to plan we're moving in the next few weeks and I'll also have a man cave. A cheaply converted attic space that will likely need alot of work! My guitar storage however will never be as elegant and more likely the equivalent of my pedalboard.

hubobulous

So in a not very scientific experiment, I decided to start investigating the heat effects of the pipes. I've got a digital thermometer that seems to work well, and so put it near the pipes covered in foam for about half an hour, and then in the rack at the other end. The difference is very small, with it being about 20 degrees next to the pipes and flitting between 19-20 degrees away from it.

I obviously need to do a little more in this area, and don't want to cut corners unnecessarily, but equally don't want to undertake fiddly work if I don't have to. More to do, but here's tonight's reading!!

hubobulous

@Lew - attic space for a man cave would be excellent. A project like this is good for the brain :-)

Chalky

I would still recommend leaving the space open-fronted, no blinds, etc. Without airflow heat will build up more than you think. Just because something isn't airtight doesn't mean there is airflow. For example, badly designed open backed amps can still suffer cooling problems.