Instrument Wall

Here’s how I went about organising my instruments in an easily accessible way that doesn’t take up too much space.

There are three different homes that I’ve done this in. Once in a cupboard and twice on a wall.

Guitar wall hangers such as these.

Plasterboard fixings like these.

Screws

A long pin

A screw driver

Stud finder (optional)

A pencil

For the guitar shelf

An old guitar

Some bits of wood

A saw

For this method, I put a hook to hang over a bar in a walldrobe and hung the guitar holders on there. I was able to easily find space for a guitar, electric guitar, banjo, cello and a couple of ukeleles in a single walldrobe.

I also added some hooks to the side for cables. This set up worked well and was easily accessible with space at the bottom of the walldrobe for other gear.

So, I have a stud finder, but it’s playing up big time, so I went back to the old knock on the wall test.

Tap very firmly, consistently and frequently with the ball of your index finger as you move across the wall and up and down the wall.

As you knock across the wall, you will hear a change in the sound. It will go from deep and hollow sounding to more mid toned with a shorter sustain.

Mark where the tone is most dampened. Get out a long safety pin and push it in where you plan to make a hole. It should go easily through the plasterboard and then stick when it hits timber. It’s much easier to patch or hide a pin hole than a screw hole if you miss. If you miss, it goes through the plasterboard and gets easier to push.

Line up your first instrument on the wall. Screw it at the height you require on your stud.

Get your next instrument and figure out roughly where you want it. Find the closest stud or timber framing to screw it to. If you don’t have any in the area, you can use plasterboard fixings, but they will leave a bigger hole to patch if you get it wrong, so get it right.

Continue this process until everything is hung!

I’ve ordered a bunch more of these things. I want to hang two of them up to hold a snare drum next and a couple of hooks for some cymbals.

I had an old guitar I found by the side of the road. The bridge was falling off and the front had cracked. So I put a guide on my skillsaw, ran it around the edge of the guitar and finished it off with a hand saw. It was easy work to then install a couple of shelves. This makes it easy to hang the old guitar with a few smaller instruments such as harmonicas, shakers, jaws harps, etc on the shelf while still fitting in with the rest of the instruments.