Safe tubing for guitar hanger

[Quickstep193]

I have a guitar hanger with what appears to be surgical tubing to provide cushioning. I’ve noticed marks on my nitro finished guitar where the tubing contacts the neck.

Is there a better choice for padding?

[b1j]

Buy a yoke (cradle) from String Swing. They’re everywhere fine guitars are found. You can always find one finger wagger Nervous Nellie who doubts the safety of them, but he’s wrong. At the moment I have my three dreads hanging on them.

https://www.stringswing.com/shop/miscellaneous/cradles/

You want the CC01K model if you’re putting it on a stand.

Or they sell the cradle mounted on wood, ready to screw into the wall.

[Quickstep193]

Originally Posted by b1j

Buy a yoke (cradle) from String Swing. They’re everywhere fine guitars are found. You can always find one finger wagger Nervous Nellie who doubts the safety of them, but he’s wrong. At the moment I have my three dreads hanging on them.

https://www.stringswing.com/shop/miscellaneous/cradles/

You want the CC01K model if you’re putting it on a stand.

Or they sell the cradle mounted on wood, ready to screw into the wall.

The hanger I’m referring to is a String Swing. The guitar is a Martin.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Quickstep193

I have a guitar hanger with what appears to be surgical tubing to provide cushioning. I’ve noticed marks on my nitro finished guitar where the tubing contacts the neck.

Is there a better choice for padding?

You may not be aware of this official String Swing yoke cover that adds the extra layer of safety to their products so nitro finished won't be damaged.

String Swing Yoke Covers

[Bruce Sexauer]

There are three covers for guitar hangers that I have found to work. Leather, surgical tubing, and neoprene automotive fuel line. When I built Schoenberg’s guitar shop I used neoprene tuning on all his guitar hangers, and that should speak for itself. I have used String Swing myself for many years w/o any trouble, but most of my guitars have a varnish finish which is non-reactive compared to nitro.

[renoslim]

Hercules is my choice. I like the locking action and I have had guitars hanging for over 20 years with no issues. This includes some heavy electrics and a variety of acoustics with various finishes including nitro.

Lee

[Howard Klepper]

Surgical tubing is mainly polyvinyl choride, and PVC tubing has plasticizers in it that can migrate into a a nitro lacquer finish and damage it. Maybe String Swing has figured out which tubing to use that will not do that. And maybe not. I wouldn't chance it after you have noticed that it is leaving marks. I agree with Bruce that neoprene is safe, from my experience. So is cotton cloth that has not been laundered with bleach or fabric softeners.

[b1j]

Originally Posted by Quickstep193

The hanger I’m referring to is a String Swing. The guitar is a Martin.

Well, shut my mouth. Sorry that happened to your Martin, Quickstep. I won’t recommend the String Swing yokes anymore.

I just looked under a good light at the D-18, HD-28, and Gurian (not J-45) hanging on my stands: no marks on my guitars. None of them stay hung out for more than a month, though. Guess I’ve been lucky so far.

Whatever, though. I like my stands enough to keep them regardless. I just won’t crow about them anymore. This saves me a thread I was going to start to commemorate my third Zither-style reverse-engineered DIY stand, this latest one in stark-white Hard White Maple. Looks like an albino next to the mahogany and bubinga ones.

I wish you the best in finding a solution.

[Quickstep193]

Originally Posted by b1j

Well, shut my mouth. Sorry that happened to your Martin, Quickstep. I won’t recommend the String Swing yokes anymore.

I just looked under a good light at the D-18, HD-28, and Gurian (not J-45) hanging on my stands: no marks on my guitars. None of them stay hung out for more than a month, though. Guess I’ve been lucky so far.

Whatever, though. I like my stands enough to keep them regardless. I just won’t crow about them anymore. This saves me a thread I was going to start to commemorate my third Zither-style reverse-engineered DIY stand, this latest one in stark-white Hard White Maple. Looks like an albino next to the mahogany and bubinga ones.

I wish you the best in finding a solution.

Crow away. I’ve found their customer service to be awesome and that is crow-worthy of itself. In fact, I’m going to call them and get their perspective.
I've ordered the covers that Rudy mentioned. FWIW, I've found the folks at string swing wonderful to work with and I should add that the transfer was minor, although it seems that might not get better with time.

[Bruce Sexauer]

Thirty years ago a friend of mine decided to go into the guitar hanger business. After making a few prototypes, he ordered 40,000 of them from China. They were coated in vinyl, as it turned out, and were capable of melting a nitro guitar finish in a surprisingly short time. He sold me a few hundred of them for nearly nothing, and they are what I replaced the vinyl with neoprene on and then used for all of the wall hangers in Schoenberg’s Tiburon shop, and in my own workshop.

At the end of a NAMM show a lot of merchandise is sold off at cost as shipping it home is impracticably expensive. Eric Schoenberg and I collaborated one year and bought String Swing’s entire display. He uses some in the center aisle of his shop, and I use some when I go to local guitar shows. ASFAIK neither of us has experienced any problem with their interaction with guitar finishes. That’s 20 years or so of constant use in Eric’s shop!

[fazool]

I made little sleeves of felt. use a piece of felt, fold it in half and run it through a sewing machine.


Cut into 1 inch pieces and turn inside out so the stitch is hidden, then slide that over the rubber tubing

[Howard Klepper]

There is something wrong with the picture when a company sells a stand, and separately sells the sleeves you need to make it safe for your guitar.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Howard Klepper

There is something wrong with the picture when a company sells a stand, and separately sells the sleeves you need to make it safe for your guitar.

String Swing acknowledges the exact same thing that Hercules has on their website regarding the "special formulation" foam covering for their products. Hercules states that although their foam is "safe for nitrocellulose finishes" they say that the number of different variations in the product forces them to add the disclaimer that it may occasionally soften, mar, or stain finished instruments. I've posted links to the Hercules disclaimer before, but it's easy enough to find.

The problem will go away when people stop thinking nitro is a superior finish, for whatever reason.

I admire a company that spells out the problems and offers users an additional layer of protection. I'm not sure what else they could possibly do. I suppose they could say "Use our hangers at your own risk. If you really want to keep your guitar in pristine condition then keep it in its case."

[redir]

I have seen some of my stands with what appears to also be surgical tubing deteriorate I think due to ultraviolet light and once that happens it literally stuck a chunk of the tubing on the back of the neck of a guitar finished with water base KTM.

I've been using swing trees for many years but those have a black tubing, not the tan colored surgical stuff and I've never had a problem with those including on nitro finish guitars.

I wonder also if certain guitar cleaners might react with the surgical tubing.

[Rudy4]

Since there's so much misinformation about hangers and tubing material I'd advise a close reading of String Swing's Nitrocellulose Statement. They attempt to clear the air about the nature of the problems that some have with hangers.