Multi-guitar storage unit

[MadAsAHatter]

The long and short of it is I have too many guitars and the way I have them set isn't going to do it anymore. The way I have them now is 2 rows, one hanging on the wall and the 2nd on a rack stand. It works but It's not very efficient with space. Now I'm working on a storage unit which should house double the number of guitars on one row than I have now.

The goal is to make something that can house maximum number of guitars within the space constraints. I also want it to look as nice as possible, not be a rack slapped together with PVC pipe. It took me a bit and several sketched plans to come up with something that I liked and worked. It'll be decent size cabinet with panels that guitars will hang on. The panels will slide in and out to access the guitars. I was going to use drawer slides, but hardware would have cost a fortune and take up space in the design that I didn't really have. So I went with dado grooves and low friction UHMW tape that the panels will slide in. I'll make at least 2 units that will span most of the wall. I may also do 2 more after that to stack.

Today I started the build on one. It's more the prototype & proof of design that everything works so I'm using plywood instead of hardwood. If it all goes well the rest may be hardwood if I can get nice pieces that don't cost a fortune. So far I got the basic box (without the back yet) with one panel made. For now all is dry fitted to test out before I went further. I may need to refine the design as I go on, but so far so good.

Here's the basic sketch and construction so far.

 

[LP Freak]

Nice job ??

 

[Pushead]

Clever! Can't wait to see the finished product. I went a quite a bit more simple with mine. I went with a DRS Racks type theme. (No pics as not to clutter your thread.)

 

[creep66]

Cool design. A small suggestion; you may consider putting support behind the bodies to prevent the bodies from swinging and possibly bumping each other or the stand behind them if you move the unit.

 

[BlackKey]

Wow! That's genius! Great job so far!

 

[Beandust]

Great idea, definitely been wanting something similar with ability to display yet keep at steady temps/humidity

 

[MadAsAHatter]

I took a pause from this project to do a couple of quick day projects recovering 2 of my amp heads. My week vacation is coming to an end so I'll be next weekend when I get back to working on the storage cabinet.

I did on it more a few days ago, got all the pieces cut to size, and cut grooves for the panels to slide in. Everything is mostly ready to go to start putting it together. I will have to do a small revision. Once the grooves were cut the piece flexes more than I was expecting; enough that it would make the panels not fit/slide correctly. I'll need to reinforce it along its length so it stays stiff. Either a couple of 1x2's or another piece of ply glued on should do the trick.

I also need to put in some sort of stop to keep the panel from sliding all the way out once it's all put together. I'm thinking a L bracket will work for this. That way I could could unscrew and remove the bracket if I need to take the panel out versus having a stop permanently attached.

Cool design. A small suggestion; you may consider putting support behind the bodies to prevent the bodies from swinging and possibly bumping each other or the stand behind them if you move the unit.

I had thought of that when doing the mock up. I'll be putting another cross piece with a bumper behind the body to cradle it. That should keep any swinging motion to a minimum and help protect from dings when sliding in & out. I may also line the inside and panels with some felt. That'll add some extra protection from bumps and may dress it up a bit.

 

[MadAsAHatter]

Well, I'm moving on from this design.

I worked on it more over the weekend. The further I got in the build It just isn't shaping up how I envisioned it. Aesthetically it looks fine and it works functionally. What I'm not liking is that as per my usual MO I overcomplicated things and now it's just becoming too bulky for the intended space. And to cut it down to a more manageable size I would lose a few spaces for guitars.

All is not lost though. I'm going to repurpose what I have so far into hanging tool storage in my workshop. I have a bunch of hand tools that I inherited from my great uncle that need to be stored in a better way so they're more accessible. So I'll cut the box into two halves so all is more manageable, install pegboard in the sliding panels, and maybe attach some casters so they're mobile.

As far as guitar storage, I'm going to go back to the drawing board and do something more simplistic but still nice looking. Something like the picture below. For now I'll keep the "odd" shaped guitars like my Explorers hanging on the wall until I can figure out the best way to put them on a stand like this where they won't slide.

 

[rottingcorpse]

I have wanted a guitar vault for decades ever since I saw one backstage at a Rush show when I was a kid.
Found a couple on line but just decided to keep mine in their cases when I saw the prices including shipping.
Good on ya for building something for your need. You got more skills and time than I do, that's for damned sure.

 

[stratjacket]

I have a good friend that is big time into wood working. He made me this case several years ago. Guitar storage up top and case storage underneath. It was pretty cool, but HEAVY AS FUCK, so when I moved I just donated it to Goodwill.

Glass doors. It could hold 8 guitars and about as many cases under. Maybe give some ideas though: