Guitar hangers - any problems?

[mentalextra]

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1481471954' post='3192490']
Yes, I think it is just ash, this was originally concrete / steel construction which has since been brick skinned but the inner walls are basically powder. I will be sure to use much bigger screws next time, I don't see any way of getting rid of hangers at the moment
[/quote]

I used to live in a house with walls like that. In fact the construction seemed to be from two materials, one was a 'dust' that meant whatever drill size you used the wall would just fall apart before your eyes, the second was a super hard concrete (designed for nuclear bunkers) that would require diamond tipped drills to even make a dent. God knows how they used to manage when the only drill was a 'bit-and-brace'?

I find that the standard fixings with those wall hangers are only designed to take the weight of an accoustic. If you want to hang an electric guitar/bass you've got to beef it up a bit

Edited December 11, 2016 by mentalextra

[stingrayPete1977]

There's a large estate of these houses in my nearest town that was built for the miners, a guy I used to do rewires with refused to do them on that estate after burning 3 drills out in one day!

[uk_lefty]

Interesting convo... I've just bought a house built in 1960 that has broken two drill bits so far, one drilled through bathroom tile ok then snapped in the wall, the other bent over after only going through plaster when trying to get a screw in to hang a picture (nails obv failed too).
I'm keen to hang my guitars in the spare room once it's decorated so they're out of reach of my little one. The wall appears to be plaster and then possibly breeze block, judging by a hole drilled for an extractor fan. The breeze block shreds in to fine grey powder when using professional tools like my father in law's hammer drills. Question is, if I am to hang the guitars do I need a standard masonry drill bit or something stronger? Do I mount the hangers on a long piece of timber and fix that to the wall? What type of screws or fittings should I use in the wall?

[stingrayPete1977]

If you can fit a baton first fixed into the breeze blocks with decent screws and rawl plugs and a squiggle of no nails on the rear of the baton in will be super strong! Failing that just make sure you fix into the blocks and get a hanger with a wide base or make a spreader plate from nice wood to stop it pulling the hanger into the hollow area behind the plaster board. Putting the hanger where a 'dab' is would be best.

[pfretrock]

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1481460929' post='3192407']
The grey powder is probably the inner block, it's very easy to drill and doesn't hold well at the best of time.
[/quote]

Got that awful stuff in my extension. (cheap 1970s addition). threw away the screws supplied with the hanger (Hercules with wood base), drilled out larger holes in the wood, used thicker longer screws, 2 inch I think. Also drilled out the hole in the covering plaster with 10mm drill, so I could push the wall plug flush with the brick surface. I reckon the wood base Hercules are a bit better as it is easier to drill the hole out to fit larger screws. Looks like some sort of (Chinese) oak type wood.

[tonyquipment]

As most have already mentioned, those plugs and screws are just not man enough for the job.

I had the exact same problem with a plaster wall. Used even bigger plaster plugs for it. The wall was just too soft.

In the end I used some spring toggles which spring out as they are inserted through the wall

There are other fitting butterfly clips and toggles and plugs which will do the job

But those plugs u got there? No good.

[pfretrock]

Another point about the wood base hangers, the screws are further apart, so less leverage on them and 3 screws close together in a crumbly wall is not so good.

[josie]

It happened to me too. Luckily the guitar that fell was my Cort "Strat" and it only dropped a few feet, onto a padded surface, and narrowly missed my Jazz Aerodyne on a stand below, so no harm done except to the wall. Long screws and rawl plugs, so definitely the wall's fault, a main wall in a well-built 30s semi.

I don't like keeping my guitars on hangers anyway, except for my acoustic 6-strings, because I worry about the weight all bearing on the shoulders of the headstocks - two of my 5-string basses are seriously heavy. I'm sure I've seen a review of one bass somewhere which advised against keeping it on a hanger for that reason. But most peeps seem to do it, so perhaps I shouldn't worry?