5 Things NOT To Do With Your Guitar Case

Now our guitar cases , ok .

Our guitar cases are , in many instances , life saving devices .

Uh they help control , they help us uh keep our guitars humidified , right ?

Because it's an enclosed space .

That's nice .

They help protect our guitars from , you know , knocks and bruises and dings and all sorts of things like that .

But our guitar cases can actually cause damage to our guitars .

Now , this isn't something you normally think of or a connection you would normally make .

But I'm gonna share with you five things to not do with your guitar case because as a guitar geek , I care about the well-being of your guitar and as guitar geeks collectively , we should all care about the well-being of everybody's guitars .

So I've got my trusty um demo guitar case here .

This is actually from uh Joe and Joe and Don are from Helena .

And uh I wanna thank them for this .

This was a Christmas gift , but I'm gonna use it as a demo right now .

So this is our guitar case , right ?

We got our handle , we got our latches .

This is our guitar case .

The first thing I don't want you to do with your guitar case is leaning against a wall like that .

Why ?

Well , if it's a slippery surface , it could go like that .

Right .

And you think , well , that's not a big deal .

The guitar is in its case .

Well , it is a big deal because yes , your guitar is not getting a ding on it , but just because of the force of that drop , it can actually cause a crack , uh , right around the heads stock area of your guitar .

So please don't lean a guitar case on a wall like that .

Worse yet , somebody could knock it forward and it falls face down .

If it falls face down , then you might have a crack again on the back of the heads stock .

So just because your guitar is in the case as it means protected from everything , right ?

So just be conscious of how you're orienting the case when you're laying it down .

I would just recommend laying it on the floor like that .

I've had many instances where my guitar is taking quite a spill just from leaning it against a wall like that .

So don't lean it against the wall .

Next up .

One thing to know is that while your guitar case does protect the guitar , it doesn't necessarily protect it from the environment .

OK ?

Here's , here's an example you're done playing at your neighbor's house or wherever you're playing , you throw your guitar in the car and think I just got to run into the store real quick .

I'll go ahead and leave my guitar in the car and it's , you know , it's a summer day .

Maybe it's 75 80 degrees , 90 degrees .

Well , just because your guitar is in its case doesn't mean it's safe from the heat that builds up in the car .

And the same is true for the cold .

Right .

So , the guitar case itself doesn't protect from the outside environment .

Yes , it creates a buffer zone but it can actually cause a lot of harm , right ?

Just because your guitars in this case doesn't mean it's protected in , in this invisible shield manner , right ?

It still is gonna heat up , it still is gonna cool down and that can affect the finish .

Uh especially if , if it gets cold , you can get finished cracks , you can get actually really quick uh uh wood cracks on it .

And the same thing with heat because of that rapid expansion , you can get loose and glue joints , you can get cracks , you can get , you know , it could deh humidify rather rapidly depending on how hot it is .

So , don't leave your instrument in its case in a car .

The case won't protect it from the environment .

The third tip I have for you has to do with the latches of your case .

Don't ever leave your guitar unlatched , right ?

Don't ever put your guitar back in its case .

All right , here's my little guitar .

I'm done playing .

I'm gonna put it back in this case , close the lid and don't latch it right .

Don't ever , not latch the case .

Why ?

Because if you forget and you go to pick it up , you're gonna pick up that guitar and the guitar can fall out of the front of the case and cause not only a really horrible noise to hear , but probably some damage as well .

Also in regard to the latches , one of the things that I would recommend strongly and this is really , uh for , for those of you who have maybe those chipboard cases think like old uh uh Gibsons Stella's harmonies and any of those old flimsy like cardboard cases , right ?

I want you to carry the guitar with the latches towards your body .

So as you're holding the guitar case , those latches that , that the case top should be against your body .

Why ?

Because if those latches happen to let go , at least your body's in the way to catch the guitar if you carry it with the latches out or the , the case top out .

If those latches let go , your guitar is again , gonna fall to the ground .

That's something that's easily avoidable .

If you just carry it with the case top towards your body , I still do this .

Even on my five latch hard shell cases , I know that's probably overkill .

But , you know , you never know if the latch let's go .

I don't want my guitar spilling out on the floor or the ground or the pavement or whatever .

So I always carry it with the case lid , uh , closed and obviously close to my body .

So that is our third tip .

The second tip .

What not to do with your case ?

Don't leave it in the sun .

And you're probably thinking , ok , Tony , you made the temperature point .

I get it .

I would never leave my guitar in its case in the sun .

That's actually not what I'm talking about .

Don't leave your guitar case empty in the sun .

Right .

Guitar cases are black .

They absorb heat , right ?

As the sun beats on that case , it's gonna heat up the inside of the case .

It might be a cool day .

It might be 65 degrees out , 70 degrees out beautiful summer day .

You're playing outside .

Your guitar case is in the sun , it's heating up , it's gonna heat up a lot more rapidly because it's black .

It's absorbing the heat .

You go to put your guitar away and it's kind of cool 70 degrees into say a 90 degree case .

That's a 20 degree temperature fluctuation .

So you could run into some finish issues there , some checking just because of that rapid change .

So don't leave your case in the sun .

I know it seems silly , but we want our guitars to be comfortable and we also want our guitars to go back to a comfortable environment , right ?

70 degrees , 75 degrees outside is great .

But if it's going back into a 90 90 degree case .

That that's a pretty sudden temperature shock .

So , just be wary of where you store your case .

When your guitar is not in it , it's very , very important .

And last , and probably the most important the thing I see most often as I see other players and , and go to different gigs and whatnot is the , the number one tip ?

Ok .

Don't use your guitar case to change strings .

Right .

And the common thing is this right ?

You lift up the latch , you take the , the , the top of your guitar case out , right ?

Lift up your guitar , the little pick the little pick compartment area , you flip up that um you flip up that little hinge door and then you rest your guitar like that to go ahead and change the strings .

That's fine .

Except for if somebody hits the case top , right , the case could come down on your guitar and if you've looked at your guitar case , there's these little metal nubs , right ?

These little metal kind of uh latches , right ?

The other part of the latch .

Well , they stick past the plane of the guitar case top .

So if those come down on your guitar , those latches are gonna dig in to the top of your guitar .

It's called case bite .

It's not something you want to deal with .

Right ?

It's essentially like it's , it's like a nail going into your guitar .

You don't want that .

So please don't change your cases or don't change your strings in your guitar case .

If you have to do that , if you're hard up for a place to , to change your strings , go ahead and take your guitar out and pop it on top of the case .

It'll be a lot easier to do that and you won't risk hurting your guitar .

Right .

And the same is true when you're just taking your guitar out of the case , be very careful with the very top of it , right .

Put one hand on it and then take your guitar out with the other hand because you don't want that case lid coming down because it will cause case bite .

And that's something that it just , it hurts , it hurts every guitar geek everywhere .

It's like when you hear an angel , when you hear a bell ring , an angel gets its wings .

Well , when a , when a guitar gets case by guitar geeks just hurt a little bit all over the world .

So those are five things not to do with your case .

Let me give you a quick summary of what those are .

Uh , don't lean it on a wall , just set it nice and stable on the ground .

Don't think that because your guitar is in its case , it's protected from everything , right ?

If your guitar is in its case and it's in a hot car , it's not protected , be aware of that .

And then of course , make sure to latch your case at all times whether it's laying flat or what not .

And of course , in the same uh same regard , make sure you carry the case with its top towards your body .

The second is , don't leave your case in the sun , I'm talking empty , right ?

It can create a really hot environment that if you put your guitar back in , it can cause some finish issues .

And last but certainly not least don't change your strings in your guitar case .

You don't want case bite .

You don't want case bite .

You don't want case bite .

It's absolutely horrible .

So , be careful taking your guitar in and out of its case and certainly don't change your strings , uh , with the guitar in its case .

So that's that little guitar case 101 that will hopefully save your guitars life .

Save it from a ding , save it from , uh , some sort of breakage that we certainly don't want as guitar geeks .