Over time, I’ve amassed a reasonable collection of guitars, basses and other string instruments. That raises the challenge of how to store them to make them easily accessible but also keep them protected and in good condition.

One of my plans has been to construct a multi-guitar stand, which I managed to achieve this afternoon. I’ve taken the doors off my old wardrobe and had an inkling that I could use the clothes hanging bar and the (long-unused) shoe support bar to sit a number of instruments on. Guitars tend to have curved bases so a couple of suitably spaced bars will support a wide range of instruments as long as the radius of the curve doesn’t vary too much.

Originally the plan was to create a slotted crossbar to keep the necks in place, but I realised that would limit it to a specific set of instruments. My brain wave was to round off the edge of the shelf I had created, stick some rubber along the surface (part of an old bicycle inner tube) and lean the guitars at an angle. The surfaces seem to create a high enough co-efficient of friction that slots are unnecessary and so I’ll be able to swap instruments out more freely.

I’ve still got some way to go to reach optimal use of the room but I think this has been a worthwhile step.