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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Securing your guitars

Posted: 10/16/2017 9:17:25 PM EDT

What do you folks do for securing your guitars to keep them safe from theft? Most of us here on ARFCOM have gun safes for our firearms but what have any of you been doing to keep your guitars safe?

I'm asking because I've been accumulating a few more guitars lately and I've kind of outgrown the corner of the closet where I'd been storing the couple of guitars I've had in the past. I don't have much in the way of any pricey guitars but even my cheaper ones would be a big deal if I lost them. So I've been thinking of perhaps somehow hardening up the closet that I've been using for storage and using one of the commercial metal guitar racks to somehow lock them in place stored in their hard cases. Any secure storage suggestions that any of you tried?

Posted: 10/16/2017 9:32:22 PM EDT

[#1]

You answered your own question.

Posted: 10/17/2017 1:58:29 PM EDT

[#2]

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Quoted:
You answered your own question.
https://i.imgur.com/knR7uPz.jpg

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I couldn't fit mine in there. I own to many fat acoustics.

Posted: 10/17/2017 2:27:42 PM EDT

[#3]

I would run a chain through the handles of all the guitar cases and chain them together in one big bundle, and use the biggest chain that'll fit through the handles.
Follow that up with the biggest Master padlock that works with that chain size and you have just made it difficult and time consuming to steal any number of them.

I THINK Pelican makes guitar sized cases, just FYI. And they would likely be padlockable.

Posted: 10/17/2017 2:30:31 PM EDT

[#4]

I don't really have a big guitar colelction but I own a few >$1000 guitars. The catch 22 is that I know if I stored my nicer guitars in a safe I'd probably end up hardly playing them out of laziness.

Posted: 10/17/2017 9:16:00 PM EDT

[#5]

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Quoted:
I couldn't fit mine in there. I own to many fat acoustics.

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Yeah, I don't have a ton of guitars but with the dreadnought size acoustics, a couple of large hollow body electrics coupled with all the solid body electrics I'd have to have a couple of pretty damn big safes if I wanted to go the safe route. I'd actually upgrade the safes for my guns before I'd do that for the guitars.

I'd just like to harden up an area or perhaps plan out something like a bolted down framework or cage that would enable me to to secure the guitars in their cases. The framework or cage could certainly be pried up from the floor or be popped apart but, with thieves, its all about the degree of difficulty you can make. If its too difficult and/or time consuming to find and pry something open then usually thieves move along to easier pickings.

Posted: 10/17/2017 9:45:56 PM EDT

[#6]

Dogs of Peace?

That's all I have..

Posted: 10/18/2017 7:06:16 AM EDT

[#7]

Quote History

Quoted:
Yeah, I don't have a ton of guitars but with the dreadnought size acoustics, a couple of large hollow body electrics coupled with all the solid body electrics I'd have to have a couple of pretty damn big safes if I wanted to go the safe route. I'd actually upgrade the safes for my guns before I'd do that for the guitars.

I'd just like to harden up an area or perhaps plan out something like a bolted down framework or cage that would enable me to to secure the guitars in their cases. The framework or cage could certainly be pried up from the floor or be popped apart but, with thieves, its all about the degree of difficulty you can make. If its too difficult and/or time consuming to find and pry something open then usually thieves move along to easier pickings.

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Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
I couldn't fit mine in there. I own to many fat acoustics.

Yeah, I don't have a ton of guitars but with the dreadnought size acoustics, a couple of large hollow body electrics coupled with all the solid body electrics I'd have to have a couple of pretty damn big safes if I wanted to go the safe route. I'd actually upgrade the safes for my guns before I'd do that for the guitars.

I'd just like to harden up an area or perhaps plan out something like a bolted down framework or cage that would enable me to to secure the guitars in their cases. The framework or cage could certainly be pried up from the floor or be popped apart but, with thieves, its all about the degree of difficulty you can make. If its too difficult and/or time consuming to find and pry something open then usually thieves move along to easier pickings.

With all the tools of destruction I have sitting around there is nothing outside of a bank vault that would slow any would be thief. I have any tool they could ever ask for on site.

Posted: 10/18/2017 11:25:36 AM EDT

[#8]

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Quoted:
I couldn't fit mine in there. I own to many fat acoustics.

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I just own two damn many guitars... Two fat acoustics. Plus I enjoy them hanging on my wall where I can see and enjoy them. Since there is no risk of them being used in a crime(except as a club maybe) I take the risk, unlike my guns. Which I wish I could display on my walls.

Posted: 10/18/2017 11:31:49 AM EDT

[#9]

I don't secure all mine, they just hang on the wall.

Posted: 10/19/2017 5:17:20 PM EDT

[#10]

I just lost 1000sq feet of living space and a garage bay. 1400sq with 2 boys and a boxerdog, and a FIL with dementia coming to stay for a few weeks. There's almost no storage space for anything, and I'm not putting them in our rented storage unit. ...and just remembered I have a koa bodied guitar project buried in there.

I've had my guitars stacked like cord wood in the second bedroom closet, but now I have to find somewhere else so the in-laws can use that room.

Posted: 10/24/2017 4:28:23 PM EDT

[#11]

My guitar collection greatly exceeds my gun collection in value. I bought a cheap stand that holds the guitars upright in their cases for the acoustics. The electrics cases are just propped upright next to it. They're just against the wall in a room in my house. I have small kids, so they have to stay in cases.

Stand is like this:

Posted: 10/24/2017 11:19:46 PM EDT

[#12]

Some are in their cases, some are on a 7 guitar rack, others are hanging on a Hercules triple stand. My acoustics are cheap Samicks, so I just prop them up in random places, same for my el-cheapo Ibanez RG421MH that I found in a pawn shop for like a hundred bucks.

Posted: 10/24/2017 11:24:14 PM EDT

[#13]

I gave you the answer. Chain all the cases together through the case handles. With the heaviest chain and padlock that'll work and that you're willing to buy.

It's not completely foolproof but it'll make stealing one guitar a PITA and stealing the whole bunch a major endeavour.

Posted: 10/25/2017 2:46:44 PM EDT

[#14]

Quote History

Quoted:
I gave you the answer. Chain all the cases together through the case handles. With the heaviest chain and padlock that'll work and that you're willing to buy.

It's not completely foolproof but it'll make stealing one guitar a PITA and stealing the whole bunch a major endeavour.

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Guitar case handles are rarely securely connected to the body of the case nor are they very resistant to just being cut off or open.

Posted: 10/26/2017 2:23:54 AM EDT

[#15]

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Quoted:

Guitar case handles are rarely securely connected to the body of the case nor are they very resistant to just being cut off or open.

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Yep. A decent pair of side cutters will cut the metal tabs that hold the handles. But a decent pair of bolt cutters will take care of the chain. Heck, most common paddle locks can be popped open with a couple heavy hammers.

Posted: 10/29/2017 8:06:22 PM EDT

[#16]

Yeah, a hardened cable could make it difficult to cut through but the problem is that the handles on most hard shell guitar cases can be cut through/pried off quite easily. I think a rack like a previous poster pictured could be configured with a bar or two running across the rack to help secure the cases in the rack.

The entire rack could, of course, be pried loose and taken but the key is to make it more difficult and slow down the thief's progress. On that same same token, a means to hide the guitar rack and gun safes also seems key. Anything to make the thief spend more time as they generally only spend 8 to 12 minutes on average in a home when they're stealing our stuff.

Posted: 10/29/2017 8:10:06 PM EDT

[#17]

I give mine the old rattle-can paint treatment. They don't look worth stealing.

Posted: 10/30/2017 1:44:24 PM EDT

[#18]

Quote History

Quoted:
Yeah, a hardened cable could make it difficult to cut through but the problem is that the handles on most hard shell guitar cases can be cut through/pried off quite easily. I think a rack like a previous poster pictured could be configured with a bar or two running across the rack to help secure the cases in the rack.

The entire rack could, of course, be pried loose and taken but the key is to make it more difficult and slow down the thief's progress. On that same same token, a means to hide the guitar rack and gun safes also seems key. Anything to make the thief spend more time as they generally only spend 8 to 12 minutes on average in a home when they're stealing our stuff.

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So a rollercoaster safety bar that locks in place to hold the cases on a rack...

Posted: 11/24/2017 12:19:42 AM EDT

[#19]

I have them scheduled on my homeowners insurance. It costs an extra $35 per month. I lost the only one that mattered in a burglary 30 years ago. So they can all be replaced, or not.