Wood & Metal Guitar Hanger

A basic guitar hanger that anyone can build at home with some spare time ; this design is pretty simple - but looks nice on the wall and holds a guitar without scuffing or detuning when the metal is formed correctly.

The design uses about 20-25 inches of metal rod, which can be then sanded down and painted any color you like. You will have to bend the metal into place, which is pretty easy with a vice.

Step 1: Materials & Tools

TOOLS:

Drill / Screw Gun
Paint Brush (for stain)
Cut-Off Saw (to cut metal rod, and wood)
Hot Glue Gun / Epoxy
Bench Vice & Rag to secure the rod with
Grinder (optional)

MATERIALS:

Wood Stain / Paint (not required)
Wood Lacquer (not required)
Metal Rod (smooth, not threaded)
Wood Block
Rubber Fuel Hose
Hot Glue / Epoxy
2x Bolts / Nuts
4x Washers
2 Screws

Optional : ** Truck bed liner in a can (to coat the rod)

Step 2: Putting It Together

There are two guitar hangers I make ; one is universal - and the one shown here is for acoustics (hangs father away from the wall). I'll provide measurements for both.

Acoustic Guitars:

Take the rod you purchased ; cut to 24". Now take your flat piece and bend it down the middle around another 1" pipe to make a "U". Using a bench top vice makes this job a lot easier.

What you'll end up with is a U shaped piece with two sides equalling 12".

At the 6" mark, bend the two sides upward, then pull them outwards a little over 4" from each other.
This is the point where you may want to check the width so it's custom fit to the neck / headstock your particular guitar.

Bend the two ends of your 6" pieces up at the 4" mark, then in towards the "U".

Paint / finish the hanger with something that will not damage / rub off onto your guitar. I use truck bed liner in a can ; but you can get pretty creative with just about anything for this.

At this point, you should have the hanger assembled, and ready to mount. Next step is mounting your hanger - or securing it to a wood backing which mounts to your wall.

Your hanger should look something like the one photographed below.

Electric Guitars:

For electrics, you are going to do basically the same thing ; but with the arms fashioned smaller. You'll have to measure your guitar first, then decide where you want your bends. I like mine for electrics to come out about 4 1/2" from the wall ; not like 6" for the acoustics which have a wider body ; but every guitar is different.

Step 3: Wood Bracket Plate / Backing

Next, we've got to prepare our wood backing for our new guitar bracket.

Take a block of wood, and cut it to the length of your flat U. In this example, we're making one for an acoustic guitar, so cut your block to 6" long.

Next we have to pre-drill the holes that our bracket securing bolts will go through. See the picture below, as the the hole is drilled out twice. Once with a smaller bit the width of the bolt, then again the width of our washers.

The thinner the piece of wood you use, the closer you are going to be as far as the bolt assembly coming out of the back. 'I've learned to use thick wood now, so you don't end up doing what I did in the pic below and grinding the bolt assembly down. Depending on the length of the bolt you use to secure the bracket to the block, you may end up having to do so anyway.

Stain / Paint the block any color you like. As you can see I like dark wood finishes ; but I've done ones for friends in numerous flavors.

Step 4: Securing the Bracket to the Backing

Next, we've got to get that bracket secured properly to the backing.

With your prepped and painted / stained block ; take your hardware (two bolts & nuts ; 4x washers)
and secure your bracket to the block.

Place 1x washer over the bracket, sink the bolt through then use another washer on the other side were we pre-drilled it out to the width of a washer. Secure it with a nut.

Sometimes I take a ratchet to tighten the back nuts up to the washers ; but be careful not to do this vigorously or you'll damage your block / finish.

Next, I like to cut some fuel line hose / rubber and split it down the middle to attach to my bracket as extra guitar damage insurance. With the halves apart, glue them together with the adhesive of your choice. I often just use a hot glue gun to seal the rubber ends back together around the bracket.

This prevents the bracket from coming in contact with my guitar even if I've had a few too many.

Secure the bracket to the wall ; using standard wood screws (long!) and you're done!