13 Jul How to Store Musical Instruments in Self Storage
Our Kamloops self storage facility staff gets a lot of questions about how to store musical instruments. Whether you’re an amateur or professional musician with a collection of instruments taking up too much room in your home, a music program director looking for band instrument storage, or you want to safely store a musical instrument you no longer play, the following tips are for you!
You should ensure that you rent storage from a climate-controlled self-storage facility, such as Valleyview Mini Storage. Climate-controlled storage safeguards musical instruments against extremes in temperature and humidity.
How to Store Orchestral Strings
- Wipe strings with a soft cloth to remove rosin, skin debris and oils
- Loosen strings. Tuning down a tone from normal tuning usually provides enough slack to reduce string tension and prevent neck warping
- Wipe down the body with a microfibre cloth or chamois
- Loosen the bow screw to reduce hair tension on the bow stick
- Place your stringed instrument and bow in the instrument’s hardcase or padded case
How to Store Guitars
Valleyview Mini Storage has many clients that store guitars. One of our long-term clients kept his collection of over 40 guitars in self storage for many years.
The following are suggestions on how to store guitars:
- Wipe guitar strings with a soft microfibre cloth to remove oils and moisture left from your fingers. For steel strings, you might also consider a light application of a combination string lubricant-cleaner, wiping off any excess lubricant after applying.
- Wipe the body and neck with a soft cloth to remove debris and oils left by your fingers.
- Clean the fretboard wood with a very lightly dampened lint-free microfibre cloth and after cleaning, wipe the fretboard dry. Use another soft cloth to wipe the frets – paying particular attention to any gunk build-up where the fret meets the fingerboard.
- Loosen strings down a tone to reduce neck tension
- Do not store your guitar with a capo attached
- Place your guitar in its hardcase or padded gig-bag
How to Store Woodwinds
- Swab the bore dry with a pull-through cloth and dry the interior and exterior of tenons
- Clean keys with a soft cloth
- Clean corks of any cork grease build-up and lightly grease corks before storing
- For woodwinds such as clarinets and oboes, ask a woodwind technician to oil the bore if they think it looks dry
- Disassemble jointed woodwinds such flutes, clarinets, oboes and bassoons
- Clean and dry mouthpieces
- Place the instrument in its hardcase or padded case
How to Store Brass Instruments
- Allow the instrument to dry after use
- Disassemble the instrument and clean slides and valves
- Clean the instrument exterior with a chamois or polishing cloth
- Apply a thin layer of valve oil to valves and grease slides with a thin layer of slide grease
- Store slides and valves together in airtight bags being sure to label each bag
- Place the instrument and parts in your hardcase or padded case
How to Store Drum Kits
- Disassemble the drum kit
- Strip hardware and label and place hardware in a bag
- Place drum shells and hoops in padded bags or boxes after adding a layer of bubble wrap to the box interior
- Wrap cymbals individually in soft cloth or use protective sleeves to prevent scratching
- Fold drum stool legs
Questions About Self Storage for Musical Instruments?
If you have questions about our Kamloops self storage facility, pricing, and storage sizes, please contact us. Whether you need storage for your personal collection of instruments or band instrument storage, you’ll find a suitable size of storage unit at Valleyview Mini Storage.