How do you store your guitars

[H-evolve]

I'm sure many of us here have more than one guitar. And there is probably one or two guitars that you play less. Or at a minimum, even if you have 4 guitar, and even if you use them equally, that means each of them isn't used 75% of the time.

Therefore, I was wondering, when it comes to maintaining your guitars, especially for string life, how do you store them?

Do you keep them in their cases? Hanging on a wall or on a stand? Do you use string lubricant to protect the strings?

Also, I've read here that, though there isn't a concensus, it seems most people will change their strings after 5 to 10 hours of playing. But, even when the guitar rests on a stand for days, strings will somehow wear down (since it is in contact with air, oxygen, and air humidity) and though they will obviously last for more than 10 hours, you can't leave them on eternally, even if you never touch the guitar. At some point you'll change them. So how long do you wait before changing the strings on a guitar that you don't use too often?

 

[Nate Skalman]

I change strings when I visually start to see some dullness...keeping guitars in their cases when you’re not playing them prolongs string life quite a bit. I keep “nice” guitars in their case and usually use one “player” guitar around home that I’m supposed to hang on the wall....but i don’t- I leave it propped up in everyone’s way, right where it’ll get kicked over haha

 

[MrBongo]

So how long do you wait before changing the strings on a guitar that you don't use too often?

either it breaks or gets out of tune over the fretboard by more than 2c. Last week my very first guitar string broke while playing. We moved to a new rehearsal space in January, it´s damn cold during the week, might be temperature change.
The usual string change interval lies somewhere in between 9 and 18 months for both rehearsal and home guitar, which I play almost daily. One hangs on the wall, one´s on a stand. No lube. When I got them in a case, I don´t play as much (which is bad, of course)

 

[H-evolve]

Speaking for myself, I must have some kind of acidic oil on my hands or something, but my strings don't last super long. Now that I use string/cleaner lubricant it helps, but my guitars that are "stored" and that I only use once in a while never last 9 months that is for sure.

Even with "expensive" NYXL strings, the bright tone from the new strings disapears after one use. Don't get me wrong, the strings are still in good shape, but their tone goes from : Very nice/bright - to - pretty good/still somewhat bright, in 1 or 2 days. And then they stay in that "pretty good" state for a longer period (multiple weeks).

Guitars I play often require re-stringing every month or 2 (I'm not talking in the context of recording), if I don't play them too much it'll be 3 or 4 months max.

I don't put them in their cases, because it takes too much floor space. I live in a not that big apartment and it's best if I hang them on the wall, whether I play them often or not.