Stylon Pilson Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 I've purchased a few wall hangers so that I can put my instruments up out of the reach of my son. One of the walls which I'm planning on using is 4cm thick and made of plasterboard (so I assume that there's a 1.5cm cavity in the middle). I've tried using a magnet-on-a-string to find a stud to drill into, but it's not being drawn towards anything. Is this a common construction for a 1960s house? If I can't find a stud, I reckon that an 8lb bass hanging from three screws will still hold. Should I use heavy duty wall plugs, just to be on the safe side? S.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 i wouldn't hang them without finding a stud tbh... as for the lack of studs...they should be there, or else the whole wall would flex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simwells Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Yeah I definately wouldn't try fixing it if you can't find the studs, but they definately should be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stylon Pilson Posted August 6, 2008 Author Share Posted August 6, 2008 Fair enough. Off to the shops for a stud finder tomorrow then. S.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan_Q Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Has anyone actually fixed a hangar to plasterboard and had any problems? The reason I ask is I've had a chat with an experienced DIYer about this- and he reakons plasterboard will easily take the weight of an instrument- the guitar he held was my gibbo les paul, which is heavier than my bass. I have some hercules hangars to use once I've finished decorating, and he has a look at those and reccomended that I upgrade the screws and plugs to longer and heavier duty ones and they should be fine. He said he's hung shelves which are heavier, and have more weight on them than my LP, and they are screwed into plasterboard and he's never had a problem, but always used heavy duty plugs just to make sure- theres all sorts of different types as he showed me in the screwfix catalogue, some which anchor themselves in and stuff. Please dont go and sue me if you do try it and something goes breasts north, just passing on info i've been told- feel free to disregard by all means and just to make sure I'm thinking of getting a small bed to put under them just incase. My house is built that badly, if they do fall off they will end up in my kitchen. Actually, the more I think about this the more I think I should play safe and invest in a stud finder. The ex did, it worked wonders for her. Twice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pkomor Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 i hang my stingray, and a cort gb74 on wall hangers, secured by 3 screws into a plasterboard wall, using quality plugs. It is fine, they easily support the weight, and my basses aren't light! Go for it, it worked well for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stylon Pilson Posted August 6, 2008 Author Share Posted August 6, 2008 [quote name='Pkomor' post='256822' date='Aug 6 2008, 11:58 PM']i hang my stingray, and a cort gb74 on wall hangers, secured by 3 screws into a plasterboard wall, using quality plugs. It is fine, they easily support the weight, and my basses aren't light! Go for it, it worked well for me![/quote] What kind of plug did you use? S.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budget bassist Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Yeah i've hung from plasterboard before, didn't bother using plugs either, just nice long screws straight into a stud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stylon Pilson Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 [quote name='budget bassist' post='256842' date='Aug 7 2008, 12:53 AM']Yeah i've hung from plasterboard before, didn't bother using plugs either, just nice long screws straight into a stud.[/quote] Thanks for responding. I was looking for first or second hand evidence of basses falling from plasterboard walls because they weren't screwed into a stud. S.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toasted Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 I just used plaster-board plugs and it works fine. That said, I don't hang up my Celinder on it. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Generally speaking, studs are located at 16" centres, with any extra being accomodated where walls meet. This means that you'll find studs at distances of 16, 32, 48 etc. inches from a doorway Remember to add an inch or so for the door aperture, and allow for the stud being 2" wide, so you should hit the middle of the first stud at about 18" from the inside edge of the doorframe, with 16" gaps to each next stud. This is less reliable in modern houses, but should hold true in a '60s house. Push a pin or a small nail through the plasterboard where you think the stud is - if it goes in 1/2" and then goes loose then you've hit air, but if it goes in 1/2" and stops then you're on the stud. Hope this helps Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stylon Pilson Posted August 8, 2008 Author Share Posted August 8, 2008 Wall hangers are up. Here's the situation. Wall hanger #1 is mounted into a stud, but not perfectly. It's holding my Yamaha BBG4SII, but I'm going to redo it at some point. Wall hanger #2 is mounted into a plasterboard wall. I couldn't find a stud, no matter how hard I tried, so I just went ahead and used Rawlplug Interset fixings. There's a knack to using these things, and I completely bodged one of them up [i](you have to give them a good solid thwack or three with a hammer to make sure that the teeth bite nicely into the surface before you start tightening the screw)[/i], so this hanger is only using two screws instead of three. Still, it's very secure, and very happily holding my Epiphone G400 SG, which weighs about 6lb. Wall hanger #3 is also mounted into a plasterboard wall. By now I had figured out the Rawlplug Intersets and all three went in beautifully. The cavity in my wall wasn't deep enough to accommodate them, so I had to drill about an extra centimetre into the brick on the other side. This one is currently supporting a common electro-acoustic guitar. I'm really impressed by these Intersets. S.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 Two basses and four guitars on a plasterboard wall with all hangers held by cavity wall rawplugs. Been up there four years without incident. And one of the basses is a weighty Wal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 All my walls are brick... However, my parents live in France, and few of their walls are anything but plasterboard. There are appropriate fixings available (as others have said). The French have expanding metal ones with a central threaded insert that take bolts rather than screws. The fixing expands behind the wall (more than a normal rawlplug) to spread the load. They look like they'd hold a bass. If you check the packaging of the fixings, they may give details of any weight limits that they may hold... If you're paranoid about falling basses, put some pillows and an airbed beneath it for a couple of days until your paranoia subsides... I've done it with my stupidly heavy Streamer LX VI! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budget bassist Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 I mounted a wall hanger onto a brick chimney breast in my current house, and one of the two screws went into a mortar joint... I ended up pulling it off one day quite easily by mistake, good job it hadn't worked itself loose and fallen off when i wasn't there holding it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stylon Pilson Posted August 9, 2008 Author Share Posted August 9, 2008 [quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='258422' date='Aug 8 2008, 07:25 PM']The French have expanding metal ones with a central threaded insert that take bolts rather than screws. The fixing expands behind the wall (more than a normal rawlplug) to spread the load. They look like they'd hold a bass. If you check the packaging of the fixings, they may give details of any weight limits that they may hold...[/quote] That's exactly what I've used - the Rawlplug Interset. These things never tell you the weight limit that they will support. They only ever say "light", "medium" or "heavy" duty, without any indication what that represents. I guess it's so that people spend extra on "heavy duty" stuff when they don't need it, just to be on the safe side. S.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan_Q Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 absolutely superb- rawplug intersets it is now wheres me paint brush, must finish that decorating................ thanks people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stylon Pilson Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 As a note: Plasplug make a product called "metal cavity anchors" - these are exactly the same as the Rawlplug Interset, and cost about the same. I've remounted wall hanger #1 (the one that was into a stud, but poorly) using two of the above plugs. I reckon you could hang two or three basses off of that. S.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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