I wanted to hang my Sticks on the wall, as I do my guitars, but as we all know this is a challenge because of the lack of a headstock.

It took a bit of on-the-fly engineering, but once I got it all sorted, this solution seems to be working every bit as well as I'd hoped. I'm waiting for the adhesive on the neoprene parts to completely cure before trusting my Stick to this. I'm also going to rig a a "safety line" for a couple of days, just to ensure against a catastrophic failure, but this grips so strongly that I'm unable to pull the Sticks down against the grippers!


BTW - only one of those Sticks is mine. I'm doing a repair on the electronics on the other one, but since I had it on hand it conveniently shows how this rack can accommodate two Sticks, and could be designed to handle more.

The first iteration was a fail, because I used some foam "feathers" from a featherboard used in woodworking. Turns out they aren't "grippy" enough - the Stick would slide against the feathers even when tightened as tight as I could make them. I also had some suede on that central block, which wasn't as "grippy" as I would like. Now, the central block is faced with neoprene, as are the gripping "fingers". As you can see, I kept the suede on the back to provide something soft and non-marring for the back of the Sticks.

Here is a close-up of the gripping mechanism. Note that it is adjustable to accommodate the full range of Stick widths. The ones you see above are 3 1/4", my Railboard will be 3 1/2", and should I ever end up with a Grand Stick, it can accommodate the 3 3/4" width on those.

Here is a view from the side. You can see that it holds the Sticks away from the wall to accommodate the belt hook.

Here is the hardware I used to mount to the wall. The "plate" is mounted using Spax screws into a stud. I wouldn't trust this to anything attached to drywall/plaster, but if I couldn't fasten to a stud, I'd go with toggle bolts. I got these plates from Lee Valley, and are called StripLox 55. LV still carries the line, but not these specific connectors, however they are available from Rockler Woodworking. Highly recommended.



If anyone is interested in building one of these, or having someone make them for you, I can provide dimensioned drawings.

Oh - I'm going to put a couple of screw-hooks on the back for hanging the straps.

A very neat & ingenious job Steve, Well done.

Thanks, David. My success rate on these kinds of “engineering” projects is well under 50%. I think this one is gonna end up in the “win” column though.

If you're pushing the boundaries things don't always work out, but that's how we learn.


Oh it certainly looks like a "win" to me. Sure beats my low tech "loop of cord on two hooks" for style!

PS. I like that Striplox too. An updated & super strength version of what I'd call a mirror bracket?

"Ingenious" is exactly the word that popped into my mind when I saw this. before I looked at the pics I was assuming some kind of "shelf" would be under the bottom of the Sticks, but you engineered a much simpler, very elegant solution. Brilliant!

Thanks, but let’s hold off on the kudos for a bit. Keep in mind that Sticks are handled and therefore have some oils on them. I found that the Stick will slowly slide downward over a few hours. I wisely rigged a “safety” strap under the belt hook, so it didn’t fall off the wall.

I swapped out the leather for neoprene for the gripping surfaces. Better, but still not “grippy” enough. I have a sheet of silicone sheet coming Monday that I think might do the trick. If it doesn’t, I find the little leather loop I’ve added, that catches the belt hook, to be perfectly acceptable though.

Stay tuned…

What about a strong magnet on the wall mount to keep the trussrod in place and prevent the Stick to go down?

I imagine that a very small lateral adjustment can make quite a difference to the 'cam' effect? The closer to the horizontal / maximum cam point the 'holder' gets the greater the 'grip' as the weight of the Stick pulls the cam down due to friction, but a fraction too wide & suddenly there's no grip at all!

Similarly for subtle changes to the cam profile?

PS. I can't help but be reminded of some 'Friends' I used to have in my rock climbing days (late 70's, early 80's).

Your grasp of the physics is on the money, David. Yes, I adjusted to make the cams more horizontal increasing the force of the cam effect. However I’ve seen circumstances before where a material will show good grip or adhesion that cannot withstand continuous tension (particularly a shearing force) without failing in time. If you’ve ever used “alien tape”, a soft gummy plastic adhesive, you’ve seen this.

I think the silicone (supposed to arrive today) may be the solution.

In any case, I think the “safety strap” is going to stay, as dust, oils or other contaminants could compromise the effectiveness of even the silicone without the user noticing that it needed cleaning until the instrument ends up on the floor, possibly damaged.

Note that this is now how I’m keeping my Stick stored. It’s working great, but could be a bit better. More to come.

Good suggestion, but magnets are weakest in shear - note that’s how you separate two rare-earth magnets, by sliding them apart.

What would be great is two small retractable metal “ears” on the back of the Stick, inset into the wood. That would eliminate all of this folderol and allow a more conventional “hangar” arrangement. What I envision is similar to (but much smaller than) a retractable “bench stop” that woodworkers sometimes have inset into their workbench tops. The Railboard would present installation issues though.