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Lean-Back CBG Rack Design

First off, I'm still a newbie 'round here and not sure if this should be a blog post instead. This is my first time starting a 'discussion'. I figure it's easier to reply here if someone has a question or new idea. So anyway...

I'm a tinkerer. I can't help it. I built one of the PVC racks that was posted here where the guitars sit on top of a dual rail with the necks hanging down. It worked great, but after a few months I wanted to try something different. Yesterday I was looking at it and thought, hey I could convert that to a leaning rack like 1 of those travel guitar cases. So today I went at it. I'm sooooo happy with it! Thought I'd share in case it helps someone else. If you build one, you don't have to follow my dimensions exactly. Do what's right for your needs, tweak it, make it better... But to get you started, here's the design I used.

Notice the front lower rail is higher than the back lower rail (only by 1 inch), but this makes the guitars lean back against the top rail. This is key! The gap between the 2 bottom rails allows your neck through tail to hang down.

At first I did a quick assembly without the elevated sides (they look like arms on a chair). It worked great, but I decided to put the sides on to prevent a cbg domino slide onto the floor if my crazy dogs rammed into it while wrestling.

The whole thing's made from 1/2" PVC. I inserted a 1/2" aluminum tube inside the front lower rail which bears all the weight to keep it from bowing. Works really well & keeps it light. I tried a dowel, but it didn't stop the bowing.

I ended up with a lot of extra PVC vs where I started from with my original hang down rack. Like I said, I liked that design, but I'm a tinkerer and wanted to mix it up. I have a feeling a lot of people around here are tinkerers too! :)

Hope this helps!

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Permalink Reply by Lane Martin on April 19, 2016 at 5:18am

That's how it is here...parts and pieces everywhere. Currently (a [very] little electrical humor) I'm tearing apart wall transformers working on a diy pickup coil.

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Permalink Reply by Janis Wilson Hughes on April 19, 2016 at 5:29am

Ohhh, I look forward to hearing how that pup turns out! I've read about that. Have you wound any before? The cool thing is it'll give you the ultimate custom build. Kudos to you!

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Permalink Reply by Lane Martin on April 19, 2016 at 5:32am

No...this is the first one. Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Janis Wilson Hughes on April 19, 2016 at 10:21am

Way, you're an all-in builder! That is so great. I may have to order up one of your flat pups. They look sweeeet!

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Permalink Reply by Janis Wilson Hughes on April 20, 2016 at 3:36am

You've got me itching to plan a build with a Flat Cat. I respect your love of vintage Tele tone. Me, I'm a Les Paul humbucker through some nice, warm tubes kinda girl when it comes to my tone love. ;)

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Permalink Reply by Don Barnhill on April 19, 2016 at 8:58am

Very nice build! I too needed a guitar rack so about 3 years ago I put together a pvc rack similar to yours. Mine is somewhat different in that I wanted my guitars off the floor. See it on YouTube full of my guitars.
Thanks for sharing it inspired me to dust mine off and use it again.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gSVp6_L0x3Y

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Permalink Reply by Don Barnhill on April 19, 2016 at 9:24am

I see that you stand allows the guitars to be up off the floor as well!

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Permalink Reply by Janis Wilson Hughes on April 19, 2016 at 10:18am

Nice design Don! I like the separators along the top rail. I'm planning to add some dowel separators on the top rail of mine soon, and I'm going to paint it black.

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Permalink Reply by Don Barnhill on April 19, 2016 at 10:30am

Thank you Janis! If you look at the YouTube link you will notice that when the rack is full I'm using foam all over it. It pretty much covers the whole stand for instrument protection.
I would hold off on the black paint as it may transfer to your creations.
Best of luck and thanks for the inspiration!