If you mainly play your ukulele at home and want to display it when not in use, a wall hanger is a great storage alternative to a case. This keeps the instrument within easy reach so you can quickly pick it up at any time and also allows you to visually appreciate the ukulele as a decoration.
Advantages of Wall Mounting Ukes
A case should still be the mainstay storage option for most situations. But when you’re not going out and in a safe environment (your home), a wall mount ukulele hanger has a couple of advantages.
The first is that it makes picking up your uke easier. You don’t have to move the case to a flat surface and unlatch it before taking the instrument out. You can just grab your ukulele off the wall and begin playing immediately.
The next upside is that a uke wall hanger allows you to see your ukulele when not in use. Most folks are proud of their instruments and eager to show them off to the world. So hanging them on the wall makes them visible and displays your passion.
I use wall hangers for a practical purpose. Ukuleles hanging on the wall serve as the backdrop for my video set. Here’s an example:
A wall hanger also tends to take up less space than a case. I don’t know about you, but I really struggle to find a good home for my cases where they are out of the way but still accessible. It’s much easier to hang the uke on the wall and stuff its empty case under my bed when I don’t need to access it often.
Drawbacks of Wall Hangers
When an ukulele is stored out in a room, it’s exposed to the overall humidity of your house.
If you live in a locale that is in the 40 to 60% humidity range (the ideal humidity for instruments), you’re fine. But if you live in a dry area or run a stove or heater in the winter time, you have to humidify the entire room to make sure that the ukulele doesn’t dry out.
When a uke is exposed to low or high humidity, it changes the structure of the instrument. As the moisture content of the ukulele equalizes with an unfriendly environment, the wood will either become dry or wet. This causes bowing and warping and even cracking in some extreme cases and should be avoided at all costs.
Another drawback of wall hangers is that they expose the ukulele to the possibility of physical damage. Placing the hangar in a smart location can go a long way towards mitigating this, but if you live in a rowdy house, it could be a problem.
Location Considerations for Wall Mounted Ukuleles
Location location location! Where you hang your ukulele on the wall will really impact the usability of this storage method.
It should be nearby where you normally practice or play. The whole idea is to make it easy to grab the uke. If you have to walk to another room to and then return to your practice space, you kind of defeat the whole point.
It should be up off the floor to avoid littles and pets, but still within easy arms reach. If your furniture is laid out in an appropriate way, you might even be able to hang the uke so that you can reach it from your playing seat.
It should look aesthetically pleasing. A random uke on the wall can be an eyesore. Put the uke in a corner or spaced evenly with a handful of other instruments to help balance the appearance.
It should be out of the sun! Make sure the path of the sun in all seasons won’t cross the ukulele’s location. All that radiation can cook the glue of the uke and if it gets hot enough, create structural failure.
Getting and Installing Wall Hangers
Ready to try a wall hanger yet?
The ones I use are from String Swing. They are mounted on a lovely block of wood, very sturdy, and perfect for most ukes.
I mainly have the CC01UK model. This is a compact and simple ukulele hanger, perfect for most applications.
If you want something a little bigger and with a scoop in the support fork to keep your uke from twisting, I also have a CC01K. This option has wider forks (it’s for guitar) and is probably not suitable for small ukes with peg-style tuners.
Installing the wall mount requires driving in two screws (included). String Swing mounts come with drywall screws, if needed. Here’s a how-to video:
Wall mounting an ukulele hanger can be a great solution for some folks. It’s a simple, elegant setup that makes your ukulele a part of your home.