Cues inside cases stored horizontally, will they warp?

Still laying it on the neck gravity gives favors to string tension pulling the neck up, that does not happen when the guitar is stored vertically
I think string tension and truss rod combination is so strong that it negates any force put on it by being horizontal. But who knows.
 
I think string tension and truss rod combination is so strong that it negates any force put on it by being horizontal. But who knows.
Necks need a natural bow so the strings can clear the frets. Even though the truss rod should hold the shape it's still bowed in favor of the strings. I've heard that strings should be slack in storage. I can't recall if I've done this but I don't now.
 
Necks need a natural bow so the strings can clear the frets. Even though the truss rod should hold the shape it's still bowed in favor of the strings. I've heard that strings should be slack in storage. I can't recall if I've done this but I don't now.
Yeah, a perfectly straight neck would play pretty poorly. I never leaned them on a wall, course I wouldn't a pool cue either.
 
Last edited:
Well, my expertise is wood.
Baseball bats are made from splits. NOT lumber.
The grain is critical in how the wood responds to changes in humidity.
The density and size of the growth rings varies with the weather. Different species provides a hardness scale. The flexibility of maple vs the stiffness increase of ash (pool cue vs snooker cue).
The maple shafts that Bill Stroud created were most likely from splits. So changing humidity should not effect. Adding moisture is taken in by the soft rings so changes will happen with factory made. 🤷‍♂️ Unless of course the right guy is running the factory operations. 🤷‍♂️
The effect of gravity on a naked shaft lieing down would be negligible. The difference in the changes of humidity on a cue with one side exposed and the other covered could warp. I do it daily with my naughty pine.
20260225_084657.jpg
20260225_084732.jpg

In an hour they might curl as much (or more ) the other way.
The ones standing on side are almost normalized. Will return to the pile with a smile as it's All 70 percent off. 🤷‍♂️ My Homedepot weakness has crooked lumber everywhere. I better build a crooked little chair to think on what to build with all this Naughty Pine. Makes pretty stuff. 🤷‍♂️
 
So a hinged case left open to display could lead to a shaft changing. All my cases have tubes. So vertical or upright is all the same. Keeps everything normal and protected.
 
Cycling helps break down the natural tensions in the shaft relaxing the grain just like relaxing the brain.
Ahhhhh Uhmmmmm
 
Been buying/selling cues since '79ish and the only cue that ever warped was a Schmelke sneaky i bought in '16. Both shafts warped a tad after just over a year. I gave them another chance and got a 60" sneaky. So far so good. I've had cheap box cases, Fellini's, J&J, JB, Porper. Never had a cue warp in a case and i've never thought about the case being vert/horiz.
 
I think string tension and truss rod combination is so strong that it negates any force put on it by being horizontal. But who knows.
When we store our guitars long term, musicians commonly de-tune the strings to release the tension. Then we just toss the case wherever it fits.

I've had guitars in storage for 10+ years with no strings that haven't moved.

The key is to have a case that supports the instrument. I use hard cases that are made for each guitar. It cuddles the whole guitar and supports it's weight completely. If you tossed a guitar in a soft case and threw it in a closet against other shit, it's probably going to warp a bit.

I've got a drum set that a bonehead relative put a bunch of heavy boxes on top of, and it warped the shells. $2,000 DW shells down the toilet. My fault I guess for not having them in hard cases like I should have.

I've never met a group of people that cared as much about wood "warpage" as pool players and cue makers haha. I say this as both.

I've been a musician longer than a pool player, and I've heard maybe 1-2 other musicians actually mention proper storage and warpage prevention etc. Most just buy a good case, trust it, and never check their instrument unless something terribly obvious happened.
 
That's interesting, I owned a house on the top of the park hill there just a couple hundred yards to the north of where they built the fish weir. I was the second house on the NW side and my land went down to the river. We used to walk down right from my house and fish that whole stretch from where they built the weir to all the way north to the country club. There used to only be a few of us doing it then, now you can't get a parking spot anywhere on the park rd. They come from all over the country now. I only stayed there about 5 yrs as the neighborhood was changing quickly. Used to be my Grandpa and Grandmas house and I bought it when they died.
i know that hill and area fairly well. loved going to the breakwater and tossing spoons for steelhead as well. Racine has some lovely homes overlooking the lake and there set up nice and high so the view is pretty special. Hard to talk on a pool forum of Racine without mentioning Frank Stellman, sadly he and his son Kelly are both gone. Franks shop had a ton of memorabilia, wonder were that all went??
 
Back
Top