Rock Band clutter: A possible solution

Matt warned me back in December, but I didn’t listen. After playing Rock Band at a friend’s house, my husband and I rushed out to purchase a Playstation 3 and the Rock Band game. We were able to justify the PS3 because it includes a Blu-Ray player, which was recently declared the standard for HD movies (much like VHS beat out Beta back in the day). And, while there is no similar justification for buying the game, it has brought hours of fun to our home.

We love our Rock Band game. For me, I get to be a rock star despite having no musical talent whatsoever. For my husband, he gets to laugh at me as I rock out on the microphone or try to keep a beat on the drums. But, the problem we have now is finding a place to store the game pieces when they’re not in use.

Thankfully, reader Melissa has come to our rescue. Melissa sent us a link to the Kotaku site with a review for a rock band stand (and I think Kotaku picked up the link from Gizmodo). At $50, the stand seems a bit expensive. However, the comments to the post she sent us contain a number of do-it-yourself options for how to build your own. Also, if you follow some of the DIY tips, you can even find a way to include space for the drums on the stand.

What do you do with your guitar and drum set when not in use? Share your ideas in the comments.

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Posted by Teri on May 8, 2008 | Comments |

32 comments posted

  1. Posted by Jarick - 05/08/2008

    Just be glad they aren’t full size! My drums take up an entire room in the basement and the guitars were everywhere until I downsized.

  2. Posted by dansays - 05/08/2008

    While not strictly Rock Band/Guitar Hero-related, I do have a general tip for taming a large number of gaming controllers.

    I have a sizable collection of vintage Nintendo game systems (NES, Super NES, Nintendo 64, and the Gamecube) as well as a Wii and an XBOX 360. To keep things organized, we use a shoe organizer. It also works well for extra cords, remotes, and portable game systems.

    Of course, the real solution would be to not have so many video game systems… but what fun is that?

  3. Posted by Xerxes3rd - 05/08/2008

    We actually store all our Guitar Hero and Rock Band equipment in the bottom of the coat closet. I have a guitar bad that holds both the Guitar Hero guitars, and I lower the drums down all the way and they fit quite well. Harmonix is rumored to be creating a case for the drums, but you’ll have to totally break them down to put them in it.

    A slightly different idea I had for storing the guitars would be to mount some sort of hanging structure on the back of the coat closet door; something not unlike a real guitar stand.

  4. Posted by Xerxes3rd - 05/08/2008

    Whoops, typo, I meant “guitar bag” =)

  5. Posted by Splomo - 05/08/2008

    When my hubsman informed me we were getting RockBand, I made him agree to daily storage. So we use have a trunk (<a href=”http://images.netshops.com/mgen/digimarc.ms?img=master:SEI160.jpg&h=125&w=125″similar to this one) that holds one guitar, drum kit (disassembled), mic, and extras. A carabiner on the hasp keeps our two toddlers from accessing the contents. So far it has worked very well, and it’s not too much of a pain to set up and plug in when it’s time to rock out. (No time lost since the three year old loves to sing along with the Highway Staawuur intro.)

  6. Posted by Splomo - 05/08/2008

    argh, failed linkage. This trunk.

  7. Posted by Marc - 05/08/2008

    When we move into our new house, the guitars are going into a trunk that will also serve as a coffee table. Haven’t figured out where to put the drums yet.

    If you have a big, tall entertainment center, how about pulling it out from the way a couple of inches and putting a couple of hooks on the back? That would take care of a couple of guitars, anyway.

  8. Posted by Marc - 05/08/2008

    “pulling it out from the way”

    Wall, that is.

  9. Posted by Steddie - 05/08/2008

    Oh, the Guitar Hero/Rock Band storage fight. My husband and I have a 360 and a Wii, along with Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and extra Wii-motes and the Mario Kart wheel. We store the guitars and drums in the box that the Rock Band instruments came in, behind a wooden tri-fold screen in the corner of the living room. It actually works out pretty well, and gives a little dimension to the room. Plus, I don’t have to look at it or trip over it. The extra 360 cables and controllers, as well as the Wii stuff, goes in a footstool that doubles as storage. It seems to work for now. That is, if my husband would actually put everything away when he’s done… :)

  10. Posted by Xerxes3rd - 05/08/2008

    @Marc: That’s a great idea, IMO. Anywhere, preferably out of sight, you could put some sort of guitar controller hangars seems like a great plan. If only the drums would break down more easily…

    @Steddie: Ottomans/footstools that also double as storage ROCK

  11. Posted by Jeanne B. - 05/08/2008

    Actually, $50 for a stand for the Rock Star instruments is pretty cheap, when compared to the $20 cost of a single stand for a “real” guitar, or more for a stand that holds multiple guitars. Plus, the Rock Star stand comes with a table.

  12. Posted by N. & J. - 05/08/2008

    I’ll have to pass this along to my fiance, he has a number of real guitars that he wants to display in our next home.

  13. Posted by Lauren - 05/08/2008

    My fiance and I just moved in together and had the luxury to buy furniture to fit our combined 4 game systems and peripherals for 5 (the Wii plays gamecube games, so we gave away the gamecube). We also love games that come with peripherals - DDR, Donkey Conga (Nintendo game, we have two sets of plastic bongos for it) and of course Guitar Hero. We bought baskets from Crate & Barrel that fit perfectly on our IKEA Besta bookshelves/entertainment center. We kept the shelves a couple inches out from the side wall, and this is where we put our two Guitar Hero controllers.

    We haven’t jumped on the Rock Band bandwagon yet, but it’s probably coming after the wedding. I have no clue what to do with those drums when we do!

  14. Posted by Lauren - 05/08/2008

    Doh, didn’t mention that the baskets are where we hold the controllers, Nintendo zapper and joystick, bongos and DDR pads.

  15. Posted by Mer - 05/08/2008

    This is the big struggle I’m having right now. We have Guitar Hero and Rock Band controllers all over the house.

    Up until now, I used lidded seagrass baskets I found at my local organizing store to corral all the games and accessories. One was even large enough to store the Playstation 2.

    But right now I have no idea what we’re going to do with the drums and guitars lying around. They might have to go in the spare room upstairs when not in use. *sigh*

  16. Posted by Karen the Californian - 05/08/2008

    We haven’t figured out a home for the drums yet, but we do have an Ikea Expedit bookcase (link http://www.ikea.com/us/en/cata.....s/00071356) on top of which we throw up the guitar controllers. We have it behind our couch, and the nice thing about that arrangement is that we can hide some clutter in the cubbies behind the couch.

  17. Posted by Laurie - 05/08/2008

    can you post the DIY link for the stand ideas Gor the drums? I couldn’t connect to it. We have 5 systems in different rooms but store most of the periferals in plastic storage containers, and DDR mats under the couch, we don’t have a good solution for the rock band drums yet, but would love some new ideas!

  18. Posted by Erin - 05/08/2008

    After some resistance on my part, our Rock Band set has just become part of our living room’s decor. We also have Dance Dance Revolution which is sort of the dance version of Rock Band. I keep threatening to get a Disco ball for the

  19. Posted by Celeste - 05/08/2008

    My fiancé got a triple guitar stand (for real guitars) for only $20. It’s basically the same as this one (maybe even the same one): http://www.musiciansfriend.com.....sku=451063

    It works wonderfully, sitting in the corner next to the TV stand, with the drum set in between.

  20. Posted by Andrew Twigg - 05/08/2008

    I call Unitasker! On Rock Band!

  21. Posted by Joshua Smyth - 05/08/2008

    I find it amusing that you can justify buying a playstation for movies but not for games.

    Is it because games are mostly a waste of time where as watching movies somehow isn’t?

  22. Posted by Erin Doland - 05/08/2008

    @Joshua — I think that Teri was being tongue-in-cheek with that comment. She and her hubby bought the playstation 3 because they wanted it :)

  23. Posted by tadeusz - 05/09/2008

    Meh, I still prefer my single MacBook for all the fun. No storage problem at all. No huge TV screens, no controllers, no plastic discs with games. Nothing. For social situations - I can listen to birds rocking out in my garden, while I throw a barbeque party this afternoon.

  24. Posted by Mer - 05/09/2008

    Oh, Rock Band is a TOTAL unitasker, LOL!

    About using the PS3 as a movie player—when the PS2 came out years ago, we used it more for DVDs than games after a while. Then one year we finally bought a DVD player and the PS2 got used - for Guitar Hero!

    Yep, I think we’re gonna have to make the drum set a part of our decor, too.

  25. Posted by Jen smith - 05/09/2008

    Yep yep - Rock band rocks - play it once and you are hooked! Our guitars go on top of a tall bookcase - the crown molding hides them really well. Right now the drums live in the fireplace. The firebox is perfectly sized and although they arent out of sight, they arent underfoot either. :)
    Jen

  26. Posted by Andamom - 05/09/2008

    Game clutter is one thing — but my husband used to play in a band and so we have real instrument clutter. Well - to him it isn’t clutter because he cherishes each instrument. Between my husband and my daughter, we have 5 guitars, 1 bass, and 1 piano — + countless cords, pods, books on music theory, lyric notebooks, etc. We try to neatly tuck each instrument into some space in the apartment (our two bedroom 907 square foot place share by the 4 of us), but inevitably one guitar is out… Because things are used regularly and because they need to be in regulated temperature settings, we cannot move them to another location. However, as a non-musician, I must admit that living with this equipment isn’t always easy.

  27. Posted by V - 05/09/2008

    About a week after my kids got their Wii and Guitar Hero III for Christmas… I got a glimpse into the future. And that future was a guitar stand. They would leave the guitar laying around (which grated on my sanity on so many different levels) for someone to inevitably step on and break. So for protection of the guitar and my sanity, I picked up a ten dollar mini guitar stand. And all was well.

    Luckily for me, Rock Band for Wii does not exist and I flat out refused to clutter my own “ManRoom” with Rock Band paraphenalia. (My ManRoom features an XBox 360.)

  28. Posted by Xerxes3rd - 05/09/2008

    @V: Rock Band for Wii will exist at the end of June.

    @tadeusz: Last time I checked, the MacBook does not play Rock Band.

  29. Posted by Randilin - 05/09/2008

    We picked up a rubber maid container for ours and have it pushed off to the side of the room. At some point when it isn’t played as much and our basement is more organized it will likely find a home down there.

  30. Posted by Marie - 05/10/2008

    We store most of our game stuff (consoles, controls, games, most peripherals) on the bottom shelves of a bookcase that has an open back, so the wires can stick out. The top shelves are free for books.

    I’m stumped when it comes to the rock band drums, though. They’re just sitting out in the living room. Classy!

  31. Posted by John - 05/11/2008

    Another place that I use for storage for the guitars is under the bed. That is not a great place I know, but it is out of the way. The drums present a bigger challenge.

  32. Posted by Nicole - 05/13/2008

    Here’s a picture of what we did: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikimaki/2351907731/

    We used finishing wood and super tool hooks - a total cost of about four bucks - and I think it looks a lot better than piling them in the corner and pretending their just temporary.

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