My house is pretty cluttered and I want to put some gear in my garage. Weather isn’t much of an issue, I’m in Los Angeles.
Besides making sure I have a good secure lock on the door, any tips and ideas how to store them?
Keep them in boxes? Buy plastic bins to keep them in?
I always worry about temperature and humidity control. Wide variance in humidity probably isn’t an issue in LA, but temperature might be. I would generally think a spare closet, if you have one, would be a better place to store than a garage.
In non-extreme cases, humidity can be solved with some desiccant packets. This is the brand I use:
careful with plastics reacting with finishes. Also the breakdown of materials over time, for example if you’ve seen those blue tarps that are so common and how they degrade with age. One can’t build a room for synthesizer storage unless one is very lucky, The best packaging is the original boxes/packaging as it’s designed for storage of unsold stock most of the time, then put that in bins if possible.
some states I’d be concerned about humidity, or even california proximal to the ocean, but I’m inland cali so that’s not an issue.
I’ve mostly kept my synths in their cardboard boxes. When I was living more cheaply (roommates, etc.) I kept everything in Rubbermaid Roughneck tubs to avoid transporting cockroach eggs around. Roaches are said to love cardboard and the glue used to assemble boxes. I haven’t had any trouble with roaches, so maybe that helped.
That said, my synths stay in cool closets where they can be climate controlled. Other stuff goes into the garage / storage unit first.
Insurance and security are other points to think of.
I had my synths (mostly vintage) stored in an attic with highly variable temperature and humidity for the last two years. Everything was wrapped individually in bubble wrap, or stored in its original box if I had it. All seems to have survived intact.
It’s not like temperature and heat variability are going to lead to immediate breakdown of the exterior. Rather I’d worry about the effects on the mean time to failure of things like capacitors and potentiometers.
Personally I certainly would be wary of buying any gear, especially vintage gear, that had been stored in an attic like you describe.
Luckily I didn’t have to buy the synths back from myself…
… but assuming you want to keep using and enjoying your vintage synths you do need think about long term care and maintenance…
Presumably, this is what the original query was aimed at – how do I store my synths in a manner that is likely to maximizes their usable lifetime.
Replace your bed frame with a custom built storage box - ditch the box spring, pull out drawers on sides etc.
Sleep on your babies knowing they are safe and sound and protected from things that go bump in the night.
This type of bed frame can be 14-16” high, eliminates the box spring, can hold storage bins underneath, you just get a long bed skirt to cover up the bins.
I’d be most concerned about metal fatigue in certain conditions where climate varies dramatically from month to month. Exposure to dust would be the biggest issue in a stable climate.
you’re thinking too small you small minded smally, think big. this guy has a lot more synths ferreted away than you may think.
You can always throw down a few blankets on the floor for the orgies.
Or were you not talking about the bed?
Edit:
IKEA MALM has a rolling storage option:
The sharp corners can be painful, so we “downgraded” to SLATTUM when we moved to Chicago. (also, Chicago apartments have a lot more storage than those in California)
Idk, this sounds like a bad idea to me. I live in LA too, as you know @ddiamond84, and I would never expose any instruments I care about to extended outside time over the summers. I’m happy to store some stuff for ya over here!!
Dam Funk enters the room
I promise to seriously consider you when brainstorming what to do with some of my gear! Tone sincere 
I chuckled.
Does it make a difference if I only put digital synths/drum machines in the garage? Is that safer as far as temperature affecting them? I also don’t think it gets that hot in there…
You know, from my understanding probably not in the sense that you’re thinking of. The effects of long term storage and the conditions of storage would be categorized differently from the conditions which affect performance on analog synths (like ambient air temp, the equipment getting warmed up, various factors which are related to the circuit design and impact stable tuning, oscillator drift etc).
In raw materials, an analog synth and a digital synth share enough similar components that with proper storage conditions there shouldn’t be any more impact on one or the other from the standpoint of future functionality. LA is more of a dry heat, not Saharan desert dry, but it’s not like Florida where it would be very humid. In extreme heat you might deal with something like plastic warping, but inside of a modern garage properly packed away, I think it’s unlikely you’ll be exposing your gear to the necessary conditions for that to be a concern.
Dust would be my biggest focus after making sure they aren’t touching anything that can blemish the finish, same things you’d think to look out for in your studio. Also if there’s going to be any kind of stacking, proper structural insulation against the impact of weight from the upper most units - so just common sense about larger stuff on the bottom, smaller stuff on top if at all possible. In the original packaging it may not even matter.
I don’t know if this is helpful or not but I know it’s both your instruments and an investment so I do understand your concerns.
One small note (even though it’s probably unnecessary even at that) is that I would make room in a closet or something inside for anything very small batch, hand built, point to point wiring, that kind of thing. Both from a collectability standpoint (just in case any human error during assembly would impact longevity in outdoor storage) and from the perspective briefly mentioned as security and insurance - if you have homeowners insurance or renters insurance SOME policies view the garage differently than the home, and even if you live in a great neighborhood SOME peace of mind about a “what if” situation where someone breaks into your garage is good to have. This is highly subjective though, if you live in a gated community or you have some kind of Terminator 2 live ammo security system these thoughts may be unnecessary.
Sorry man, i know this ran on a bit long but I do understand the reason for your questions and I don’t want to just monosyllabically dismiss your concerns
