Humidity

fdeck · #1 08-09-2009, 09:07 AM

I brought my bass upstairs from my cool basement, to practice with my son (7 years old, learning the cello), and water started condensing on it. So I hustled it back downstairs. No harm done -- the bass has been through everything.

Man, it did wonders for my bowed tone, though.

CamMcIntyre · #2 08-09-2009, 03:25 PM

Yeah, I'm not looking forward to the shift either. I keep my apartment around 70-72 degrees. It's around 90 outside & I have no idea how well the AC works at the place I'm playing this evening. I'm glad I play a ply....and that I get free drinks at the gig.

fdeck · #3 08-09-2009, 08:11 PM

I suspect if we let our instruments equilibrate to the temperature before taking them out of the bag, we're probably OK. In fact, the car trip to the gig will probably achieve this for us.

Thank goodness for plywood. Every time I start thinking about upgrading to a carved bass, some freak weather pattern blows through town (like the humidity changing by 50 points in an afternoon), or I read about what it takes to get a crack fixed.

CamMcIntyre · #4 08-09-2009, 11:43 PM

Meh. I don't have a car. It's about 20-25mins on the subway to get from my apartment to the bar/venue (Green Mill). The bass has always been fine. The humidity makes me more nervous than the heat.

The most uncomfortable time for me was this past winter. I played a theater gig that was about 1/2 mile or so from the subway station. Not bad in of itself, but the windchill mixed with 2-3 feet of snow (the main sidewalk I took wasn't shoveled) made it an adventure.

I agree with you on the wanting to buy a carved bass. I feel like with the Midwest climate and well-not having a car, ply is the way for me. I'm also pretty clumsy. I have misjudged my alignment and bumped into turnstiles & doors a bit more often than I care to admit. It's not bad at the handicap accessible stations, but the ones that aren't-it's a bit more of a challenge.

Don Higdon · #5 08-11-2009, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamMcIntyre

The most uncomfortable time for me was this past winter. I played a theater gig that was about 1/2 mile or so from the subway station. Not bad in of itself, but the windchill mixed with 2-3 feet of snow (the main sidewalk I took wasn't shoveled) made it an adventure.

Thanks. I'm going to have nightmares.

Mark Perna · #6 08-11-2009, 05:19 PM

I only play on carved basses and I haven't had any problems that resulted in damage with weather or humidity.

The biggest problems I have in the summer with high humidity is the bass itself just loses a lot of it's mid-range. It gets tubby sounding and it requires noticeably more energy expended to get it to speak than when the humidity is lower.

The second biggest problem I have in the summer is going from air conditioning to outside in the heat and humidity and back into air conditioning makes my wrapped gut E and A, for a lack of a better term, freak out until they stabilize which can take an hour or more.

I've never had a problem with cracking in the winter on a gig. The only time I had a humidity-related issue came when the temperature outside plunged from mid-20's to mid-20's below zero and the humidity dropped drastically AND, at the same time, the whole house humidifier I had running went into reset mode and, effectively stopped working. The humidity in the house went from mid-30s to around 10 VERY quickly and stayed there for about a day and half before I realized the humidifier wasn't working. By then, a seam had let go on my '28 Juzek and the fingerboard of my '06 Kolstein travel bass developed a bubble around the C on a A string. Neither problem was difficult to fix.

I think carved basses are hardier than a lot of people give them credit for. From '99-'03, I had a 4 night per week jazz gig in Pittsburgh. I'd put the bass ('32 Juzek) in my car around 6 or 7 AM, it would be in the car all day and I would go right from where I was working to the gig at 6 PM and then home again afterward. I NEVER had a problem.

mark

fdeck · #7 08-11-2009, 05:44 PM

Do ply basses typically shrink and grow with the weather? I have to say that mine doesn't change a lot from winter to summer.

Uncletoad · #8 08-11-2009, 08:09 PM

I don't doubt my ply Cleveland is more durable than the old AQ however now that the AQ is torn apart and I'm playing the Ply on all my gigs again I'm really missing that old carved bass.

I can get through a gig on that ply just fine but it's nowhere near as musical for me as the old carved bass. Whatever winter or humidity or stupid bar patrons bring on my old carved bass is worth the hassles I'll tell you.

I suspect after this stint the Ply bass isn't gonna see a gig unless the old bass is down altogether again.

Gary Lynch · #9 08-11-2009, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fdeck

Do ply basses typically shrink and grow with the weather? I have to say that mine doesn't change a lot from winter to summer.

If they are built well, only in ultra-extreme conditions would they suffer. Some do delaminate when left in direct baking sun says my luthier. But for the average summer or winter day, no worries. At least I never had any problems.

zeytoun · #10 08-11-2009, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncletoad

I don't doubt my ply Cleveland is more durable than the old AQ however now that the AQ is torn apart and I'm playing the Ply on all my gigs again I'm really missing that old carved bass.

I can get through a gig on that ply just fine but it's nowhere near as musical for me as the old carved bass. Whatever winter or humidity or stupid bar patrons bring on my old carved bass is worth the hassles I'll tell you.

I suspect after this stint the Ply bass isn't gonna see a gig unless the old bass is down altogether again.

That means the Cleveland will be ready to receive guts, won't it?

Uncletoad · #11 08-11-2009, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeytoun

That means the Cleveland will be ready to receive guts, won't it?

If it wasn't so dang humid around here right now I might have already put on the D/G at least to have some fun....huh...maybe I will when it gets a little more normal.

MDEbass · #12 08-11-2009, 11:08 PM

If you check out the Contrabass Conversations podcast interview with Barrie Kolstein, he talks a lot about humidity levels for your bass and its effects, etc. May be of interest to some of you....

Ed Fuqua · #13 08-12-2009, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by calivox

I only play on carved basses and I haven't had any problems that resulted in damage with weather or humidity....
I think carved basses are hardier than a lot of people give them credit for.

I'm not sure everyone comprehends that the standard for sound based on 18th and 19th century instruments is contingent on hearing them in the 20th and 21st century. How much more proof do you need for "hardiness"?

Life is too short not to play the bass you love.

Mark Perna · #14 08-12-2009, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

I'm not sure everyone comprehends that the standard for sound based on 18th and 19th century instruments is contingent on hearing them in the 20th and 21st century. How much more proof do you need for "hardiness"?

Life is too short not to play the bass you love.

+1