I don't want want happened to Jaco to happen to me

[VincentPuleo]

I am not sure if this is the appropriate place for this thread but...

I just wanted to make sure leaving my upright on a stand all the time is okay. There is an air conditioner right in the room where it will be so the temperature will never get too hot.

One day I woke up and my bass was in 2 piece... the belly popped right off due my basement flooding.

I don't want something like this happening again due to climate...

I am assuming it aint no thing

[4 stringed fury]

wut?

[mjt0229]

Jaco (the great electric bassist) once told a story that he owned an upright when living in Florida, but the humidity destroyed it. So he went out, bought an electric, pried the frets off with a butter knife, and the rest is history.

Don't ask me what to do about the weather. I live in Seattle.

[DubHunter]

I thought this title was refering to an escalating drug habit and an alpha male bouncer at a club.

[nortonrider]

I thought you were talking about going nuts and then being beaten to death.
In that case, I guess I wouldn't want it to happen to me either.

[klanger2003]

Actually , I think he's referring to Jaco Schwartz.!!

[Elemeninki]

Originally Posted by DubHunter

I thought this title was refering to an escalating drug habit and an alpha male bouncer at a club.

+1

Could've been a very interesting thread...

[VincentPuleo]

I sort of messed up the title I wrote "want" twice

I meant to asy I dont want what happened to Jaco to happen to me...

but yes, this has nothing to do with his death... I am talking about my upright and I just used that title because his upright fell apart due to weather.

So I am just asking its no big deal right? I mean it seems like a stupid question but I jsut don't want any surprises

There will be AC running all summer in the room with the basses.

[Linkert]

What is these tiny bags that you put in your computer that will draw out the moisture from the air?
Cant find the name for them.

[MingusAmongUs]

Originally Posted by Linkert

What is these tiny bags that you put in your computer that will draw out the moisture from the air?
Cant find the name for them.

Silica Gel?
Probably not a good idea. Your bass needs moisture. The trick is not to keep the bass cool and dry, but to keep temps and humidity *consistent*.

To the OP: Same applies to A/C. Do you plan on taking your bass outside ever? What then? Gonna strap a battery powered fan to it? Or one of those Sharper Image head cooler thingies?

[VincentPuleo]

Yeah see, I have no idea that is why I am asking this question

In the case? out of the case? I really want to keep it out on the stand just because it makes practicing so much easier...

so what do I need to do to keep it out all the time?

[Jazzdogg]

Originally Posted by VincentPuleo

I am not sure if this is the appropriate place for this thread but...

I just wanted to make sure leaving my upright on a stand all the time is okay. There is an air conditioner right in the room where it will be so the temperature will never get too hot.

One day I woke up and my bass was in 2 piece... the belly popped right off due my basement flooding.

I don't want something like this happening again due to climate...

I am assuming it aint no thing

Your profile isn't complete, and without knowing where you live it's difficult to comment on issues related to ambient humidity and the EMC (equilibrium moisture content) of your bass. As you know, an air conditioner dehumidifies as it works; the drier the environment in which your bass is stored, the drier the wood will become.

Fluctuations in the moisture content of your bass will cause the wood fibers to expand and contract, which can stress the wood itself and the glue joints; if the changes in humidity slow and gentle, damage is unlikely, but fluctuations that are fast or severe can damage your instrument.

My goal is to maintain humidity levels where my basses are stored that will be fairly consistent with the ambient conditions under which my basses will be gigged. Storing a bass under fairly dry conditions and gigging it in a humid environment (or vice versa) can cause lousy sound under the best circumstances, and can result in splitting, buckling, cracking and joint failures under worst-case circumstances.

Hope this helps.

[MingusAmongUs]

Originally Posted by VincentPuleo

Yeah see, I have no idea that is why I am asking this question

In the case? out of the case? I really want to keep it out on the stand just because it makes practicing so much easier...

so what do I need to do to keep it out all the time?

sorry, didn't mean to be a smarta$$
there's lots of opinions (and threads) about it. you just want to keep the temperature and humidity as stable as possible. if you live in a really tropical area, you might consider a dehumidifier of some kind in the room. if it's dry, a humidifier. temperature i think is less critical. you're better off with no ac or constant ac then on and off ac. and keeping it in the bag will help protect it from the extremes... except of course outside. keeping the bass in a black case in the sun will melt it

if it's a plywood bass of course you don't have too much to worry about.

[VincentPuleo]

It is a plywood... I am going to be getting a carved soon but I am not worried about that yet...

And I have no idea if my room is dry or not.. I live in New Jersey...

what do you mean by dry, like the air?

it is 90 degrees outside I need to have the AC on, like I said i jut don't want to wake up with a damaged bass

[MingusAmongUs]

Originally Posted by VincentPuleo

It is a plywood... I am going to be getting a carved soon but I am not worried about that yet...

And I have no idea if my room is dry or not.. I live in New Jersey...

what do you mean by dry, like the air?

it is 90 degrees outside I need to have the AC on, like I said i jut don't want to wake up with a damaged bass

yes, by dry I mean "relative humidity". Nj, like CT, is relatively humid in summer, probably pretty dry in winter. if you're on the shore, it'll be more on the humid side. so there will be fluctuations that you can't do much about, but again a plywood bass is built to withstand much of that. run a dehumidier in the room, or maybe use a dampit (i don't use one myself but some folks do). my house is not stable in any way and the only problems i have had are the occasional open seam, which is par for the course, and an easy fix.

[BassieMike]

I know this may be a bit off topic, but I once did a repair on an all fiberglass string bass. It didn't make much sense to me until I found out who the bass belonged to....

The Salvation Army! I just can't imagine taking a wooden bass out on the street to play at X-mas time in someplace like Boston Ma... :-)

-mike

[VincentPuleo]

I don't really live in the shore... well it is going to be in my room for a while with the AC going not to strong...

what does a dampit do?

[MingusAmongUs]

it damps it.

it's like a little sponge in a tube. you wet it, put it in the f hole, it releases moisture slowly over time. i guess i misspoke before. i said to use it to DE humidify... whoops. anyway, i don't think you need one for a ply. some folks say they will actually drip water which you dont want.

[pfactor2]

I live in south florida matter of fact pretty close to Jaco' stomping grounds. Jaco' family home did not have a/c so humidity and temps were realitivly constant. I think whatever upright he had probably was not in the best of shape. He did refer to the humidity blowing up his bass ,but dont think that was the culprit.

[nicfargo]

It was probably a cheap Chinese bass glued together with epoxy or wood glue instead of hide glue like it should have been...causing it to blow up