Bass Storage

Truktek2 · #1 09-06-2008, 07:43 PM

If you plan on storing a bass for extended periods of time, what steps should you take to ensure that it doesn't get damaged. Do you leave the strings tuned normally? Less tension, or remove them completely? Temperatures? Humidity? Or should I just remove the battery and put it up on 4 jack-stands

Pilgrim · #2 09-06-2008, 08:29 PM

All I can offer in evidence is my '63 P that was put into its case and stored for about 25 years with the strings at normal tension. Pulled it out, tuned it, and the action is lovely.

Dave Muscato · #3 09-06-2008, 08:49 PM

How long are we talking about?

I'd prefer to leave it with a studio owner-friend, etc, someone with stability and a secure place to keep it, who will pull it out from time to time, tune it up, play it for a minute, to make sure it has no issues, or if it does develop a problem, get it looked at sooner rather than later. If it's not a mint-condition collectable, I wouldn't mind it being used (carefully) for a session or two in exchange.

My grandfather had a 1972 Martin classical guitar that was untouched for 30 years in the original hardshell case. It was terribly out of tune (original strings! He didn't play guitar and received it as a gift) when I got it, and had some problems because there wasn't enough tension on the neck during that time, and some finish checking/cracking, but an excellent luthier was able to fix it up without a lot of trouble or expense. I wouldn't recommend this approach if you can help it... All it would have taken was someone to tune it and polish it once a year and this would not have happened. It's fine now, though.

biohazed · #4 09-06-2008, 10:27 PM

woud definatly store them in a hard case with adequate suppot for the body and neck alos keep them stored in a low humidity room so ensure no to minimal warpage and if they are active pickups take the batteries out of them just to make sure they don't explode or something like that happens

XylemBassGuitar · #5 09-08-2008, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Truktek2

Or should I just remove the battery and put it up on 4 jack-stands

Yep, safest thing to do.

Actually, I'd agree with everyone else here. Store the bass somewhere that the temperature and humidity will be relatively constant, and make sure there will be someone around who can make sure the strings stay tuned to pitch every one to three months or so.

It's probably a bad idea to loosen tension on either the strings or the truss rod. Loosen just one and the other will bend the neck in one direction for a long time.

Loosen both, and the neck could possibly bend in some odd direction that the truss rod and/or strings' tension won't be able to correct. The equilibrium tension between the strings and truss rod is a good thing to maintain.

Bassorama57 · #6 09-08-2008, 10:01 AM

+1 low humidity and leaving the strings tight to pitch. Get some dessicants (the little bags of 'rat poison') and stuff them in there - you can get those from camera shops (or www.bhphotovideo.com) amongst other places. I left an old Hoffner solid body in the downstairs closet of my parent's house for almost 25 years without even looking at it - it was "ok," but not optimal. Then again, it wasn't optimal to start with..

Sandu · #7 09-08-2008, 11:41 AM

The finish is also important. My oil finish bass reacts quite promptly to environment changes, and it hasn't seen its first winter yet. The maple swells up, feeling rougher, while the bubinga and wenge hardly do anything. I was replacing the pups the other day and they wouldn't come out, the body had swollen up that much. Bear in mind that the pups were anything but a tight fit initially, and now you could see the marks the lower edge of the pups had left in the wood.

On the other hand, I've never had any problems with the durable finishes (polyester, polyurethane etc). They stay in tune and with the action I set them up with for years. For long term storage, I'd keep the strings on. If the neck doesn't warp, break or double as a reflex bow after a while in storage, it never will. It's a sort of test, IMO.

Miles2Go · #8 11-15-2008, 05:07 PM

Any advice for folks in earthquake zones on earthquake-safe storage? The local stores hang their guitars and basses to protect them during tremors -- they sway in time with the tremor, and short of the entire building collapsing, come through just fine. Would it make any sense to reproduce this at home, or would that lead to other long-term damage?

selfblessed · #9 11-15-2008, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miles2Go

Any advice for folks in earthquake zones on earthquake-safe storage? The local stores hang their guitars and basses to protect them during tremors -- they sway in time with the tremor, and short of the entire building collapsing, come through just fine. Would it make any sense to reproduce this at home, or would that lead to other long-term damage?

I would like to see them sway in time.

In a hard shell case...laying down...or standing up?