Basses and apartment climate

[slapfish]

Ever since I left college, my bass has sat in my parents' splendidly climate-controlled home in New Jersey while I've hacked along as a bachelor in Chicago, living in old apartments where they crank up the heat to ridiculously high levels. Granted, I'm not complaining that much given the winters we usually have here, but I've always been reluctant to bring my bass out here with me because of the heat. I searched the forums here to try to get a feel for the wisdom of the idea, and the impression that I get is that humidity is a far more important climate-related variable than heat is (I've seen the 60-65% area posed as an ideal level). That's encouraging, since while I can't control the heat, I can take some steps to control how the humidity affects my bass. That being said, should I be concerned at all about heat, or is it a non-issue? At what temperature level should I be concerned that I might be damaging my bass?

[nicklloyd]

I'm not sure where you read that 60%-65% humidity is a good idea (I'm assuming we are dealing with winter humidity/heat questions) 35%-40% is suitable for the winter time. More humidity is very dangerous. Using dampits isn't going to solve the problem. Purchase a small warm-air humidifer... around $40... set it for 35%.

Heat wise, keep the bass in an environment that would suit a person. Direct sunlight will affect certain varnishes, and temperatures over 100 degrees (coupled with high humidity) can affect glue joints.