And so my Bass welcomes the winter!!!

[The Spanier]

And so my Bass welcomes the winter!!!

Hi again from Spain!

Living in such a Mediterranean zone –Andalucía, quite dry in general-, I never paid to much attention to weather changes affecting my Db. At least with my former hybrid roundback bass. Five months ago a got a new fully carved flat back, and in the last few days, it is becoming a kind o freaking alive creature…

I keep my instruments in the basemen floor with the rest of the equipment, which is the most humid part of my house. Since it started raining occasionally, the string height made my bass quite hard to play… Then, I ask you:

1) is this common??
2) What´s exactly what is expanding on my bass? The whole body or just the sound post??
3) Does it have any connection with the quality of my instrument??
4) Are flatbacks more prone to suffer this, due to the fact the back has no place to expand back and pushing the sound post forward??
5) Would you recommend me to take the bass upstairs –where it´s drier- while I am not playing or moving the instrument will finally make it crack??
6) Will this period damage the wood in any way?
7) My bridge has no adjusters and I´m thinking about sanding it a bit. Will I have a buzzing Db in spring???
8) Any other remedy??

Thank you for your comments (and for excusing my bad English…) Ciao!!

[baileyboy]

You may want to buy a hygrometer to measure air moisture. Try to keep the bass between 45-55 relative humidity at all times when not in use. Humidify or dehumidify depending on the RH. Keep the bass in its case when not in use. Use zorb-it packets in the case to keep case moisture relatively stable.

By keeping your bass in a stable environment when not in use, your neck should not move much. I have been following this regime for years and need to adjust the truss rods on my basses every couple years at most.

I hope this helps.

[bigolbassguy]

Truss rods?

[Herbie 80's]

Didn't you hear? It's the new invention by Laborie! Apparently, we stick a giant metal rod into our basses necks, and then we can turn it!

[MIKMAN]

Well my Spaniard friend you can have some answers from a fellow Mediterranean guy!
When the relative humidity increases the whole instrument expands. It is inherent to any carved bass because of the mass of the carved wood. The laminate basses are less prone to expand due to their construction of wooden layers. So your case is quite common for hundreds of fellows bassists.
It doesn't affect the quality of the instrument. Barring really high humidity levels, where the hide glue can loose its glueing capacity, the instrument remains OK. The sound can be affected up to some extent, favourably or not, depending on each particular instrument.
As a general rule try to keep the bass in a steady humidity environment. Fluctuations in humidity, particularly quick ones, can affect the instrument's structure, causing open seams or cracks. If i were in your shoes i'd keep the bass upstairs in a room and using a humidifier i'd try to create a steady hunidity around 40-45%. Flatbacks are more inclined for cracks due to their construction (braces), so try to avoid these problems.
Finally ask your luthier to install a bridge with adjusters. Although adjusters are not so common in Europe they are of major help for environmens like the European South.No buzzings and the sound and playability remains the same. Trust me, living and working in Greece, under the same climate conditions i can understand you perfectly.
Mike

[Eric Hochberg]

The top swells with increase in humidity. When this happens, the strings go up and the soundpost gets looser. If you have periods of high and low humidity, you may need to make adjustments. When you are home, 35-45 percent in dry times is good. Adjusters are great to have and I have different soundposts for the seasons here in Chicago.

Woops, Mike beat me to it. +1

[Don Higdon]

I have seen very few basses in Europe that had adjustable bridges. The owners all told me they had two bridges, one for winter, one for summer. You also might need two soundposts, for the same reason. I have two soundposts for my walnut bass; I live in New Jersey. Buena suerte.

[The Spanier]

I finally sanded my non-adjustable bridge (not getting a comfortable angle for bowing D – A, by the way...) This will be my “winter bridge” as long as strings will surely get too close to the FB when the sun comes back… And here in Spain it really comes back.

I won’t change the sound post if there is not any structural risk…

Gracias!!

[Eric Swanson]

If your string height increased, it seems to me that things may be changing with your bass' components.

I, personally, wouldn't assume that it is safe to not switch the soundpost, based on what you have posted. I would take it to a luthier and have them make the call.
My bass has different soundposts, that get swapped in or out as needed. I don't make the choice; I let the professional luthier tell me when it needs to happen. All I get to do is report to him when the bass starts feeling or sounding differently.

I just took my bass in to luthier Jed Kriegel this week. As it happens, he found my soundpost fit to be fine, for now. On the other hand, this may be because I keep my bass in a room with a humidifier and hygrometer, pegged at 40-45%, and have four other humidifiers going in the house, 24/7.

Having had another bass rip itself apart in the winter with a top table crack that ran from the f-hole to the saddle (the repair estimate caused the bass to be a total loss; it had to be replaced rather than repaired), I would take having a pro check the soundpost fit seriously.

Of course, this is just my 2c. I live in the Northeast USA. Winters are very different from summers. Perhaps my experience does not apply to your situation...

Best of luck.