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Double Bass Acclimation and Foreign Basses

B

basswraith

Mar 10, 2003
210
4
Boston
www.bostonbassworks.com
#1
A friend of mine is receiving a new bass made from a tropical country in Asia. . I recommended that we take the top off for a few weeks to let it acclimate to it's new dry home here in the US. He scoffed at the idea and tossed it aside. He retorted..."if it cracks it cracks, I don't want to waist time. :rolleyes:
Can you guys do me a favor and chime in here about the acclimation issue of basses coming from High humidity climates to the US during the winter? If he wont take my word for it then maybe he will listen to some one else. Please note that the bass is arriving in the white.
 
#2
When I've discussed this with my luthier, he thinks it's a good idea to give it the whole winter season to acclimate. Popped seams is one thing, but I sure wouldn't want a crack(s) on the top plate, that's a real waste of time and money. Maybe by intentionally popping a seam, you would be able to tell the strength of the glue used and whether it's safe to keep the bass together or not. I don't know if it would be necessary to completely take off the top, maybe just pop some seams. Volker Nahrmann (Boston) sells the Gagnon basses from the Phillipines, so he would be a good source of info.
 
#3
i may not be of any help to your cause but..ply top? NP..carved top, ..most things that happen to wood happen in the first 90 days of it being opened up and processed. the wood is generally conditioned prior to maufacturing.99% chance all the wood came from the US. now it's back. if it survives the containership,truck transport,warehousing etc. it ought to hold together in the suburbs. i fired the wood stove up 4 wks ago i was freakin out at the thought of my bass self destructing 30 ft away..just raising the bridge to compensate shrinkage and stayin' in the groove;)
 
#4
basswraith said:
A friend of mine is receiving a new bass made from a tropical country in Asia. . I recommended that we take the top off for a few weeks to let it acclimate to it's new dry home here in the US. He scoffed at the idea and tossed it aside. He retorted..."if it cracks it cracks, I don't want to waist time. :rolleyes:
Can you guys do me a favor and chime in here about the acclimation issue of basses coming from High humidity climates to the US during the winter? If he wont take my word for it then maybe he will listen to some one else. Please note that the bass is arriving in the white.
Click to expand...

Mike, I think you gave your friend pretty good advice, except for one thing: If you remove the top entirely, the rib assembly will move all over the place, and then you'll have to push and pull it to get the top to fit again. That reintroduces a lot of the tension you have tried to reduce. Check if the top is glued on with hide glue or more permanent stuff. If it's the permanent stuff, the bass' top is probably going to crack, because the seams won't pop. You might want to open it up between the blocks to let it acclimate. It will need to be like that through an entire winter. If your pal insists on playing it now, try to get him to keep it really humid and gradually wean it down.
 
#7
Where did the bass come from? Who is making slab cut tops.

An alternative if he doesn't want to loosen the top all winter would be to loosen the top between the blocks and leave it sit for at least a day and then reglue. At least that would relieve some of the immediate tension. If the wood wasn't seasoned at all he's going to have a lot of trouble.
 

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