Bass in a truck bed?

[GodPlayedBass]

Might get tossed around if you had to make a sharp turn

 

[TexasHeat]

I wouldn't want my guitars sliding around with everything else in back; amps, PA, stands, etc. So for my old F-150 I built a rolling tray that was carpeted and sectioned off. It held everything in place and I could simply pull it out onto the tailgate and have everything within reach. The truck had a tonneau cover to keep it all dry. Worked good.

Sold the F150 and now have a newer Frontier. Amps go in the bed and guitars go on the cab.

 

[Barticus]

I do it all the time, but I have a rubber liner on top of the factory bed liner and a roll top locking tonneau cover.

 

[Zoffy]

I had a Ford F250 a while back with a locking bed cover and I felt okay keeping gear back there. Without a cover, no way. Where I live, someone would steal the tread right off the tires.

 

[Ryan L.]

Mine always ride in the back (bed) of my pickup. I’ve got a tonneau cover on it, so they stay dry if it rains or snows.

 

[elgranluis]

The only time I’ve broken a bass case was the time that I put it in the truck bed. It was a fender skb case.

 

[jamro217]

Better that than slung across your back while riding a moped.

 

[Pops OB]

I post this story once again. Can't resist:

Back in the 70s, a fellow bassist and good friend of mine had a gig at the Whisky in Hollywood. This was the first gig with his brand new Rick 4001.

After the gig, my friend wanted his new Rick in the pickup cab with him. The lead guitarist suggested that his bass would be just fine in the back of the guitarist's pickup truck. He quite reluctantly did so.

Riding on the old rough and bumpy Hollywood Freeway, you guessed it, case and all, that Rick bounced right out of the back and right under the wheels of a semi behind. The brand new Rick 4001 was totally destroyed. My friend, then in his 20s, literally broke down and cried.

 

[marchone]

Stow it away. Secure the bass. Strap it down. You don't want it flying around.

 

[iiipopes]

I have a drummer friend who we used to have a band together, now we jam at his cabin on a river once a year with the guys. I load my equipment into the bed of his pickup for the trip to load into the cabin. Of course, he has an expanded Drum Workshop set, so he has the expensive cases, a thick bed liner and cover, and transporting equipment in the bed of his pickup is more padded than some folks' easy chair in front of a TV and secured better than an infant in a proper car seat.

 

[akukulich]

I've done that a number of times, mostly for short trips and mostly without concern for it getting damaged. My biggest concern was always someone grabbing the bass out of the truck bed at a red light.

 

[Marc DLarosa]

Good thing that y'all ain't in my band...

 

[Gorn]

Seems like the kind of thing that works out fine every time until that one time it doesn’t and you break your bass.

 

[DwaynieAD]

Broke the speakon input of a cab putting it in the bed of my truck once. I'm sure I put a bass back there but I'd try to avoid it if I could because stuff slides around too much in a truck bed. Or at least I'd strap it down.

 

[HardNHeavy]

pickup truck and bumpy roads.... would it have any adverse effects on the neck..would be my question...But since most roads are paved and rubbery bedliners are the bomb, i see no problem. Of course if the weather is bad it comes in the cab with me. But as stated above, someone could snag your gear an run-off with it..especially in a metro area. Try that, stuck in traffic in times square

 

[Dluxe]

Back in 1983 I bought a '65 Jazz bass. When the guy arrived I asked him where the bass was. He reached in the bed of the truck and got it. No case either! I still bought it.

 

[Bushrod Johnson]

If I had to do that I'd put it in my flight case. Couldn't be worse than baggage handlers.

 

[JMarkD]

I never carried the bass in the bed when I drove a truck. Speaker cabs, yes, amp head and bass, up front with me. However, the "good old boy" band leader always carried his beloved '64 Gretsch Chet Atkins back in the bed of his ancient F-150. He didn't take very good care of that thing anyway but he was truly heart-broken to discover it missing when he got to the gig. Somewhere on I-95 in Florida that guitar went airborne. Sad to see a grown man cry.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I wouldn't, but unless it's raining, I wouldn't think it matters.

Not lately, and not often.

 

[Blackhawks55]

My Tacoma has a rubber bed mat that literally no case will move around on + a hard cover locking Tonneau cover. I've traveled with the cover off, but felt better with it on. Especially if a pitstop is made.