Bass in car during work day in winter?

[glocke1]

i might need to take my bass to work once a week starting in a couple of weeks.

It’d be in the car in the cold for eight hours, after which I’d be hopping on a commuter train for an hour or so from central NJ to NYC.

How bad is this for a nitro finished bass? How bad for a poly finished bass?

Bringing it inside to work really isn’t something I want to do.

 

[Jonithen]

i might need to take my bass to work once a week starting in a couple of weeks.

It’d be in the car in the cold for eight hours, after which I’d be hopping on a commuter train for an hour or so from central NJ to NYC.

How bad is this for a nitro finished bass? How bad for a poly finished bass?

Bringing it inside to work really isn’t something I want to do.

Just bring it in. Anybody curious about the weird case can see its a bass guitar when you open it, and some stupid comments by co-workers won't kill you. Someone there has to have an office where it will be safe. Worst case ask your boss where you can stash it during the day so it will be safe and not a distraction.

 

[John Cribbin]

If you'd prefer to leave an instrument outside in the cold rather than bring it inside, I can only conclude you're working in the wrong place!

 

[Inara]

It isn't just how it might affect the finish - it can affect the setup, impacting the relief in the neck and requiring truss rod adjustments. I would not recommend leaving it in the car.

 

[Bodeanly]

I’ve had to do this a few times. It shouldn’t affect the finish, but you may wanna take out any batteries if it’s an active bass. The action might be a little off until the neck acclimates.

 

[JGbassman]

It won't hurt the poly bass much if you give it a chance to warm up before you pull it out. It's the sudden changes in temps thst will cause the issues. Nitro finishes are fragile, and cooling off or heating up too fast with check the finish pretty good.

When I toured, my poly basses were in a guitar vault in the trailer, with temps all over the place based on where we were. We might drive from Ohio to Nashville, then to Florida in a matter of a few days in the winter, so the extremes were pretty severe at times. Moving the gear into the venue and allowing the basses to warm up (in severe cold I usually drug my main bass with me indoors at night) and I didn't have any issues.

My nitro finished basses I simply did not tour with, they were too fragile.

It's doable if, and I stress a big if, you have enough time to let the bass warm to approximately room temp before opening the case. A good indicator was if the case still felt cold once it was in a room for a bit first. There were times I didn't have enough time to let it warm, and luckily I didn't have any problems (condensation on the bass) but I didn't like to do that if I absolutely didn't have to.

If you can bring it in and not risk it being stolen, I would go that route.

 

[JGbassman]

I’ve had to do this a few times. It shouldn’t affect the finish, but you may wanna take out any batteries if it’s an active bass. The action might be a little off until the neck acclimates.

It probably wouldn't effect the batteries. I normally keep my spare batteries in the freezer. Seems to help them stay fresh longer.

 

[Bodeanly]

It probably wouldn't effect the batteries. I normally keep my spare batteries in the freezer. Seems to help them stay fresh longer.

I have too many body parts in my freezer, so I keep my spare batteries next to my bonesaw.

 

[Roland GR 88]

Ummmm.......considering that every bass shipped during the winter has spent days or weeks in a frozen container and/or semi-trailer before it gets to a nice warm store I'd not worry at all as long as you keep it out of sight in the car and let it warm up to room temperature BEFORE you open the case.

 

[glocke1]

Just bring it in. Anybody curious about the weird case can see its a bass guitar when you open it, and some stupid comments by co-workers won't kill you. Someone there has to have an office where it will be safe. Worst case ask your boss where you can stash it during the day so it will be safe and not a distraction.

Only reason I hesitate with that is because it's a corporate open office environment. It would draw too much attention to myself is the main thing I'm worried about.

 

[Roland GR 88]

Only reason I hesitate with that is because it's a corporate open office environment. It would draw too much attention to myself is the main thing I'm worried about.

C'mon, you're a musician. A rockin', diving off the mains, strutting diva of cool.......
Oh wait........were bass players here........sorry, leave it in the car and keep your head down at work

 

[JKos]

How special is your current bass? Will you be crushed if this back and forth damages it? Could you buy a less expensive bass to leave at this place you will be going once a week?

- John

 

[jazzyvee]

I have taken my bass into the office many times and put it under my desk. Usually it is when i have a gig or rehearsal sraight after work. On those days i try to get into work early and get it under my desk before the office fills up. I don’t leave my instruments in an unattended vehicle.

 

[lz4005]

Only reason I hesitate with that is because it's a corporate open office environment. It would draw too much attention to myself is the main thing I'm worried about.

Is there some kind of corporate policy against bringing a large suitcase into the office and stashing it somewhere out of the way? I don't get what you're worried about.

 

[donotfret]

Only reason I hesitate with that is because it's a corporate open office environment. It would draw too much attention to myself is the main thing I'm worried about.

At best colleagues will learn that you have interests beyond work. If that's a problem it might be time to change the job.

If it absolutely has to stay in the car, I would keep it in a closed flight case or at least hard case. Temperatures are usually not a problem, but temperature changes are (or to be very picky, it's actually the humidity changes that go with it). A flight case slows the temperature changes down significantly, so there should be little harm. It's also less of an issue for solid-body instruments than it is for hollow-body ones.

 

[dougjwray]

Only reason I hesitate with that is because it's a corporate open office environment. It would draw too much attention to myself is the main thing I'm worried about.

I get it.
When doing a straight job, I like to keep my musician persona somewhat under wraps... some really straight places are suspicious of musicians-- you must be a lazy, substance abusing "artiste" who's too preoccupied to do the job!
Plus, it's so annoying to get the relentless "Hey! You gonna play a song for us?!" thing. After about the 20th time, you want to get to work at 4:00 AM just to avoid everyone.

 

[lermgalieu]

Just take it in. Being a musician is cool.

 

[M-rek]

I once brought my bass to work. Just the bass, no gigbag. Didn‘t even try to hide it.
And I work at a civil services office in bureaucratic Germany!

 

[Kmonk]

Basses, amps and everything else we buy are shipped all over the world in non-temperature controlled trucks, trailers and railroad cars every day. During shipping, they can be subject to extreme differences in temperature. Why is it that as soon as we want to leave a bass in a car, we worry about the heat and the cold? I have left basses in cars on very hot days and very cold days and have never had an issue other than having to tune them. I would be more concerned with someone breaking into the car and stealing it than I would be about temperature.

 

[Morse_77]

Only reason I hesitate with that is because it's a corporate open office environment. It would draw too much attention to myself is the main thing I'm worried about.

I went through the same situation. But because it`s f***ing cold in Canada I brought my bass in. Fist week everybody noticed/talk/mentioned the bass to me ("You play the guitar?"). The second week no one looked twice.

I do recommend getting a good gigbag if you are taking public transit.