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do you store your bass in its case?

#121
I have one bass out on a stand for practice, a few nearby in gig bags that I use regularly and the rest in hard cases in the closet and under the bed. No need to keep them all on display. The strings will get oxidized, dust and general air pollution take their toll on anything in my place. I don't have a nice climate controlled basement or similar, and the Ocean is 10 minutes away, so that makes anything left out a bit crusty after a few years.
 
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#122
MegaSwing said:
My experience is that the action changes no matter what. Some instruments seem more resistant than others, but they’ll all change to some degree or another. This is why I always check and adjust my action on the day of a gig as a matter of course.

I have two basses with carbon fiber necks and one with roasted maple. There is no magic bullet.
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That's completely opposite to my experience. I rarely have to touch the action/set-up on my basses (the exception is a 8 day power outage - no AC in 120 degree f heat - even then, some basses didn't need tweaked).

It makes me wonder if it's the precautions that I am taking, the basses themselves, or the fact that maybe I'm not overly sensitive to slight changes in my setup. Probably a combination of the three, and some other factors that I haven't considered, at least not until I have more coffee.

Every player and every bass is different. Vive la difference!

Edit: I do maintain my basses - they get cleaned, dusted, etc. on a very regular basis. It's one of the things that I enjoy about basses. If the bass was in a very humid area, I would think that corrosion would eventually be a problem. I had a friend that kept an absolutely gorgeous Fender Elite strat in his very damp basement, and the hardware got corroded and the case got moldy.
 
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#123
drewphishesp said:
luthier who just repaired my bass recommended that i store it in a case with humidity control packets in it to keep the bass in top playability as far as humidity

I have humidity meters in my rooms sitting next to where my basses are on the stands. I keep my house from between 49-59% humidity based on the weather

I like to keep my basses out and on a stand to quickly grab and play as the cases would have to stay in the basement and stairs would be involved to go grab this instrument. I am not a super lazy person but I like the ease of being able to just grab it off the stand in the other room when the urge to noodle hits me.

I only have a mono gig bag so I would need to get a case that would fit this bass.

I think that with the humidity at those levels the bass should be fine on the stand.

Im sure some will say yay and some say nay, but I guess this post was mostly to vent.
Thanks!
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I’ve always felt it unnecessary to worry much about humidity regarding my solid body basses. The exceptions are really damp areas like basements. My reason for keeping basses in cases is to protect them from being knocked over and damaged, e.g. pets, children, and ignorant people.
 
#125
Always, always in its case.
However the case stays in sight, so it takes about 3 seconds max to get it out of the case if I want to play (and does not prevent me from playing daily).
There's absolutely no reason for me not to store it securely in terms of risk-benefit balance.
 
#126
kinopah said:
Nah. Mine are on stands around the house. My uprights are too, and I feel like if they're ok hanging out, the bass guitars are, too. I make it a point to play them, check the necks, adjust in summer and winter, but in 30+ years of playing I've never had a bass go seriously awry just by being out of its case.
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I do kinda the same thing. I keep them in stands/Hangers in my studio but Constantly checking the tempature and humidity every week. And adjusting action and truss rod to the time of year.
 
#130
A luthier who i went to for several years (he builds full time now) would comment on occasional fret sprout and ask me about the humidity in my house. He recommended the same thing you mentioned because, at the time, we didn't have a whole-house humidification system. But, after we finally installed one, he didn't see a problem leaving them out on a stand as long as there was no other danger to them.

Since that time, they're all on stands at my practice area and the cases are in our storage area.
 
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#133
I keep everything safe in its case when I’m not using it. Nearly every story you hear of an instrument being damaged happened when it was on a stand. Other than being dropped, there’s nothing that has devalued so many instruments as a guitar stands. It’s really no trouble to put something in the case when I’m done.

Or even just leave it lying on the couch or a chair, then it’s not gonna get knocked over by a clumsy person or a child or a pet. Or a drummer.

But cases are not air tight. Putting those humidity packets in will not really help for very long, unless you’re constantly refilling something like an oasis humidity system or buying new packets. You’d be better off trying to humidity control the room instead.

I do it for acoustics, because the dangers of low humidity matter more for them. For an electric instrument the danger is just that I need to adjust the neck , which I check occasionally anyway.
 
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#134
I live in Ga. My bases are stored in carefully climate controlled cases. Whenever I take one out, I make sure the humidity and temp of the space is also carefully controlled. If not, the bass stays stored. Play outdoors and the temp and humidity aren't just right, forget about it. Just too risky. But that's just me. Carry on. :)
 
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