Expensive basses need a fireproof home.

[landrybass]

I have a rife safe and it works perfectly

Ditto. I found a 7 guitar stand that fits inside nicely and you just need to keep some type of humidity control packs in there. A motion light is also helpful. I'd post a pic but not really down with posting pictures of my safe at my house.

 

[bassicmike]

If you find yourself in a fire situation, everything, and I mean Everything, is just stuff as long as you and yours have safely gotten out of the building.

Yeah, it might be expensive stuff, or sentimental stuff, but it's still stuff.

You are not.

You play bass? Get another one. How awesome to have that option.

 

[trevcda]

I wouldn’t trust my home owners policy in the event if fire, theft, water damage, etc. (or if you’re a renter).

what you want is musical instrument insurance like what these folks offer:
https://musicins.com/

Yep. Not just any insurance. Don't just click a few boxes online and think you'll be covered. Insurance companies will find anyway they can to not pay you. You need to go talk to a live person and ask them if you are covered in particular use instances and where in the policy it specifically states that and what the exclusions are. Instrument never leaves the house? Instrument occasionally gets taken to a gig. With pay. Without pay. A friends house. Come up with any scenario you might find yourself in. Because if you have insured as a home hobby and they find out that it's actually a tool earning a living. Guess what? You're SOL. Cover all of you bases and never presume that just because you have some kind of insurance that you are covered.

 

[dfreeland83]

Yep. Not just any insurance. Don't just click a few boxes online and think you'll be covered. Insurance companies will find anyway they can to not pay you. You need to go talk to a live person and ask them if you are covered in particular use instances and where in the policy it specifically states that and what the exclusions are. Instrument never leaves the house? Instrument occasionally gets taken to a gig. With pay. Without pay. A friends house. Come up with any scenario you might find yourself in. Because if you have insured as a home hobby and they find out that it's actually a tool earning a living. Guess what? You're SOL. Cover all of you bases and never presume that just because you have some kind of insurance that you are covered.

This. Get good insurance, but cross your T's and dot your I's. There's a lot of leeway in the way that insurance folks can interpret the value of things... Sure your '72 Jazz bass was worth $15,000, but.. a new Jazz bass is only $1500.

The only time I've broken even with insurance was when a car of mine was stolen... and it was a total fluke... when I first started playing golf, I had borrowed a bag of random clubs (8-10 different random drivers to test and an old set of irons) that a buddy let me borrow... he was a pawn shop picker, had $25 in the whole set. It was a fluke... I played at a bar that night (I had a cheap, cheap, cheap Peavey bass), and had a tee time at 8:00 on Saturday, so my clubs and bass were both in the car...

What was stolen:

• $150 Peavey Bass, with an $80 Gator case.
• $100 Crate Amp
• $100 worth of tools
• $25 worth of assorted golf clubs.

What I got paid for, not counting deductible:

• Around $400 total for the bass, amp, and case, replacement value.
• The tools were basically a wash.
• The average replacement name brand driver was around $150, and the standard replacement irons were Nike Slingshots, which were around $800 at the time.

After my deductible, I got a check for around $2k. So, I guess the moral of the story is fill an entire room of your house with golf clubs.

 

[DirtDog]

Maybe things are different with regard to response times for emergency services over there. Fire safes are often rated for time. They aren't designed to sit in a fire for two days while it smolders. However, here in the states (in most areas) a fire is responded to pretty quickly. It would be extremely rare for a safe to "sit in a fire" for an hour. In most cases, the fire is under control in a matter of minutes.

As such, any fire rated safe would protect basses in most areas in the U.S. I have a large one for some items, and a smaller one for documents. I have zero fear about losing any of those items. There isn't a single home within my neighborhood that isn't within 100 ft (30 meters) of a fire hydrant. And that's pretty common here in the US. The nearest fire station is about 1 1/2 miles from me. There are 22 fire stations in my relatively small county (which includes one college town and the rest very rural areas). I'm guessing that is pretty common as well. Nobody in my county is more than 8 or 10 miles (a dozen or so kilometers) from a fire station.

In short, a fire rated safe should work fine assuming you live in an area where fire response times are short, on average. There aren't many consumer fire safes that would withstand a fire that was allowed to burn until it "burned itself out".

So, really, those safes are fire resistant, not fireproof. Are they chemical-proof, smoke proof and waterproof as well?

I'd say nothing is truly safe from fire or damage due to fire suppression.

 

[SC Bassboy]

Hello all. Soo I have about 3 basses that are worth allot. What are some options I can do to store these to be safe from theft and fire. Other than your homes lol. I have a Marleaux, Adamovic, and lesser expensive Kiesel. I am thinking like a rifle safe with temp control. This is what Anthony Wellington uses for his Fodera’s I believe. Any other options? Thank you

I have a large "fire-proof" gun safe that I put my more collectible basses in from time to time. However, it weighs about 650lbs which is 642lbs more than most people on TB seem to be able to handle.

 

[benchpress11782]

Old man rant, sorry. Please don't take this with an aggressive tone, but I am flummoxed but some the responses.

As I'm sure you've seen, the Denver/Boulder area of CO had some intense fires last month and, despite being in a residential neighborhoods with low fire risks, over 600 homes burned in under a day. I live a few miles from the burn area and was 100% making a plan for what I would grab or how I would protect my belongings. For me, my bass gear was at the top of my list.

If someone were to come at me and lecture about the importance of family would be among the most insulting/presumpitous things that they could do. My daughters are my world, and as a single dad, are with me 50% of the time. During those fires, my girls were with their mother. If they had been with me, having something like a fire proof safe would give me piece of mind to focus on other things.

With all due respect, the responses to the OP are kind of bewildering. She/he is asking a pretty basic question that many have considered, and is getting lectures on life priorities instead. Funny replies make sense, but I am struggling to understand the lectures. Do you have a way to protect your instruments or have experience with a gun safe? Yes, cool, let's hear it! Experience with fires, I am truly sorry and thank you for contributing. If not, why bother making assumptions about this person's family situation, valuables (financial or sentimental), or other precautions he/she might be taking.

Thank you soo much for backing me. I thought the same thing. I just asked a simple question haha

 

[two fingers]

So, really, those safes are fire resistant, not fireproof. Are they chemical-proof, smoke proof and waterproof as well?

I'd say nothing is truly safe from fire or damage due to fire suppression.

They are waterproof. And I imagine smoke would have a hard time getting in there, and into a case after that.

 

[JonathanPDX]

I don't have specific musical instrument insurance. Never have.

I reckon the premiums I've saved have paid for my gear several times over.

Have you ever actually looked at the cost? I insure everything and the annual cost is around 1-2% of it's value. So unless you've gone 50 years without a single incident, I think you're totally mistaken here.

 

[chris_b]

Have you ever actually looked at the cost? I insure everything and the annual cost is around 1-2% of it's value. So unless you've gone 50 years without a single incident, I think you're totally mistaken here.

I've been playing bass since 1965 and gigging since 1966 and never had the need to claim on any insurance policy.

Maybe that's luck or just being careful, so I'll agree that financing your own replacement policy doesn't work if you have to replace a lot of gear, but for many of us it's an option.

 

[Clark W]

Hello all. Soo I have about 3 basses that are worth allot. What are some options I can do to store these to be safe from theft and fire. Other than your homes lol. I have a Marleaux, Adamovic, and lesser expensive Kiesel. I am thinking like a rifle safe with temp control. This is what Anthony Wellington uses for his Fodera’s I believe. Any other options? Thank you

Bank Vault

 

[JonathanPDX]

I've been playing bass since 1965 and gigging since 1966 and never had the need to claim on any insurance policy.

Maybe that's luck or just being careful, so I'll agree that financing your own replacement policy doesn't work if you have to replace a lot of gear, but for many of us it's an option.

Well, I imagine if the OP had unlimited funds he wouldn't be so terrified of losing his valuables to disaster. In which case, insurance is by far the most prudent and cost-effective means of protection against catastrophic loss.

 

[Geogio]

I purchased insurance.

 

[CFunk62]

Hello all. Soo I have about 3 basses that are worth allot. What are some options I can do to store these to be safe from theft and fire. Other than your homes lol. I have a Marleaux, Adamovic, and lesser expensive Kiesel. I am thinking like a rifle safe with temp control. This is what Anthony Wellington uses for his Fodera’s I believe. Any other options? Thank you

If you let me play them upwards of 2 hours a day, I promiss you I will personally protect them with my life, at your command, from anything

 

[68Goldfish]

Old man rant, sorry. Please don't take this with an aggressive tone, but I am flummoxed but some the responses.

As I'm sure you've seen, the Denver/Boulder area of CO had some intense fires last month and, despite being in a residential neighborhoods with low fire risks, over 600 homes burned in under a day. I live a few miles from the burn area and was 100% making a plan for what I would grab or how I would protect my belongings. For me, my bass gear was at the top of my list.

If someone were to come at me and lecture about the importance of family would be among the most insulting/presumpitous things that they could do. My daughters are my world, and as a single dad, are with me 50% of the time. During those fires, my girls were with their mother. If they had been with me, having something like a fire proof safe would give me piece of mind to focus on other things.

With all due respect, the responses to the OP are kind of bewildering. She/he is asking a pretty basic question that many have considered, and is getting lectures on life priorities instead. Funny replies make sense, but I am struggling to understand the lectures. Do you have a way to protect your instruments or have experience with a gun safe? Yes, cool, let's hear it! Experience with fires, I am truly sorry and thank you for contributing. If not, why bother making assumptions about this person's family situation, valuables (financial or sentimental), or other precautions he/she might be taking.

Thank you soo much for backing me. I thought the same thing. I just asked a simple question haha

I’m in the same boat here. Strange responses. I couldn’t tell if some of them were directed towards me because I posted the pic of my safe.
I have the safe just for theft protection. I only put my basses in it when I’m going to be gone for the night or if I go on vacation or something. I hate the idea of posting gig dates on my and my band’s Facebook page and then leaving all my guitars out and ready to be stolen. Now I can leave the house with some peace of mind. Do I think it would save my basses in a catastrophic fire? Of course not. But it still might provide some protection which may be better than none depending. And I do have insurance and if a fire ever happened I would like to think I’d get my wife out first but these are vintage Spector’s we’re talking about here so…..

 

[Geri O]

just have em all ready to go at a moment's notice

I live alone and this is pretty much what I do, although all 4 of the basses sit on a bass boat in my office.

When I travel, I carry 2 basses with me and the other two go to my GF’s house a block away. No guarantees, but at least they are looked after.

And in the end, as has been repeated ad nauseum, insurance will replace them all if necessary.

 

[TK1820]

Insure them and live your life. They are things that can be replaced. I have well over 6 figures worth of instruments in my basement studio. One of them is 200 years old. Insured to the hilt. That's the best I can do!

 

[BobKos]

Maybe things are different with regard to response times for emergency services over there. Fire safes are often rated for time. They aren't designed to sit in a fire for two days while it smolders. However, here in the states (in most areas) a fire is responded to pretty quickly. It would be extremely rare for a safe to "sit in a fire" for an hour. In most cases, the fire is under control in a matter of minutes.

As such, any fire rated safe would protect basses in most areas in the U.S. I have a large one for some items, and a smaller one for documents. I have zero fear about losing any of those items. There isn't a single home within my neighborhood that isn't within 100 ft (30 meters) of a fire hydrant. And that's pretty common here in the US. The nearest fire station is about 1 1/2 miles from me. There are 22 fire stations in my relatively small county (which includes one college town and the rest very rural areas). I'm guessing that is pretty common as well. Nobody in my county is more than 8 or 10 miles (a dozen or so kilometers) from a fire station.

In short, a fire rated safe should work fine assuming you live in an area where fire response times are short, on average. There aren't many consumer fire safes that would withstand a fire that was allowed to burn until it "burned itself out".

I have talked to many knowledgeable people on this topic and they all offered the same advice - gun safes are not suitable fire protection. They mostly keep meek humble people from easily walking off with your stuff. They offer zero protection from a determined thief, fire, or flood.

 

[two fingers]

I have talked to many knowledgeable people on this topic and they all offered the same advice - gun safes are not suitable fire protection. They mostly keep meek humble people from easily walking off with your stuff. They offer zero protection from a determined thief, fire, or flood.

Nothing offers protection from a "determined thief". Nothing is flood proof.

Lots of things can keep fire, smoke, and hose water out long enough for the average fire to be put out in the US. Period. My uncle's house caught fire on the end of the house where his gun safes were. He passed away a few years ago. I now own several of the guns that were in the safes. The fire was so severe that the floor collapsed and the safes fell into the crawlspace. None of the guns I received from him were damaged. Fire was all around. Smoke was all around. Water was all around. The guns aren't damaged and don't smell like smoke.

Is that clear enough? I was trying to avoid talking about guns. But you people are thick! Fire rated gun safes DO, in fact, protect what's inside from fire, smoke, and water hoses FOR A WHILE. Period. It is a fact. It is not my opinion. They work within their ratings.

Yeesh!

 

[QweziRider]

Compared to classical instruments (bought a good cello lately?), pianos, and harps (yes, I have played a gig where all of these were present)

Agree completely! After my wife's two oboes and the daughter's tuba.....gads!