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If the bass is in direct sunlight long enough that you can feel the instrument getting hot, there is danger of both new cracks being created and old ones reopening. Also, many varnishes are not truely color fast and will fade badly in direct sunlight. If you are going to be playing outside in the sun for extended periods, purchasing (or borrowing) a laminated bass might be good insurance for your saving your carved bass for the not so sunny days.Robert said:
Varnishes that are "cooked" are in general color fast. Because of the time and effort required to make this varnish, it is seldom seen on basses. Same, the a slightly lesser degree, for varnishes that use pigmented dyes added to the varnish. Unfortunately, there are a lot of varnishes on basses that have been colored with Analine or similar dyes. These are the ones that fade the worst. The only ones I know that will turn darker are those that contain large amount of iron. I've seen some of those that have turned very dark. HA had a Prescott bass a few years ago that had turned so dark it looked like black paint. However, since you probably won't know the composition of the varnish on a particular bass, I prefer play it safe rather than risking that your bass might be one that isn't color fast.mje said:
