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Double Bass How to survive a trip in a uhaul

T

toby8myshoe

Mar 12, 2009
5
0
#1
So here is my dilema. My son will be traveling next summer for a church youth orchestra performing in rural communities, indian reservations, and nursing homes. His bass is a Shen Willow Flatback and I'm concerned that it won't survive the summer trip in a uhaul trailer.

Short of an EUB (exploring in the EUB section) or NOT going, what can be done to make sure our precious cargo survives this journey?? We're looking at a hard case, but is this enough? How do I battle humidity, heat and road bumps???
thank you!!
 
#3
toby8myshoe said:
So here is my dilema. My son will be traveling next summer for a church youth orchestra performing in rural communities, indian reservations, and nursing homes. His bass is a Shen Willow Flatback and I'm concerned that it won't survive the summer trip in a uhaul trailer.

Short of an EUB (exploring in the EUB section) or NOT going, what can be done to make sure our precious cargo survives this journey?? We're looking at a hard case, but is this enough? How do I battle humidity, heat and road bumps???
thank you!!
Click to expand...

Are you packing the uhaul and driving up to the reserve? Is the voyage one trip to go there and one trip to come back after the summer ends, or many trips all summer long?

What car will be hauling the uhaul trailer? Could you fit the bass in the car with you? If you're responsible for the uhaul, then you should be able to transport this safely.

You could rent or buy a hard case, or you could even go to the local reno store, buy wood and build your own packing crate for the bass. Put the bass in a gig back without a lot of foam as well as stiff braces inside the packing crate and off you go.

If the whole youth orchestra is using one big large truck for everything, then more problems will happen, but remember that your son's bass is not the only fragile, expensive instrument in the uhaul. Some trucks have climate controlled cargo areas (for transporting food and the like), so see if the orchestra can rent a truck like that for all the instruments.
 
#4
longfinger, Thanks for the reply. I'm trying to get time off where I would be one of the drivers of the van pulling the uhaul trailer. My concern is if I can't be the one to literally hand carry the bass across the midwest and southwest, then I need to make sure that it is safe in anyone's hands. This is a church setup with the kids on a school bus and the instruments: bass, cellos, tuba, drums, timpani<sp>, keyboards, amps, luggage, etc in a big passenger van and a uhaul trailer. There is no climate control or anything like that.

Someone pointed out a company in NY that rents hardcases by the month, so I'm pursuing that. It looks like it will be about $800 to rent / ship case to and from. Purchasing a hardcase seems to be pretty expensive so I'm not sure I'll pursue this route. I'm calling the local shops to see if they have or know where I might get my hands on a hard case for a couple of weeks.

I realize that I'm not the only parent of a pricey instrument that doesn't travel well, but I'm kinda motivated by money not to see bad things happen to this bass. :)

This orchestra started off about nine years ago as a bunch of trumpets, trombones, clarinets, saxaphones, etc. and within this past year have grown to 70 kids. This is the first year that they've had strings so we're cutting our teeth on this trip.

I mainly wanted to get an idea on how some of you folks who do this for a living would approach this problem with your own bass. Lord help me when we need to involve the airlines :(
 
#5
You could snatch up one of those ply Eberles that bassesonline sells for $950, put a couple of hundred into a decent setup, and wind up with a solid plywood bass that might survive this trip better. It will cost slightly more than renting a hard case but will leave your kid with a second "rough duty" DB. You can also keep your eyes out for other used plys for sale here and other places, othere than old Kays, of course, which tend to cost $$$.
 
#6
I suggest checking out the "band management" forum over on the bass guitar side, because the "cargo van and trailer" thing is pretty common with emerging rock bands. One thing to ask about is how to secure the trailer during the night. Bringing the bass into the hotel room might end up being one of your nightly rituals.

Based on my move from Indiana to Texas in 1993, with a rented box truck... when it rains, those things leak. At the very least I would suggest getting everything up on old shipping pallets.
 
#7
I'd advise you to find a cheap plywood bass to use for your son's tour. The conditions inside a u-haul in the summer could easily destroy a decent instrument. The glue holding the bass together is cooked at 140 degrees (fahrenheit). The temperature inside a u-haul on a sunny day could easily exceed that, and result in serious problems.
 
#9
Yeah, sorry, I know my initial response wasn't very realistic - because you'd also need to take Princess Leia along with you to decarbonise the bass in time to play the Han Solo.

:rolleyes:

Meanwhile, back on earth: if you have the choice, try to buy/rent a white case for the bass - it does actually make a difference to how hot the instrument gets. Every little helps.
 
#10
I like the idea of placing the contents on pallets. Besides protecting from potential water damage, it can also add some cushioning too. I checked with a shop nearby and they agreed to rent me one of their older ply's for the duration and will provide their travel trunk to. So problem seems to be working itself out. I do appreciate all of the great advice. We're keeping our eye open for a bass that he can use for trips like this, and he seems to have started working on convincing Mom that one can't have enough basses. I wish him the best of luck with this :)

As for the carbonite process, I'd rather use my land speed racer that Luke used in the original starwars ;)
 

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