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Double Bass How to use a dampit the correct way?

Jazzkuma

Jazzkuma

Sep 12, 2008
835
494
#1
Hey
So I just moved to California and been told that I need to use a dampit cuz it gets dry here. I come from a very humid place so I never had to deal with this. Anyways I bought myself one of them but the instructions on it was in my opinion very vague. Very vague for something so important. The way im using it right now is just soaking it in the water and then drying it out completely squeezin out all of the water possible and drying it with a towel. Im afraid that the water might leak in time and damage my bass inside. But im also afraid that by drying the dampit completely will not help the bass at all.
 
#2
May I ask, what part of California are you in? Not all of it is dry.

Sorry, but I don't have any experience with the Damp-it. I did however, ask Gary of Upton Bass questions about our weather (I'm in Southern Cali in a fairly dry area, about 20 miles from the coast) when I placed my recent order. Gary recommended a room humidifier.
 
#3
Step 1: Open the package.
Step 2: Throw the damp-it in the garbage (you can actually skip Step 1).
Step 3: Get a good evaporative humidifier and a digital hygrometer.
Step 4: Maintain humidity during "dryer times" in the low 40s if you can.
Step 5: Avoid rapid changes in temperature and humidity.

(Note: The above is offered as truth in jest)

As I've posted here on many occasions, I've done all sorts of experimenting with damp-its. No matter how careful you are, unless you basically dry the thing out so that it is useless anyway, the danger of dripping is VERY high. Try this out. Wet a damp-it and wring it out as they say. Hang it up somewhere outside the bass for, say, 15 minutes. Wring it out a bit again. Hang it up again and put something under it that will make any drip evident. Leave it for a few hours. It will very likely drip!

Keep in mind that even if damp-its worked perfectly, they are essentially no good unless the bass is enclosed in a bag or case. If the bass is open in a room, then you're basically humidifying the room with the damp-it. That won't do much for the bass (or the room).

When I haul my bass around during the dry seasons (winter and early spring in Connecticut), I place a wet sponge in an open zip-lock bag in the case with the bass. Of course, I orient it so that it won't drip. This creates a mini humidified environment.

Good luck. :)
 
#4
I agree, a room humidifier and Hygrometer is the way to go.
It doesn't cost that much, ($15 for Hygrometer- $25-36 for humidifier) and works better than a Dampit. I agree that the dampit only has an effect in a closed case, but it is an option if you are going to store the Bass for a while.

Edit: IMO, 40-45% is the the optimum Humidity level for Bass, yes?
 
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#5
I agree that a humidifier and hygrometer is the best approach to controlling humidity for your bass, but sometimes that aproach is impractical or just doesn't work. If you decide that a dampit is the best way to go, then keep on doing what you've been doing, make sure that you get as much water out of the dampit as you can and dry it off really well before you put it in your bass. The glue that holds your bass together is water soluable, and getting water on the unfinished wood inside your bass will lead to disaster. It is much better to have to moisten your dampit often because it dries quickly than to risk any water getting into your bass. Also, be weary of the rubber piece on top of your dampit that keeps it from falling through your f hole falling off, they seem to like to do that.
 
#6
Im in anaheim.... well the thing is I know that rapid change is what damages it the most. If I buy a humidifier everytime I go out with it there is gna be a rapid change. Thats why I thought a dampit would be a good idea since it stays in the bass and helps it so that it doesnt have a sudden change. The main concern I have with the dampit is the leak that it might have.
 
#7
I agree that sometimes you need portable humidification. Rather than a damp-it, however, I recommend my "sponge-in-a-bag" routine.
 
#8
but that sounds kinda sketchy... i mean, if the sponge is in the bag and you are carryin the bass around its gna be moving inside maybe causing the sponge to drop and wet the whole instrument? I just dont picture it as how it would work better. The way im using my dampit right now is completely drying it out so that it doesnt leak. I dunno, do you think you could explain the sponge in a bag thing better? or maybe send a picture?
 
#11
Ya know I used to be paranoid about this stuff. Now I just have a hydrometer and humidifier in my music room at home and take my chances when I'm out.

I can't believe that any dampit/ziplock bag routine is going to help in a Chicago winter were my bass goes from a 68degree 40% room... to a 10degree 20% outdoors... to the heat blasting in my car back... to back outside... to whatever the conditions are in the venue... back outside back in my car... back to the house.

I intentionally didn't spend more money on my bass 'cause the thing gets banged in and out of a car in every weather condition.
 
#13
osmarokuma said:
but that sounds kinda sketchy... i mean, if the sponge is in the bag and you are carryin the bass around its gna be moving inside maybe causing the sponge to drop and wet the whole instrument? I just dont picture it as how it would work better. The way im using my dampit right now is completely drying it out so that it doesnt leak. I dunno, do you think you could explain the sponge in a bag thing better? or maybe send a picture?
Click to expand...

Ah, you think the damp-it doesn't leak! In my experience, if it is dried out enough to not leak, then it is so dry that it won't do any good at all. Yes, I can explain the sponge thing better. I don't actually carry the bass around with the sponge bag in the case. I put the sponge bag in once the bass is laying down (in the car, in a room, whatever). It's simple. I either drop it in front of the bass in the case or wedge it between the bridge legs. I've never, ever, had anything spill on the bass.
 
#14
fingers said:
Ya know I used to be paranoid about this stuff. Now I just have a hydrometer and humidifier in my music room at home and take my chances when I'm out.

I can't believe that any dampit/ziplock bag routine is going to help in a Chicago winter were my bass goes from a 68degree 40% room... to a 10degree 20% outdoors... to the heat blasting in my car back... to back outside... to whatever the conditions are in the venue... back outside back in my car... back to the house.

I intentionally didn't spend more money on my bass 'cause the thing gets banged in and out of a car in every weather condition.
Click to expand...

I mostly agree. Truth be told, I only use the sponge-in-bag thing when the bass will be in an environment that is not humidity-controlled for a prolonged period. For example, on a day where I have to take the bass to work because I have an evening rehearsal, I'll throw the case on without any sponge-bag or whatever. Things aren't going to change that fast for a bass in a case which will act like a temperature and humidity capacitor for a time. Then, when I get to work, where humidity is not controlled at all during the winter, I'll throw the sponge-bag in.


dkpawlowski said:
Yes!
And with a Dampit or sponge in a bag you are guessing on how much you are humidifying your bass.
Click to expand...

You're making way too much of this. The idea is to maintain reasonable humidity and temperature control for as prolonged a period as possible. That's why it's important to have a humidifier and hygrometer at home. When you haul the bass around, you just gotta do the best you can. After all, the alternative would be be something like a flight case with active temperature and humidity control! If you're going to have your bass in a very dry environment for a several to many hours, I'd argue that you're way better off throwing in one of my "sponge bags." It's not ideal but I'm not "guessing." I'm doing the best I can and suggesting a way for others to do so as well. To be more explicit, when my bass goes in the case, it is "properly" humidified. I KNOW that the humidity will drop when it is left in a dry environment. The sponge in the bag will slow the rate of that drop and, based on the conditions I know I have, it sure isn't going to over-humidify. After all, high levels of humidity (let's say, above 60% for fun) are not dangerous at all if achieved slowly. The sponge isn't going to produce levels like that.

The bottom line is that if you are carrying your bass around from place to place, you're just not going to have ideal conditions. That comes with the territory and players have been moving around DBs for hundreds of years. If you own a carved bass that travels at all, sooner or later, SOMETHING is going to happen. Hopefully, that something is no more than a popped seam. Again, you do the best you can.
 
#15
I am in Long Beach, and my teachers have never been thrilled about me using a dampit. I had some seam rips a awhile ago and I always wonder if that was at least partly caused by the dampit leaking.

But, I do keep a watch on the humidity. I just went to KMart and bought a cheap digital device that shows the temperature and the humidity. If the humidity is getting around 30% or less, than I put on a humidifier in the room. Or, it is also possible to just use a spray bottle and put more water in the air in the room, staying away from the bass, of course for a quick fix if you are getting really worried.

One teacher in San Diego never used dampits. He had a lot of basses and was a bass dealer as well. He was convinced that the Santa Ana conditions never lasted long enough to have a really bad effect on the bass and that by the time the bass would react to the dryness, the humidity was already rising.

I have mostly given up using dampits. But, I kind of worry about all the extreme temperatures going on right now, but that does not seem to affect my basses.
 
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#16
I had a crack in my first bass that most certainly was due to dampit dripping. The thick piece at the very bottom on the inside - around the end pin, don't know the English term - had gotten all swollen, and it cost some dear money. Of course, I was quite the careless beginner back then, but if the choice is between dampit as humidifier or no humidifier, I choose the latter. I moved up to the polar circle last autumn, use no humidifier whatsoever, and my (new) bass hasn't complained. I would buy a humidifier if I wasn't going to move sometime soon, though.
 
#17
fingers said:
Ya know I used to be paranoid about this stuff. Now I just have a hydrometer and humidifier in my music room at home and take my chances when I'm out.

I can't believe that any dampit/ziplock bag routine is going to help in a Chicago winter were my bass goes from a 68degree 40% room... to a 10degree 20% outdoors... to the heat blasting in my car back... to back outside... to whatever the conditions are in the venue... back outside back in my car... back to the house.
Click to expand...

+1. Pittsburgh isn't as bad as Chicago but it's close. I've NEVER had a problem with any of my carved basses in transit and I had one four year period where the bass was bouncing around the back of the car 12 hours per day, 3 to 4 days per week winter or summer. Humidifier in the house with a digital hygrometer. Try to maintain the humidity in the bass storage area in the upper 30s to lower 40s.

Dampits do very little and you risk a lot by using them.

mark
 
#18
I've used 2 Dampits for the past 12 years without any issues. That said, an improperly used one will drip and ruin your bass!!

Run it underwater - squeeze thoroughly, dry off the outside, install in the lower F-holes. I do this daily so that the sponge is only moist and not wet, and keep the bass in it's bag when not in use. I also avoid the having them in there when the bass is on it's side.

My luthier recommends putting a balloon over the end in case the bottom seal separates. He always checks my instrument for any drips of which he has yet to find.

It's not like a rainforest in there, but the rate of evaporation wouldn't be much, if any, faster if it were soaked anyway.
 
#19
Let's give credit where credit is due. Dampits are the music world's best marketing ploy ever. They make the New Coke guys look like Beavis & Butthead running a lemonade stand. There's not a shread of evidence that they help, and plenty of reasons why they might hurt, yet I bet they've sold tens of millions of units over the last thirty years or so (longer?), and cost pennies to make. Rarely questioned, often used religiously (I remember a guy who kept four in his plywood bass in the summer!) Who is laughing here?
 
#20
My luthier told me not to use dampits; I have a digital hygrometer and a humidifier, but no dehumidifier. I don't bother attempting to control humidity at my destination, though; it's too complicated.

As a suggestion for those who use the sponge in the bag technique, you might be able to inhibit growth of nasties in the sponge with just a tiny bit of vodka.
 

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