Is 40 degrees F too cold to leave a bass in a car trunk?

[wraub]

I would likely be hesitant to do so, but where I live it rarely gets that cold anyway...

 

[Liam Wald]

If you would be uncomfortable in a car trunk at 40 degrees, it's not good for your instrument.

 

[Mike Sorr]

Spend a couple of hundred bucks on a used Vintage Modified Squire Jazz and don't worry about leaving it in the trunk. That's what I have done for cold weather rehearsals and I haven't had any problems.

 

[Liam Wald]

Actually I would be un-fun in a trunk at any degrees.
The bass, not so much.

 

[Stranger Danger]

Bring it in

 

[Doner Designs]

If you would be uncomfortable in a car trunk at 40 degrees, it's not good for your instrument.

I sleep in a 40 degree car trunk. Very cozy.

 

[rufus.K]

Its fine. Trees spend most of their life outdoors

 

[fdeck]

My electric basses have survived cold temps just fine. My garage is a constant 40 F during the winter, and nothing bad has ever happened to anything left out there. My basses are entry level instruments that probably have some thick polymer paint that is pretty tough. There may be basses with delicate construction and finish that wouldn't take kindly to temperature swings.

Leaving my Kay upright in my car at 20 below damaged the finish, 30 years ago, but left the instrument otherwise intact.

 

[okcrum]

That's what my Squier is for. at $125, no great loss. It gets the outdoor winter gigs.

Got it. I just play what I normally do for these gigs, because it sounds like a million bucks.

 

[logdrum]

When I was living in MN and Vermont, in the winter (sometimes below 0) I left my bass (upright) in the car, sometimes overnight with no ill effects. Sometimes you can't go home in a snowstorm and you may have to stay at a friend or inn( Heat is another thing, the hide glue would be runny and the top would slide off, happened to me when I left my rental in CA and forgot to give my bass to a friend and there was a record 118 heat wave for 3 to 4 days.
If you order a bass in the winter, it will sit in the UPS truck for many nights. Just imagine a bass from San Diego sent to Quebec or from Quebec to San Diego in May , when it is already 115 in the desert states and still 20 at night in Quebec. Most likely the truck is stuck in a snowstorm and also stranded for a day in the Mojave. I just make sure I kept them in bags or cases. My upright bass was out of the bag in that rental while I had slab basses that endured that 3 day heat with no ill effects and the bass really just had an open seam. I think the luthier was just pulling my leg when she said it slid off.

All your import basses even worse fate in a steel container bombarded by the tropical sun for weeks of ocean travel.

I think moisture and direct hot dry air would be more the issue.

 

[bushy]

I'm sure the instruments don't care.

I wonder what temperatures basses are exposed to when sitting in shipping containers on boats, in the trailer of a UPS/FedEx/etc truck (it's almost certain those trailers don't have HVAC, afaik), or on cargo planes?

 

[DanBass]

If you would be uncomfortable in a car trunk at 40 degrees, it's not good for your instrument.

Wouldn’t anyone be uncomfortable in a car trunk regardless of temperature? Haha

 

[lat]

No.

 

[Vanheusen77]

In my experience wood solidbody instruments are totalt fine in very cold teperatures. I have been on many tours where the instruments were in a trailer and temps were well into the minus fahrenheits (well below -15 C). Nothing happened to the guitars. Wood expands and contracts though so if you have some kind of sensitive finish i suppose that could take damage. I have heard that it is better to leave the instrument in its case for a while when drastically changing temperatures for this reason.

 

[kerrycares]

I’m a risk manager type of bassist so forget the temperature, with a 70’s Fender I hope your car never gets stolen or no one steals the bass out of your car .
My basses , including my upright, follow me.

 

[MrMoT]

I had my bass in trunk of a car for about 7-8 hours drive on a temperature below 0c (32F according to google) often. Only once I got really scarred I broke it. We were late and I had to run to stage directly from our car. Got the bass out on stage and the Neck was like a bow.... I could shoot arrows with it.... I thought to my self: OK... that's it, neck is done... half an hour later everything was OK, bass was even in tune
I have also, more than once, just left the bass in trunk of a car after a gig on a cold weather (not proud of it, but I was young... and probably drunk....) ... Little guy still works....
Would I treat a 70's bass like that - NO unless I have no other option...
PS the bass I abused so much is now my only bass and we love each other more than ever (Spector legend 4)...

 

[Joebone]

My basses go in the cargo hold for mainland fly-dates, I’m sure it’s below 40 down there, no issues.

What he said. Folks been flying their gear for decades, in holds that often are not heated - temperatures way below 40F.

 

[mcnach]

It was a bit of a joke. The real point was that it's not good for your bass to be in a temperature that you wouldn't feel comfortable in. I just couldn't resist adding the trunk part.

yet there's no evidence that a little cold is bad

 

[BurtMacklinFBI]

I wouldn’t if I could avoid it. Your bass won’t spontaneously self destruct or anything but I can’t imagine it’d be great for the neck. If you let it warm up gradually like you said though, it might be just fine. Really all you’re risking imo (other than theft) is having the neck shift and screw up your setup.

 

[Upstate SC Bass]

a 70's P no way I have a 71 P and she is my baby
I would not leave my baby in a trunk
but hopefully the sun keeps it some warmer than that in the trunk if you do
would the bass survive it sure but I would not do it