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Leaving your bass in a car

#101
IamGroot said:
Why not detune it?
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Because you are destabilizing it for no benefit. I'd submit that unstrung neck distortion is much more of a factor than thermal distortion. I like to change strings one at a time if possible and quickly. Had the strings off the Les Paul a couple/three days while I played with the pickup covers. Man, talk about an unhappy guitar when I strung it up. Immediate truss rod adjustment required.

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#102
Okay TB'ers. I think it's time to settle this issue once and for all. If all of you pitch in and buy me the car shown below, I will go to the nearest Guitar Center and buy any ol' bass off the wall rack and I will store it in this car for a week, and then I will report back on the results of the test.

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#107
It will be fine, don't give it a second thought. I've had my touring basses experience all sorts of temp and humidity changes bouncing around in a trailer all over the US over the span of a couple of years and it never hurt them. Worst case scenario you have to tweak the truss rod a touch.

If the finish is nitrocellulose lacquer I'd be skeptical, but a standard poly finish won't give you any problems.
 
#110
Yonni said:
im going on holiday for 2 1/2 weeks. The first week I'll be abroad and leaving the car in a secure car park at the airport. I'd like to have my practice bass (cheap Ibby GSR 180) around for the other week and a half. Would leaving it in the car be a bad idea? I'm not worried from a security point of view as it will be out of sight and in a 24 hr patrolled fenced off car park next to the terminal. It's more from a neck point of view. Will the day/night temperature change affect it? It'll be in the Northern UK so daytime max mid 20sC (70sF) nighttime around 12C (53F) a change if around 10 degrees C (20F) in reasonably humid conditions. Is this a really bad idea?
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Why don't you try putting a glass of water or a water bottle into your roof box and let the car sit outside all day and then at about 3 PM or so, measure the temperature of the water. I am guessing it will be a lot higher than 20C, maybe 30C or 35C, depending how sunny of a day it is, and what color your roof box is. If you do do this with the bass, I would suggest as others have to wrap it with as many layers of blankets as you can in order to insulate it and therefore slow down the speed of the temperature changes. High or low temperatures won't hurt the instrument as much as SUDDEN temperature changes will hurt it. Going too quickly from cold to warm can cause the finish to crack badly, depending on the type of finish. As others said, make sure you put all needed adjustment tools into the case, just in case you need them.
 
#111
dcbassist5 said:
Although, if it can be avoided, it's a good idea not to expose your instrument to extremes. However, I've never understood people freaking out about even high quality instruments being in the hot and cold too long....most major touring artists pack up their instruments and have them in a non climate controlled semi for hours at a time in both hot and cold.
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Let's not forget the baggage hold of an aircraft. It can get pretty cold in there once you're up high and if it survives that and the baggage handlers you've got no worries.
 
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#112
xnewyorka said:
Why don't you try putting a glass of water or a water bottle into your roof box and let the car sit outside all day and then at about 3 PM or so, measure the temperature of the water. I am guessing it will be a lot higher than 20C, maybe 30C or 35C, depending how sunny of a day it is, and what color your roof box is. If you do do this with the bass, I would suggest as others have to wrap it with as many layers of blankets as you can in order to insulate it and therefore slow down the speed of the temperature changes. High or low temperatures won't hurt the instrument as much as SUDDEN temperature changes will hurt it. Going too quickly from cold to warm can cause the finish to crack badly, depending on the type of finish. As others said, make sure you put all needed adjustment tools into the case, just in case you need them.
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I have several basses and guitars on stands in my house in Sydney all year round. It doesn't get too cold here but in summer time they have been in a locked house all day long at temperatures of 35 degrees celsius or more. They cope. Humidity and dryness are more of a worry.
 
#115
Extended exposure to heat can soften the glues used in guitar construction. While it may only be in the 70's, with a closed car and sunlight magnifying through glass it could reach significantly hotter temperatures. Admittedly, I live in Florida, where the conditions you described equate to late fall, but there is no way I would leave a bass in my car for a week.
 
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#116
rogerbmiller said:
What would be the challenge taking it out of the car and keeping t with you or stored where you are housed? It's going to be in a case or bag right?
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I'm flying to Lanzarote for the first week which is the only time it will be in the car. The other week and a half I'll have it in the house we're staying in. Just parked it in the shade of a tree and waiting for my flight. Roof box is very light grey colour btw so should reflect some of the heat. It's zipped up in a gig bag and wrapped up in a pile of coats and a leather jacket. Too late to change my mind now!
 
#117
saabfender said:
Because you are destabilizing it for no benefit. I'd submit that unstrung neck distortion is much more of a factor than thermal distortion. I like to change strings one at a time if possible and quickly. Had the strings off the Les Paul a couple/three days while I played with the pickup covers. Man, talk about an unhappy guitar when I strung it up. Immediate truss rod adjustment required.

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Sorry, but I have to advise otherwise.
The biggest threat to a bass in a hot car is that the glue lines will plasticize.
When this happens, it is the string tension that causes the neck to warp or deform,
as the joint between the fingerboard and neck loses its shear strength and begins to "creep" laterally.

This same behavior forms the basis of a widely used technique for correcting warp and/or adjusting the relief
of necks without trussrods (i.e. old Martin guitars). It is a real and meaningful way to change the resting shape of a neck.
Most folks don't realize the relatively low temperatures at which these glues start to lose strength.
I've removed fingerboards from 30 year old basses using nothing more than a 100w lightbulb in a desk lamp.

On any decent neck, particularly one with a modern-style truss rod such as the Ibanez, removing the strings entirely
will not 'destabilize' the neck. Older guitars (such as Gibsons, in your example) with a single-acting rod would sometimes
react slightly more to changes like this since the truss rod design depends on compression of the neck wood itself.
However, even in that case, there is nothing at play that should prevent anyone from removing all the strings from their instrument.

In OP's situation I would absolutely advise slacking the strings AND the truss rod, and putting the neck at a neutral position without any
tension, external or internal. Given the temperatures at play, he should probably be fine at that point.
But the risk of leaving a strung/tuned instrument in a potentially hot car far outweighs the risk, if any, of 'destabilizing' the neck by slacking the strings.

Cheers,
Martin
 
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#119
hbarcat said:
I think there is enough accumulated anecdotal evidence that demonstrates exposing your bass to large temperature swings on a daily basis will destroy the neck in a very short time.

Just one example: I had a gig last weekend and accidentally left my bass in my car overnight when it was 62F. I retrieved it the next evening after it had been in the enclosed vehicle all day with a high temperature of 92F (which means is was significantly hotter than that inside.

Later in my studio at 72F I found the neck was heavily bowed so I tried to adjust it in small increments. Two days later, it wouldn't adjust any further and the nut stripped off the truss rod.

Coincidence? Maybe. But I've been using that bass for 15 years and have never had to adjust the neck more than a minuscule amount in that time. The first time it ever gets subjected to a 40F temperature change, the neck gets warped out of shape and the truss rod strips out.
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With one huge exception, thousands and thousands of instruments get shipped inside shipping containers every year which are every bit as hot as your example. Many of these are coming from Indonesia with tropical weather. So, I am not sure how you have anecdotal evidence of anything.
 
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