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I'm originally from a very cold region roughly 4 months out of every year. Additionally, the summers were sticky with humidity. The solution was the same for any object, during either unpleasant season ... I moved away to an area with a more pleasurable median and stable year round climate
I'm thinking rain every day in Seattle isn't entirely a stable climate
Ever gotten an Anthony Tsai bass??
Fresh off the boat...ya better wait
Has more to do with the green-ness of the wood during construction than
anything else, but those jokers will crack like mad if you don't acclimate 'em.
Why does Anthony build bases with green wood?Ever gotten an Anthony Tsai bass??
Fresh off the boat...ya better wait
Has more to do with the green-ness of the wood during construction than
anything else, but those jokers will crack like mad if you don't acclimate 'em.
That's almost a straight line to a bad punchline...
I'll refrain from giving the Andrew Dice Clay answer, which would be my norm...lol
Suffice it to say pumping out product as fast as one can is the answer
Best guess is that Tsai seems to be training workers for the Schecter plant,
then sells the best of the class' work online as his brand. You literally never know
what quality you will receive when it gets to you. I got lucky with mine, finding it
in a Florida pawn shop and loving the sound, others have not been so lucky.
Interwebz are full of horror stories about Anthony Tsai guitars.
Although I do wonder how much of the sound came AFTER the owner got it,
due to setup & strings, and how much was OEM...even so, I still put new pots
in it which improved its performance through the amps
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If rain every day isn't stable, I don't know what isI'm thinking rain every day in Seattle isn't entirely a stable climate
Tomorrow I'm picking up a 2010 unplayed case queen MM Big Al 5 that left CA on the 28th, straight through the Polar craziness, then a few days in a depot in North Jersey. I'm not taking any chances I'm letting hang out all day Monday then I'll break it out and fire it up. Luckily for me I'm impulse free since I already have a BA with a Maple board. But I would do so anyway especially with an MM with a waxed neck. We're finally crawling out of the chill it's already up to 15% and into the high thirties this week.
If you take a base/wrapping/box that’s been in say 20 degree weather and put it in a 72 degree room I don’t think it makes much difference if you leave it in the box or not. Cardboard and a thin layer of bubble wrap have very little insulating value. The base is going to warm up at almost the same rate either way.
....Ya, I must be uninformed.
Funny thing is, I own a good number of bass guitars, several quite old, with nitrocellulose finishes, and a new one, also so finished; I was on a nostalgia kick, but that is for another thread.
I guess you don’t own one, or you would no that they don’t crack or craze that easily either, at least not from temp changes as discussed here. They DO crack and craze over time, and harsh sunlight is a real bitch on notrocellulose, but not from opening the box right off the UPS truck.
There, now you are well informed too. You’re welcome.
To me this is the point... why not take the cautious approach?
I've taken an otherwise stable bass from an air conditioned house to a car with AC to an uncooled warehouse and had the strings flat on the neck. Fortunately I do my own setups but for someone who doesn't, if that happened on a gig they'd be screwed.
Anyone who believes that checking (on finishes susceptible to that) can never happen due to quick, large climate changes is welcome to that ignorance.
I would pull the bass out of the box, but keep it in it's closed case for an hour or two. Just enough time to allow the bass to come up to room temp.
When I was on tour, we would bring the instruments inside first and let them sit in their cases for a half hour to 45 minutes while we got everything else in place. By that time, it was time to soundcheck. The instruments were still cold to the touch, but nothing ever happened to them.
When I was on tour, we would bring the instruments inside first and let them sit in their cases for a half hour to 45 minutes while we got everything else in place. By that time, it was time to soundcheck. The instruments were still cold to the touch, but nothing ever happened to them.
songwriter21
I have an obsession for wood. The musical kind.
I don't care what companies say, like "wait 24 hours"...that's ridiculous, and it's an uneducated "rule". I can see for acoustic and/or nitro items, but not hard-as-nails modern poly finishes and just solid-body instruments. Delicate wood can suffer (hence acoustic thinness of wood and nitro on anything). My last band traveled all over in the cold, a lot of that being long trips, with the instruments either in the cabins under the bus, or in the trailer. When it was time for soundcheck, there wasn't exactly the perfect-world luxury of waiting 24 hours, but maybe a few hours. A good instrument will be tough for the rigors of temperature changes.
Waiting an impractical amount of time to let your instrument "adjust", is about as misguided as endangering yourself by using a cell phone at a gas pump. Mythbusters had to try really, really hard to get a ringing phone to cause a fire. Look that up somewhere, and you'll get it.
Waiting an impractical amount of time to let your instrument "adjust", is about as misguided as endangering yourself by using a cell phone at a gas pump. Mythbusters had to try really, really hard to get a ringing phone to cause a fire. Look that up somewhere, and you'll get it.
Companies are saying wait for whatever length of time to err on the side of not having a problem. Will waiting a few hours kill most people? IME no... except for those whose new gear day is like Christmas and they simply can't wait 
When I receive gear that's delivered during cold weather I bring it in the house and leave it be. Because in my mind I measure the shear joy of getting to fondle my new toy a few hours earlier against risking a problem because I can't, like a child, wait. I wait.
When I receive gear that's delivered during cold weather I bring it in the house and leave it be. Because in my mind I measure the shear joy of getting to fondle my new toy a few hours earlier against risking a problem because I can't, like a child, wait. I wait.
My bass stays in my office which is always 73 degrees all year around, except when I'm out gigging. Most all of the places I gig at are kept around 70ish all year. And yet, I have to adjust my truss rod every spring and every fall around 1/2 turn, then do a complete setup all over again. So it's not the temps that bending the neck. Or maybe my bass 'knows' what the outside temp is? Hmmmmm
Now everyone who said it’s not a problem and is suffering through this cold put your prized bass in the trunk of your car overnight and open it up in the house in the morning and report back
The only reason they put that “don’t open for 24 hours” sticker is because people can’t resist, and then if there’s a problem they’re so miffed they call right away. “I guess you didn’t wait 24 hours because you are calling only 13 hours after delivery. That cracked neck is your own fault.”
The only reason they put that “don’t open for 24 hours” sticker is because people can’t resist, and then if there’s a problem they’re so miffed they call right away. “I guess you didn’t wait 24 hours because you are calling only 13 hours after delivery. That cracked neck is your own fault.”
I would err on the side of caution. I have played a lot of outdoor gigs here in Florida, and just seeing how far off the tuning is when you tune in A/C and then bring the guitar out in to hot/humid conditions will surprise you. This depends on the guitar too. One of mine is really affected, and the other never seems to lose tune.
In a similar note, a friend bought a vintage Gibson SC guitar that was in great condition except that the fingerboard looked very dry. I told him to oil the fingerboard, but to do it gradually, in several stages, lightly at first. I really felt that going from bone dry to immediately heavily oiled could create a problem.
For reference, I have built a fair amount of wood furniture. Wood moves around a lot. If you take a "straight" piece of wood and cut it into two pieces, sometimes you no longer have two straight pieces. Internal stresses can induce a twist that was being held back before you cut it. It can be pretty aggravating.
In a similar note, a friend bought a vintage Gibson SC guitar that was in great condition except that the fingerboard looked very dry. I told him to oil the fingerboard, but to do it gradually, in several stages, lightly at first. I really felt that going from bone dry to immediately heavily oiled could create a problem.
For reference, I have built a fair amount of wood furniture. Wood moves around a lot. If you take a "straight" piece of wood and cut it into two pieces, sometimes you no longer have two straight pieces. Internal stresses can induce a twist that was being held back before you cut it. It can be pretty aggravating.
Temperatures are not the only thing that varies with climate.
