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Double Bass Safe temperature for my instrument any advice ?

M

mellen

Guest
Feb 4, 2012
10
1
#1
We are the lucky ones to reside in northeast US. Phila area. The most recent ice storm knocked out power for the last 4 days. The house temp started 4 days ago at 59 degrees F. The house is now 38 degrees. And we are not expected to get power for another 24 hours. While we are camped with in laws, My basses are still at the house. I put both in cases but have a feeling the house temp will drop again tonight due to the sub freezing temps outside. Any advice on how low is Critical? I have a plywood/spruce hybrid. & a pre ww2 juzek
 
#4
If you are at the inlaws, the basses should Be too. There are threads about this on here but i believe the guys from Winnipeg don't think its as big a deal and leave their basses in the car overnight during winters. I would go digging though. Cold is safer than Heat.
 
#6
Years ago, I experienced a crack in the wood one time in my acoustic bass from it being in the cold. I will never do that again. My instrument comes inside with me. Always. If you leave it in the cold, you are risking permanent damage to the wood. I hope your bass is OK.

The fender literature that came with my 09 American P simply states to never leave the instrument in temperatures where you yourself would not be comfortable!
 
#7
I laugh whenever I see threads discussing temperature. Doesn't anyone realize that instruments are shipped all over the world, in extreme hot and cold temperatures all the time. The trucks which deliver these instruments are not climate controlled. Many instruments sit in trucks or in warehouses for weeks at a time. I honestly don't think there is anything to worry about.
 
#9
Yes, instruments are sitting in warehouses for weeks. But have you ever actually bought a brand new instrument straight from a warehouse without getting it setup? Even the best instruments will feel awful when they've been sitting in a warehouse that isn't climate controlled.

Even before I got wise and started taking better care of my own instruments, I found myself playing through some rough feeling setups just because I didn't bother monitoring my home environment. Case in point, temperature and humidity matters. At the least, you'll need to fiddle with your setup to make the bass feel as good as it did before the drastic change. At worst you're risking cracks, seam splits, neck separations or major warping.

Don't learn from bad experiences, it's not worth the money or the risk. If you're in emergency situations obviously you do the best you can and hope for the least possible impact on the instrument. But under normal circumstances, why risk it? Especially with how much an upright costs to buy and/or repair?
 
#11
mellen said:
We are the lucky ones to reside in northeast US. Phila area. The most recent ice storm knocked out power for the last 4 days. The house temp started 4 days ago at 59 degrees F. The house is now 38 degrees. And we are not expected to get power for another 24 hours. While we are camped with in laws, My basses are still at the house. I put both in cases but have a feeling the house temp will drop again tonight due to the sub freezing temps outside. Any advice on how low is Critical? I have a plywood/spruce hybrid. & a pre ww2 juzek
Click to expand...

Your basses will be fine at those temperatures but you'll need to warm them up slowly. If you crank up the heat when the power comes back on, they wood will struggle to keep up with the rate of expansion and you might get an open seam or crack.

I would be more concerned about the plumbing! Did you turn off the water to the house? Or leave it running?
 
#13
Kmonk said:
I laugh whenever I see threads discussing temperature. Doesn't anyone realize that instruments are shipped all over the world, in extreme hot and cold temperatures all the time.
Click to expand...

I think this isn't true for fine instruments. I don't think they are routinely shipped all over the world such that they experience extremes for extended periods. In fact, there are stories of the damage that instruments have suffered by being in warehouses for extended periods that have not had temperature and humidity controlled.

By the way, your profile suggests that you don't own a DB. Did you know that those are what are being discussed?
 

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