haha! right on. it's not a friendly ride, to be sure. I think generally, it's about a 30 day ride from China to the US. And I've seen some weird stuff in containers.
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To keep or not to keep basses in their cases
- Thread starter Knavery
- Start date
If you're hauling them around then use cases…otherwise hang them to keep tension on the neck using the body weight. This prevents bowing from string tension. It counteracts the pull of the strings.
If you go into a music shop they're always hung at the headstock. If they're hanging out too you can admire them as artwork plus see what your hard earned dollars bought.
EZ access makes it more likely you'll play them.
If you go into a music shop they're always hung at the headstock. If they're hanging out too you can admire them as artwork plus see what your hard earned dollars bought.
EZ access makes it more likely you'll play them.
I have one bass currently in a gig bag because I'm out of wall hanger spaces. My 1960 Precision bass is on a wall hanger (high quality, known to be non-reactive to nitrocellulose finish). It plays as well as ever and has chilled on the wall thru dry winters and incredibly moist summers like what we're having now, no issues.
The physics of a bass hanging by the headstock are not measurably any more hostile to the longevity of a bass's neck than those of a bass in a gig bag or hard shell case, and the main issue of humidity is that large changes can cause things like fret sprout or cracks in delicate finishes. A neck's wood giving out due to humidity could maybe be possible if the internal forces are excessive (strings tuned too high, truss rod cranked to absurdity, etc), but still unlikely without an intrinsic fault in the wood.
My guess is the original bass's neck had a weak spot in it.
The physics of a bass hanging by the headstock are not measurably any more hostile to the longevity of a bass's neck than those of a bass in a gig bag or hard shell case, and the main issue of humidity is that large changes can cause things like fret sprout or cracks in delicate finishes. A neck's wood giving out due to humidity could maybe be possible if the internal forces are excessive (strings tuned too high, truss rod cranked to absurdity, etc), but still unlikely without an intrinsic fault in the wood.
My guess is the original bass's neck had a weak spot in it.
I live in Ohio where the weather is off the hook most of the time, and keep mine in their cases / bags when possible. Besides that, I don't want dust and humidity killing my roundwound strings'
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Wall hanging for me would be more about fear of them falling. I only have two basses - one is zipped up in the bag most of the time, the other is always on the stand and ready to go. When I had more, I kept them in cases, never had any issues.
I normally like to have easy access to my instruments and I'm kinda leery of wall hangers (but to be fair, I've had no direct bad experience with them).
The one random time I did decide to store one of my basses in a cheap, no name gig bag (just to keep dust off it), left me with a chemical reaction imprinted onto my bass. Granted, this wasn't one of my good gig bags, but I sure didn't expect the end result. Seems to happen more often that people might think - see thread.
After that gig-bag reaction experience, I just decided to go with a Hercules (nitro-safe) 5-instrument stand. Been a happy camper ever since.
The one random time I did decide to store one of my basses in a cheap, no name gig bag (just to keep dust off it), left me with a chemical reaction imprinted onto my bass. Granted, this wasn't one of my good gig bags, but I sure didn't expect the end result. Seems to happen more often that people might think - see thread.
After that gig-bag reaction experience, I just decided to go with a Hercules (nitro-safe) 5-instrument stand. Been a happy camper ever since.
