Wait to open my bass in cold temps?

[bassdude51]

If bought a couple of nitro basses during the winter (Ohio) and I was told to wait 24 hours to open.

from Google.........
Depends entirely on the temperature differential. If it was 72 deg outside and 71 deg iside you can probably open it right away. If the guitar was on a truck and it was minus 30 outside and its 85 inside you should wait many hours. Ideally 4 days.Mar 7, 2014

How long should you wait to unbox a guitar?
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6-24 hours

Many Vendors will not cover these types of damages that may occur to finishes in these types of conditions, so we urge you to allow at least 6-24 hours depending on the differential between outside/inside temps for the guitar to naturally acclimate itself to the new environment.

 

[Spidey2112]

I usually wait until the sun goes down.

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Wise(b)ass

Ladies and gentlemen, Nose-hair-or-two.

 

[Bag of Lazers]

Put it this way: If you do open it right away and mess up your bass instead of just waiting a little bit, we're all going to laugh at you. You don't want that on top of having a messed up bass, now do you?

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Hi all. Getting my Jazz bass shipped back from Sweetwater today. It’s pretty cold here in Tulsa, curious if I need to wait to open the box and check out my new setup? I’ve heard differing opinions and usually the weather extremes aren’t bad but we have sub freezing temps for daytime highs since my bass has been on the road. I’m excited to try it but don’t want to mess it up. Thanks!
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Back in the day I was a little anxious to get to an EB3 that was in the cold and lost a good bit of the finish on the back. But that was going from 15 degrees to show time in 5 minutes. It’s also a different finish that what you have on your JB.

While I agree you need to exercise caution if you opened it up to take a peak. If you see any evidence of clouding (moisture) accumulating on the metal parts and or on the finish, put it back in the case immediately. Or if your house is warmer than 68 degrees and you touch it and it feels like an ice cube, back in the case it goes.

Best advice is you made a significant investment in this bass. Give it a day. Congrats on your new bass.

 

[logdrum]

Just don't be sneaky - open the bass coming from -10 F truck inside your 150 degree dry sauna, and then ask for a discount after the nitro has bubbled up.

 

[coy garcia]

If it can't handle being opened it will never survive the wild.

 

[AQUANOVA]

There better be some pictures after all this waiting.
I’m feeling kind of emotionally invested in it now.

 

[logdrum]

I have always opened them immediately. and have been lucky I guess I am also not planning to getting more bass or guitars. I think heat is more an issue. Imagine these import basses transported in the summer across the ocean and sitting in LA ports for weeks in July August and then transported to Phoenix sitting additional weeks when the temps are so hot planes cannot even fly out. The top of my upright bass separated because I left it uncovered inside a travel trailer and the AC went out. It was probably over 150 in the trailer

 

[2thAche]

So, did you open it yesterday or today?

 

[evanrunyon]

My bass sat in an unheated warehouse at Heathrow for two weeks in January 2022 after American Airlines, um, “misplaced” it. I immediately pulled it out when it was returned because I had a gig hours later—no problems. Go for it, and if something does muss the finish then it’s just character, anyway.

 

[JazznFunk]

Yes. Wait. Wood is susceptible to heat and humidity changes, and will move around going from extreme to extreme. Will it damage the instrument? Probably not. Will it affect your ability to accurately evaluate the setup before it acclimates? Yes.

 

[Liam Wald]

It's a neat look!

J/K, personally - I'd wait.

Think of it as instantly creating a "relic" instrument.

 

[Stylee Mousse]

I've never understood this myth. Tons of band toured the country / world with their instruments. These instruments (Often vintage) go from a warm indoor arena into a cold tractor trailer truck and travel (often in very cold temperatures) to the next venue where they are loaded into a warm venue and used.

We gigged extensively in the midwest, including 0 degree days. Our gear traveled from our heated practice space in a van, heated, to a club, also heated. A few minutes outside in cases wouldn't make the instrument get cold enough to have problems typically.

If the gear traveled in a trailer our process was to leave the instruments in cases until needed for soundcheck. Our logic had more to do with tuning stability than possible checking, but like I said, I have seen a thick poly absolutely shatter going from a warm house to 5 degrees rapidly (like I said young, dumb, no case).

 

[sgiacomo]

So, did you open it yesterday or today?

it was delayed by FedEx due to a local ice storm. Its supposed to deliver today.

I've decided to wait to open it, the bass it only six months old but got a new nut and Plek setup. I'll post some pics about 24 hours after it arrives

THANKS FOR ALL THE FEEDBACK!

 

[Mike Vee]

I'd wait like 2-3 hours

 

[Mike Vee]

I'm sorry to be so straight forward but this whole "waiting before opening the carboard box" is probably the most ridiculous debate I've ever heard. It's a CARDBOARD box. Cardoard is NOT insulation. It makes no difference if you move the bass from cold to warm in the box or in the gigbag or without either. If it's really cold outside the box or gigbag aren't going to keep the bass warm. There is no heating inside them. When you take the cardboard box inside your house, it will warm up at the exact same (or at least 95%) time as the bass does inside it. No amount of cardboard wrapping will protect the bass from temperature changes. Just open it up and play it.

nah, it's definitely more insulated inside that case than outside the box, and would definitely stay colder for much longer inside.

 

[BassyBill]

Sudden swings in temperature can definitely screw a bass. Let the thing warm up for at least 24 hours if you’re moving it into a warm house after a longish spell on a very cold truck, especially is it’s a delicate finish like nitrocellulose. Otherwise be sure to film the unboxing up close so we can all laugh at the process in real time as the lacquer starts cracking and crazing on your dripping wet instrument.

Good luck!

 

[JKos]

For those saying this is a myth, how can you say that when it actually does happen? TB members here on this thread with real life examples of it happening. But it’s a myth?

 

[rsilvers]

Depends if you want to accelerate the relicing or not.

 

[rsilvers]

You said it was Plek, so of course you should wait if you are doing all of these detailed checks.