Playing outside in the cold

[oggiesnr]

I've some gigs coming up outdoors with my morris side in the next few weeks. Given the likely temperatures I'm wondering whether it is worth the risk to my bass. OK it's a laminate (AKA plywood ) but in all seriousness is there a temperature at which it's not worth trying and are there any precautions I should take before and after?

Many thanks

Steve

[thisnameistaken]

I think you're only going to potentially get problems if it's below zero - the lack of moisture in the atmosphere could dry out your bass and that's when cracks start to appear. A laminate will cope about as well as possible though.

Standard advice applies I suppose - try to let the bass cool down and warm up gradually, so perhaps arrive early and leave the bass in the bag for a while, then unzip the bag but leave the bass in it for a while, really anything you can do to slow down the change in temperature would be good.

FWIW I've taken my laminate out in the street in cold weather (not sub-zero) on a few occasions and not had any problems yet.

[Earbrass]

[quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1358857259' post='1946019']
I've some gigs coming up outdoors with my morris side in the next few weeks.
[/quote]

Best of luck with those, Steve. Our lot got an invitation last year to do a show somewhere near Peterborough last Saturday - thankfully we didn't get enough takers to accept :-). We did do a wassail last January, though, which was great fun though very cold. I doubt we'll be out before George's Day now.

[Basstroker]

Read this: [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f31/outdoor-gig-16%B0c-dergee-cold-942342/"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f31/outdoor-gig-16%B0c-dergee-cold-942342/[/url]

[lettsguitars]

Moisture not temperature is the problem. As above the problem can be that the dryness of the air could dry it out. As long as you dont leave it out all night you should fine.

[alexpea]

[quote name='Basstroker' timestamp='1358881234' post='1946539']
Read this: [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f31/outdoor-gig-16%B0c-dergee-cold-942342/"]http://www.talkbass....ee-cold-942342/[/url]
[/quote]

I read the whole thread, very informative and very entertaining

[Beer of the Bass]

The winter before last was a ridiculously cold one, and I was busking outside regularly with a carved bass. I didn't have a thermometer, but it was a good few degrees below zero most of the time as there was much ice underfoot. I had no problems at all with the bass, but it's really hard to keep your hands working. The left hand is the worst as it's raised up most of the time and doesn't get much blood circulation. I was wearing two pair of socks, army boots, longjohns, several jumpers, a big coat, scarf, hat and fingerless gloves but still couldn't keep my hands warm enough! I was careful about slowing down the changes between warm and cold by leaving the bass in its bag for a while as suggested above. In an ideal world I'd have a second bass for this sort of playing, but I don't have the space to keep one.

[oggiesnr]

[quote name='Basstroker' timestamp='1358881234' post='1946539']
Read this: [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f31/outdoor-gig-16%B0c-dergee-cold-942342/"]http://www.talkbass....ee-cold-942342/[/url]
[/quote]

Thanks for the link and all the other replies, I'll report back in due course.

Steve

[bigthumb]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1358898231' post='1946954']
The winter before last was a ridiculously cold one, and I was busking outside regularly with a carved bass. I didn't have a thermometer, but it was a good few degrees below zero most of the time as there was much ice underfoot. I had no problems at all with the bass, but it's really hard to keep your hands working. The left hand is the worst as it's raised up most of the time and doesn't get much blood circulation. I was wearing two pair of socks, army boots, longjohns, several jumpers, a big coat, scarf, hat and fingerless gloves but still couldn't keep my hands warm enough! I was careful about slowing down the changes between warm and cold by leaving the bass in its bag for a while as suggested above. In an ideal world I'd have a second bass for this sort of playing, but I don't have the space to keep one.
[/quote]

I just got Raynaud's reading that!

[ubassman]

A laminate bass should be ok . In my small arsenal of basses , I have an 'outdoor' ply bass that has been baked by the sun in summer and out in the moist cold wet air in winter . The tuning takes a while to settle in whilst playing because the wood changes its moisture content and expands / contracts ...is not really good for the bass though ...but difficult to say 'no' if its a gig you want to do !

P.S. I wouldn't play my carved basses outside - been there, done that, ....bad idea!

[ubassman]

Interesting clip about the effects of moisture

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=XhlyzoeA_7E"]http://www.youtube.c...n&v=XhlyzoeA_7E[/url]

Edited February 8, 2013 by ubassman

[fretmeister]

You want one of these:

[url="http://www.luisandclark.com/?product=bass"]http://www.luisandcl...m/?product=bass[/url]

They were featured in a Mazda advert because they wanted to film in the cold:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM8TpvDUnqE[/media]


Touch pricey though at $12000

Edited February 13, 2013 by fretmeister

[oggiesnr]

Well two of the gigs have been done. There were some tuning issues, especially on the E and A strings, I kept a mental note of how much I'd had to tighten them up and made sure to slacken off the strings when it went back in the van. Only real issue was my left wrist, after the first three dances it started hurting like mad where I'd broken it in the past. Fotunately most of the tunes seem to be in E minor so I could play more open strings than usual.

Steve