Help quick!! Finish ? - Light?

[notCardio]

My new bass has been in the car for about 36 hours or so. It's been in about the low 20's most of the time here. I was going to take it in to have a setup/truss rod adj. done tonight. Will I do something to the finish if I open it up for them to look at in the warm store with the bass being thoroughly cold like that? It's brand new, and if I can't get the neck adjusted the way I want, I was going to take it back, but I can't if I crack the finish!

Help!

Thanks to any and all!

[notCardio]

sorry, gotta bump this to the top.

[chestwick91]

That depends....what kind of bass...bolt on neck? whats the bolt pattern....3,4 or 5 bolts and most importantly... what kind of FINISH? if you cant tell me what finish is on there....then let me know what kind of bass it is (the year, model brand....everything)

i am also doing this to help bump you to the top....but that was rude...lol

[chestwick91]

But i really don't think so, if its a major brand...then they have good finish work...but tell them what has happend...

Also why the hell you need your trus rod adjusted if it's brand new?

[notCardio]

As it turns out, I won't be able to go tonight anyway, so it's not an emergency anymore. Now it's relegated to a regular 'for future reference' question.

I'd always hear that if you brought a thoroughly cold guitar in and took it out of the case, or left it open for a while, that the finish would warm and expand, but the body underneath would stay cold, and that would cause the finish to crack (not the guitar, sorry if I didn't make that clear). That was back in the old laquer days though, so I don't know how the new poly finishes react.

When I say new, I mean new, not used. It's a Squire (laugh all you want, I dig it) 'Vintage Modified', whatever that means, fretless P. Ebanol fingerboard (like Parkers). I finally found one around here, but there's a bit of a buzz because the neck needs straightened just a smidge. So the guy at GC knocked off a few bucks so that I could take it and have a setup and adjustment done, with the provision that if I still didn't like it I could bring it back. Yeah, I'll be out the setup fee, but I'll make sure they're relatively certain they can take the buzz out before I commit. You'd think GC would have setup people, huh? Nope.

I'd still like to know, like I said, for future reference.

[gitrguy87]

That's interesting because the GC here in Richmond has setup guys and there is no fee for setup if you bring it in within 30 days of the purchase.

[rayc]

Yeah, the decent stores around Sydney do a compulsory set up as part of the purchase price.

[mrface2112]

well, you probably already know that leaving the bass in the car for that long in that cold of weather is bad for it. it could very well be the cause of that buzzing problem you're having, b/c cold (and hot) wank with the neck.

the rule of thumb is to treat the guitar like you would a baby.

that said, sometimes this sorta stuff happens. my rule of thumb is if the guitar's been in the cold for more than a couple hours (enough to get *cold*), leave it in the case for 30-60 minutes when you bring it into the room, then open the case. the goal is to gradually warm the guitar back up.

i know it's moot at this point, but in your situation, i would've brought the bass in the house the night before you take it for setup.....or bring it into work or wherever you have to go for the day. i have band practice every weds night, and my guitar (and often also mandolin) come in with me. it also gives me something to de-stress on.


cheers,
wade

[Light]

Well, with a new Squire you are probably looking at a polyester or UV cured polyurethane, which are more "elastic" finishes than nitro, so there is every chance that you would not have a problem in any case. HOWEVER, it is still wise to take some precautions.

Basically, what happens when you get a guitar too cold is that, when it warms up, the wood expands faster than the finish. This causes the fine cracks in the finish which are commonly called weather checking. This is NOT a structural issue, by the way, just a cosmetic one, but if you can avoid it, why not, right?

The way to avoid it is to bring the guitar up to temperature as slowly as possible. The most important precaution is to leave the guitar in the case until it has had a chance to come completely up to room temperature. The longer you can draw that out, the better, so it is advisable to not only leave the guitar in the case, but to also cover it with some kind of insulation (wrap it in a nice thick comforter, or something similar). If a guitar has been shipped to you in cold weather, leave it in the box for a day or so, unless the box shows visible signs of damage (in which case you need to check things out so you can make a claim against the shippers insurance). In most cases, we like to let guitars sit in their cases for a day or so to come up to temperature.

By the by, when cases come into the shop cold, we often keep them closed, and do our normal evaluation and estimate the next day over the phone for our customers. If you live in a climate where this is a serious issue, I would expect your repair shop to know to do the same if you bring in a cold case.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[32-20-Blues]

Just out of interest, I imagine that a fretless neck would need to be fairly seriously bowed before it would cause buzz?

[steve.h]

On a related note, it's not worth adjusting *anything* until you have the instrument at room temperature, for reasons already mentioned.

On another related note, any time I have my guitar in the non-heated trailer for tours & stuff, I make sure it's one of the first things into the venue. If we're short on time, I generally try to warm it up with my hands up & down the neck a couple times, then wipe it down with a paper towel (condensation is fun!). THEN, I tune the thing. It's not worth tuning until it's warmed up. After the first song, it'll be pretty wanked as well.

[muttley600]

Originally Posted by 32-20-Blues

Just out of interest, I imagine that a fretless neck would need to be fairly seriously bowed before it would cause buzz?

Yeh, It does depend on the direction. Back bow obviously is the culprit here. I don' work a lot on basses but my mate has two fretless I setup every now and then. One an acoustic Thornbury whuch is fantastic but buzzes alot because he has to hit the strings harder. The other an old Westone That has a lower action and just needs to be skimmed once in a blue moon. They seem to buzz more from wear on the fret board than neck relief. The Westone has an almost flat setup and the Thornbury has more relief to allow for greater string movement. He lets me have them to skim the fretboard every couple of years when the buzzing gets noticeable. They are both over twenty years old and still on their original fingerboards. As I said I don't do many basses so others may have more of an idea. Seems to me most buzzing is going to come from wear as long as the neck stays resonably true.

[chazba]

I would take it a step further and say...don't let them adjust it until you play it for half hour or so, till bass body and neck get way above room temp. That's where you want it to function at its best. With a well broken-in and stable instrument it may not matter, but it could make a difference in a new relatively un-cured one.


chazba