Double Bass Tips on Driving to a Gig with DB + Gear

[OldFenderPlayer]

How do you protect your double bass from from things that might move around in your car
when you drive to a gig?

I have a Chrysler van where the seats fold into the floor, so space isn't tight - in fact it could be an issue because there is room for gear to move around. I'll be taking my 3/4 upright, a small amp, a sound system (mixer, power amp, 2x12 speaker cabinets), cases for cables, various stands, etc. etc. etc.

Some lessons are best learned "the hard way," but discovering a fallen bridge or sound post during setup isn't the way I want to receive my education.

 

[old spice]

Lay the bass on its side, not its back, so you put less stress on the neck and particularly the heel joint.

 

[two fingers]

"Why do something so stupid as learning from your mistakes when you can learn from others' mistakes?"

-My Grandfather

 

[bengreen]

Organizing vertically is a good idea, trying to imagine the forces involved in extreme situations: panic stopping, swerving to avoid collision, potholes, etc.

I had a horrifying experience in my van years ago. I traveled a lot to gigs with my dog. Thinking I was making her comfortable, I put her bed on the floor right behind the front seat so she could snooze. I had bass and a heavy tool box further back. Traffic came to a sudden, complete stop in front of me and I floored the brake pedal. The anti-skid worked amazingly well. Collision avoided but the tool box went flying and landed on my girl. One o'clock in the morning in LA and I'm desperately trying to find a 24 hour veterinary hospital. She was ok, just shaken and sore. And so was I. But I never arranged stuff haphazardly like that again.

It's actually better not to have all your seats retracted. Though it's convenient and tempting to have all of that flat, open space, in reality it's safer if you have some rigid "stops", like seats, to keep stuff from shifting as your driving puts varying loads/forces upon them.

I would keep the heavier, more robust things (like amps) low and butting against seats to limit their travel. The bass, in padded bag, plus other delicates, higher up, on the reclined seat if possible and strapped in.

Mostly, again just bear in mind how things are likely to shift and try to organize so movement is limited and heavy stuff won't fly on or against lighter, delicate stuff as you maneuver the van in traffic.

BTW I actually prefer to lay the bass on it's back. More stable and less likely to roll. But my seats fold in such a way that the back is completely supported and the neck/scroll are extending beyond them in midair, so no stress on the neck joint. If you do lay it on it's side, be sure to strap it in so it can't roll.

 

[Jay Corwin]

The layout of your car has a lot do with how you play the game of Tetris. I always lay my bass on it's back, however I always stuff padding under the head and neck. I keep a small pillow, moving blanket, and small carpet on my ride. I also lay my cabinets on their back. Everything else is in my toolbox and a laptop bag. Basically I try to make sure that nothing in there could topple over, or slam into my bass in the event of hard braking.

I stuff the rug between the cabinets and the bass so they can't slide into the bass.

But when I also have have to haul PA gear......I don't even want to talk about.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I like the back seat folded half down, which leaves room behind it to bungee a stool to the seat and an amp behind the stool. The dolly folds and gets bungeed to the floor of the cargo space, and the bass goes on its side with the bridge turned toward the space between the rungs of the stool for protection. Another bungee cable holds the bass in place.

Can you tell I like bungee cables? The seat that folds half down is critical to all of this for me, since the headrest of the seat makes a great anchor for the two most important bungee cables (bass and stool). Everything else just kind of fits around that.

 

[Steven Ayres]

Station wagon: Bass on its treble side on the left, endpin forward, tied to the wall. (You don't want to see a fallen bridge, but you really don't want to see a fallen soundpost just before the gig.) EB in bag lays across DB neck, body to rear. Stool behind right seat, cab and amp/cable case behind stool. Stands &c. in the between spaces. I can get the PA in there too, if need be.

 

[Who da Ville]

I installed rope cleats (the kind you use in boats) in the 4 corners of my pickup bed. I've not yet found anything I can't secure with a little creative rope work. In the photo, you may notice that my bass is on its back, but I put a small piece of rolled-up carpet under the top of the back to lift the scroll off the bed of the truck. I then string a rope between the rear cleats, passing it through the central handle (strap) on my bass bag, cinching the rope snug, but not too tight. It rides great like that; I've done this for quite a while now, and never even think about the bass while it's back there. You'll notice in the photo that there's also a large box of tools and spare parts tied to another cleat in the front corner of the bed. I've also tied amps up front, so they don't slide around. When I carpool with my guitarist friend, I just slide his guitar case (neck first) under one side of the rope; this keeps it from sliding forward, and the closed tailgate holds it firm from the rear.

 

[Josh Kneisel]

I am lucky enough to play ina band that has a trailer, but what I do is lay the bass in it's bag on it's treble side on top of the road case for the PA speakers and the road case for my AMPEG 6x10. The upper bought rests on pads on top of my slightly higher road case and the bottom sits on the slight lower road case (like a small stair to lift the head up). I the run a bungie cord from a hook in the wall to the metal strap ring on my Upright case (is right in the middle of the basses body when on its side) to hold it down to the case its on and keep it from trying to roll away from the wall, I then take another bungie and go from another wall hook through the ring to another hook same height, and the 3rd bungie goes from the hook the last one ends at down through the ring and hooks to my Road case latches so it cant moveback or roll. After the bungis I also have a cargo net that I hook along the wall and pull over the bass and hook to my road case also to keep it from swinging. It doesn't move.

 

[Josh Kneisel]

I used to load it in an SUV with the seats down on it's side on top of an accordion case. I would just make sure there was gear keeping it in place

 

[fdeck]

I have relatively few options since I drive a Scion XA. But I lay my bass on its back with a "pillow" under the neck heel, so the bass isn't supported by the neck or back. This also keeps the bass from interfering with the stick shift.

Coincidentally, the "pillow" is my bag of spare cables in an old soft briefcase.