Crack! 

An arctic air blast has brought some nice cold weather...and that usually means the phone rings here in the shop with questions about broken basses.  

Sigh.  Actual conversation today:

Me: "whats the humidity like where you keep the bass?".

Bassist: "ahh, I don't know."

Me: "Are you maintaining about 40%?"

Bassist: "well...I thought about getting some dampits but heard they can be bad."

Me: "Not as bad as the repair bill for not having them or any humidifiers."

Seriously.  Seriously!  I'm sure everyone who reads this is saying "yeah yeah yeah Eric, we get it...stop kicking a dead horse here."  Do I have to devote another Upton Report to videos about humidity?

Please...it's serious...these things we love are BIG and WOOD and EVERYTHING is exaggerated about them.  Wood expands (high humidity) and contracts (low humidity)...and because of the size of the bass this contraction is exaggerated.  Things that a violinist wouldn't notice...and a cellist might only be annoyed by, will cause significant damage to a double bass.

Now...go check your humidifier.