Jay Haide Basses

[Thomas Erickson]

I know of one here locally; like has been said, it looked quite nice and initially seemed to be a good instrument with potential, but after a year or so of use it had failed to "open up" and fulfill expectations, and it was sold off. I may be seeing a few more here in the near future; if so I'll post back here with photos and my impressions of them.

[Arnold Schnitzer]

I recently acquired a nicely antiqued Panormo model. The moisture content in the wood is disappointingly way too high for the Northeast, so I will be seasoning the bass for a while before I set it back up. The importer assured me that their shop in China is really careful about their wood drying, but methinks this is wishful thinking.

[Eric Hochberg]

Arnold, what do you mean by and how do you "season" the bass?

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Eric Hochberg

Arnold, what do you mean by and how do you "season" the bass?

I think he means to acclimate it and dry it down to current local moisture content necessity. In drying wood, it only says that dry is kept in a dry area. Wood will continue to absorb moisture and release it like a sponge. Take some wood at 8% and put it a dame area and watch the surface moisture rise to 10% in a short time. In China, the have a wet/moist air climate from what I have seen with their exports. This is every brand. China is China. All they can do is dry it as dry as they can over there. When it reaches here it's no where near the moisture content we would use to make an instrument.

If you put the instrument in a fairly moist room here it will slowly dry out over time. If put in a dry area, it will dry too fast and crack. Necks can warp and twist as well including the scroll area. This is have seen where the head was twisted away slightly but noticeably away from the neck.

In making instruments at the prices of China, no way can they afford the time and expense to dry the wood down for 5-10 year minimum like we do here for fine instruments. If they do, it's in China's moist air. That doesn't help much once it gets here.

So, regardless of a Jay Haide, Jeckle and Hyde or Hide n Seek Chinese basses, local manufacturing moisture climate is what it is.

[Eric Hochberg]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

So, regardless of a Jay Haide, Jeckle and Hyde or Hide n Seek Chinese basses, local manufacturing moisture climate is what it is.

Thanks for the responses.

[Thomas Erickson]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

regardless of a Jay Haide, Jeckle and Hyde or Hide n Seek Chinese basses, local manufacturing moisture climate is what it is.

This should be a sticky.

[Arnold Schnitzer]

Originally Posted by Eric Hochberg

Arnold, what do you mean by and how do you "season" the bass?

Ken's thesis above is spot on. I'll add that most luthiers feel it's prudent to open up the seams to keep the plates from splitting as the wood dries out.