Leaving equipment in car - condensation question

homerun_homer

I'm playing a festival this weekend and camping for the 2 nights. I'm wondering has anyone ever left their gear in a car for an extended period (2 nights) and is there any precautions I should take in relation to condensation that may build up over night in a car?

Gear wise I'd have guitars, amps, synths to be worrying about being affected. It'll be parked in VIP parking with security so I'm not gonna stress about theft for now.

TheSegal

The main thing I would worry about would be the guitars but there are a few simple steps you can follow.

1) Make sure you have a case for the guitar! I can't stress this enough, i've always been told a molded case is the best job for it, a standard guitar bag will just be useless. This is to allow the guitar to adapt slowly to the changing temperatures within the car.

2) Slacken your strings before packing it away, this relieves some of the tension and can really protect the neck of your guitar.

As far as your amps and synths go i've never had a problem leaving them in the back of a van before over night, you could throw a piece of carpet or something else over them if you're very worried about them. Sorry I haven't really gone indepth into this, at work now and boards is a no-no

Demeyes

I don't think you'll have too much bother if the guitars are in bags/cases. With the weather here we don't get drastic shifts in temperature from day to night and that's where the real damage could occur. If you want to make sure the amps and synths are ok you could cover them just to make sure they don't get any drops of water near them, but you should be fine for a few days anyway, unless you were sleeping in the same car.
To be honest I wouldn't recommend slacking the strings for the time they'll be in there. You could give yourself bad tuning issues as it tries to adjust back to the tension once it's returned to pitch, and that could be just before you get on stage. That's really more of an issue for long term storage or shipping of a guitar, and even then I don't think it's that necessary. Necks are designed to be under tension, that's why they have truss rods.

-Chris-

Also, don't worry too much about condensation inside a car - it's rare enough unless you have a leak in the car. You could leave a window open a crack (or the sunroof if you have one) if you're still worried.

When you get in your car on a cold-ish morning, is your windscreen totally fogged up or is it relatively ok?

PMI

I wouldnt worry, unless youve got a 52 les paul or something

my stuff is stored in van every night and then brought into hot gig each day etc... as your playing a festival the shift in temp wont be that much so wont be a problem.

Have fun.

rcaz

If your radio can be left in your car for as long as the car exists, surely amps and synthesisers should be alright?

homerun_homer

El Pr0n wrote: »

If your radio can be left in your car for as long as the car exists, surely amps and synthesisers should be alright?

Very good point. Just being cuatious.

Thanks for the replies. The guitar details are good to know.

population

The security of the gear would be more my concern tbh