I play upright bass, and while i checked that it fit in the car before i bought it, i neglected to check visibility--and found out yesterday it's drastically compromised with the bass in the car.

i can rest the fat bottom of the instrument on the passenger's seat; the body stretches out to the back and the neck fits between the rear seat roll bar/headrests. but as a result, rear visiblity goes from poor to nil (can't see anything between the headrests)--and because the big body of the bass is to my side, i can't see the side view mirror any more--or barely out the side window. YIKES! this makes it very difficult to move right!

does any one have any experience with a situation like this, or creative ideas for adaptation? i'm hoping i'll be able to position some supplemental mirrors in a way that give me a view to the right...wondering if it's been done or there are products out there that will work well. all help welcomed! thanks!

cheers,
diana

 

These mirrors were originally designed for the drivers side, but I've heard of a cabrio owner mounting one on the passenger side: http://autobahnmirror.com/

Can the bass fit in some other way with the rear seats down? And of course, your loading options increase when the top is down...

 

thanks for suggestions--you did give me an idea...lower rear seats & see if the body can slide in through the boot...definitely worth a try.

i DID increase my viz in general today by raising my seat! i wasn't really seeing anything out the back even w/o the bass there, but had a midnight revelation that seat height might help--and by day found it sure does. may even help when the bass IS loaded.

we'll see...

 

Yes, play with the seat adjustment first- I got aquite a bit more visibility when I fiddled with mine. The cabrio has visibility issues anyway (nence the inclusion of backup sensors as standard equipment- heh).

Also, have you tried putting the instrument in the FRONT seat, with the body in the leg well and the neck resting up along the seat back? Hey, maybe it will qualify you for the HOV lane.

 

We need pics to better help you - and I just want to see a big bass stuffed into a Mini

I would try working through the boot with the rear seats down - I'd think if you could get the bass to lay flatter your visibility would be better. Perhaps if you carry the bass more then passengers you might see if removing the rear seat would help you?

 

ImagoX: that's how i'm currently loading it--body in passenger seat. when the top's down i can put it in the back seat, and while i can't see out the back i have full use of mirrors so it's really ok. But in the front the way i've been doing it, it wipes out both back & right side mirror. However, I haven't tried this yet since raising my seat & hold some hope that i'll be able to see over it now to my right mirror...

eVal: i will certainly post pics & thanks for suggesting that. not sure i'll get to it this week (bass has gone back upstairs & i try to keep those stair trips to a minimum--it'll come back down next gig)--and i'm heading off on vacation next week (with the LITTLE fiddle--much easier to carry!) so there may be a gap before we get to work on this problem.

but it's on my mind a lot so maybe i will take it back down this week & try load in through the pass-through, etc. Will post results.

thanks!
d.

 

You could always switch to a flute