A couple of weeks ago, I put out a post about my new Honda Element and what a great bass car it is. Double bassist Bob Strickland wrote in with another good recommendation for a bass car from Honda:
Jason, my friend has an Element. They are, indeed, great musician cars!
I just bought a 2010 Honda FIT. I bought it because it averages 30 mpg, and because I can fit all my bass stuff in it. Before I bought it, I made the salesman let me take it home and load it up. Have you ever seen one of these cars? They look TINY!!! But they are so well-designed. The seats lay down completely flat with just a flip of a switch.
So, I took the thing home. In the back, I put the following:
My music stand (a big school stand, non-collapseable)
3 microphone stands
my collapseable stool
a 4 by 6 rug
my 3/4 double bass
my Gallien Krueger MB150 amp with matching extension cabinet
a small PA system and mixer
And I still had extra room! Amazing. They are truly amazing little cars, ergonomically well-designed, and the to get 30 MPG avg with that much capacity is something else!
Bob Strickland
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Im going to submit the fact that I consistently fit two basses and a stool in the back of my Saab 900, it averages 30mpg. It also cost little to buy because the depreciation on Saabs is terrible. I also had a Saab 9000 that we fit a rock drum kit, bass, eden 210 cab, keyboard, 112 roland keyboard amp, three music stands, two people in the front (nothing on laps) and I could still see out the back window. My dad also has a Saab 9-5 wagon which fits a flight case very comfortably, or a bass and a dog crate when I drove it to ISB at Penn State, but you have to make sure you get a hatchback Saab or else you cant fit the bass in the back.
I have to 2nd Bob’s vote for the Fit. I have an ’07 Fit and I regularly transport the bass and required stuff to/from dates and gigs. The best part is that my teacher and I got BOTH our basses in my Fit, safely and comfortably to travel to a gig 60 miles away. I didn’t think we could, but with both 3/4 basses on their sides and both headstocks going between the front seats they fit fine. She sits while playing so we had to bring along a stool too. No problem. It was a hoot. We pulled up to the gig and the guy next to us (In a big SUV) was shocked to see all we removed.
I would love to see a picture of the Fit fully loaded up! That’s awesome 🙂
Is there room for a passenger when you have all that stuff in there?
thanks for the post on fitting basses in cars! this is exactly the information I needed, especially regarding the Honda Fit. I figured I would be doing the old trick of bass in the passenger seat with the neck going to the rear (forcing my passenger to sit behind me) but it sounds like the instrument fits fine in the back with the neck going forward. Phew! Much more sociable, and safer re: my right hand blind spot.
I had a Fit for many years (even rebadged it as a Jazz, as it is known in most of the world.) I could put a Sousaphone, a bari sax, a trombone and trumpet and also 3 passengers in it, and still have a good ride to a gig a hundred miles away.
Just saw a new Fit commercial tonight with a guy and his Double Bass – in a case!