Here's how I pack my bass:




It just pokes into the front enough to make a nice little armrest:



You can see in the first picture that there's room for a bass drum either behind the driver's seat or behind the back passenger's seat. A drum hardware bag fits to the left of the bass, and there's plenty of room for toms, a modest bass amp, saxophones, etc....

So does this arrangement not work the same for you other upright owners? The other two uprights that I've put in fit pretty much identically...

 

I'm still curious if my setup works for the other upright bass owners.

 

I think that's a good way to do it, although maybe it depends on the bass and the carrying bag it's in. My bass bag is quite heavily padded, so while it would work that way, it's a squeeze for both the bass and front passenger.

I'm still amazed at the amount of gear the Fit can carry.

 

You don't need to remove the headrests. They tuck under the front seats if you slide the front seats forwards when you lower the rear seats to be flat.

 

That's true, but for me, it's far easier to remove the headrests than to reposition the front seats. If you're not carrying passengers in the rear, the headrests are just an unecessary impediment to rearward vision, anyway.

 

Ahh ok just making sure you knew.

 

I live in Lawrence, KS where the live music scene is pretty big. I've seen an SSM fit loaded w/ music gear in it. Pretty cool lots of people using this car for similiar purposes.

 

Hey folks,

This is my first post on the forum after reading MANY of the threads over the past couple of weeks. I am a prospective FIT customer and a musician. I have been seeking a new daily driver that is economical (like my beater Honda Civic) and can carry gear (like my Isuzu Troopers). The FIT looks like it might do the trick, based upon the specs and photos I'm seeing.

Here is an idea of what some of my weekend gig-toting requirements include. This is my keyboard rig loaded into one of my Troopers. I usually have my guitar player with his gear (2 guitars, Marshall cab and head) as well as our sax player with tenor sax, wireless rack, coolers, clothes, etc. We can squeeze into my Trooper with some room to spare.



To pile all of this into the FIT, I believe I would need to pile it up to the ceiling. The longest item I have is the ATA flight case for my Yamaha S90. That measures 59" - seems like it would fit against the back of a front seat in the FIT in cargo mode, only with the front seat moved forward a few inches.

I'm curious about a couple of things I have not seen explicitly discussed.

• When loaded up with gear and musicians, how does this impact the FIT's fuel economy? I'm looking at probably 525 lbs in people plus probably that much weight in gear. This exceeds the capacity of the FIT, but not by too much.
• Similar to my first question, how is the FIT's performance when loaded down with all this gear? Will it move down the road or is this asking too much of it?
• Would there be longer-term issues with carting around so much weight in the FIT on a regular basis? I'm a weekend gigging guy, usually playing about 3-5x per month.

I would love to hear more about how your FIT is holding up after spending some time loaded down on the road.

Thanks a million!

Regards,
Eric

 

I've been gigging with my fit since I got it in late June, and I think the load you're carrying may be too much for even the hardiest fit.

I have a 61 key synth in a semi-rigid case, a set of bongos and a rolley suitcase filled with percussion equipment that pretty much live in the trunk (don't forget the cargo cover!), on top of which i usually carry 1-2 guitars and sometimes a percussionist with 2 full size congas in flight cases. Under a full load you can definitely feel the difference in handling and pickup, and I can't imagine driving that way habitually would be good for the engine, especially if you're traveling long distances to get to gigs. For a neighborhoody gigs when you just have to pick everybody up and head to the local bar it might be OK.

I've found the fit's economy to be surprisingly sensitive to a whole host of factors: temperature, load, wind. I would imagine hauling close to or more than the recommended weight repeatedly would kill any semblance of fuel economy.

So far my fit has held up really well, but I have to admit I do baby it when loading in gear and such. I would never knock it around he way i did my old car.

All that said, I think fitting all the gear you described (including the other guys and their stuff) into the fit is a stretch even with the magic seats. if it did fit it would be so tight that you'd mess up the roof and trim panels.

 

Thanks for the feedback! I was close to buying a Fit over the holidays, but had second thoughts since I don't really need a new car and was just searching for reasons to buy a shiny new object.

The Fit is still on my list of cars to consider, but seems like it won't be a great gear hauler for what I have.

I'm still quite a fan of the Fit!

Regards,
Eric

 

ya all i really have to haul is a fender deville 2x12 and a guitar so pretty much any car can handle that. but im sure my fit can haul my half stalk a hell of a lot easier than my civic did, thats if i ever really moved me half stack.