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04-08-2006, 04:39 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Southern California | | | Dust ball in bass?
My dad said he was watching something on TV about antique violins, cellos, and other similiar instruments. Apparently they mentioned something about dust collecting into a big ball inside the violin/cello when they are very old, and that is a giveaway of age. Is there any truth behind this secondhand information, and does it apply to old basses as well? I'd never heard of it before and it sounded interesting. It makes sense dust would accumulate, but I never thought of it collecting into a big ball or something.
Any truth here? Thanks!
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04-08-2006, 09:39 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: New Jersey | | | I have an old play that had a ping pong ball sized dust ball inside. I noticed it while resetting the soundpost. So, it does happen, but as for showing the age, I don't know. I'm sure where you play, how often, and how you store the bass would affect this more than age. |
04-08-2006, 10:12 PM
|  | *kidding* | | Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Northern California | | | Hmmm...
I gently blow my DB out from the inside w/an air nozzle, set at about 30 psi; am I ruining the resale value?  If so, I could just whittle down one of our 'house' bunnies & insert it through the F-hole. 
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by Some chick on NPR  THAT is a spectacularly difficult question... | |
04-09-2006, 12:50 AM
| | Supporting Member/Luthier | | Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio | | | It is also referred to as the "dust mouse". Dating an instrument by the size of it's dust mouse is pretty silly. There are 300 year old basses with no dust mice... they often get removed when the instrument is worked on. |
04-09-2006, 01:55 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Southern California | | | Yeah didn't seem like a very accurate way of...anything...really. Interesting though, thanks! |
04-09-2006, 05:15 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Maui | | | Okay...everybody go get a flashlight and check...
I can tell you that I most surely have a dustball in my bass...about 1/2" in diameter. My bass is a couple of years old. I've named the dustball "Ralph".
I think it's as inevitable as navel lint. |
04-09-2006, 08:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson I think it's as inevitable as navel lint. | Omigosh, Marcus--- navel lint is inevitable? I don't think any of my instruments have ever had navel lint....some ear-wax from time to time....but no navel lint! 
Last edited by STRONGBOW : 04-09-2006 at 08:21 AM.
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04-09-2006, 09:40 AM
| | Supporting Member/Luthier | | Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson
My bass is a couple of years old. I've named the dustball "Ralph".
| Is Ralph male or female? How can you tell? |
04-09-2006, 11:31 AM
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Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson I've named the dustball "Ralph". | I too have a dustball and his name is Robert Paulson. |
04-09-2006, 01:51 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Maui | | | Sorry, I meant to say it's as inedible as navel lint. |
04-09-2006, 02:02 PM
| | "Working Bassist" | | Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson Sorry, I meant to say it's as inedible as navel lint. | STOP! You're only making it worse!   |
04-09-2006, 05:49 PM
| | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson Sorry, I meant to say it's as inedible as navel lint. | LOL! |
04-09-2006, 07:46 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Jersey Shore | |
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04-09-2006, 09:11 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Maui | | | You know....someone should take a brand new, clean bass, mount a mini vidcam inside, and do a time-lapse recording of the gestation of a dustball.
Hmm....I've got a friend who writes grants.... I'll get back to you.... |
04-09-2006, 09:53 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2001 Location: Canton, NY | | I'm sure the conditions the bass is stored in would greatly effect the size of the dust ball.
I tend to judge the age of instruments by the dates on coins i find inside. (mainly school fleet instruments)  |
04-09-2006, 11:07 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Southern California | | | My bass isn't more than a few months old, so I'm still waiting for the results to come back and see if anythings growing. Now I'll go buy a baby naming book. |
04-09-2006, 11:35 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Houston, TX | | | Actually, there is a little merit to this. You can't date an instrument with any real accuracy based on the size of a dustball, but it would usually show that it is, in fact, an old instrument. In fact, I've heard that it's become common for makers who try to pass their new instruments off as antiques will even add dustballs for added "authenticity." |
04-09-2006, 11:47 PM
| | *kidding* | | Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Northern California | | | Feeler
Genuine carved-top German DB dust balls(no bass, just the balls). Fool your friends! Become respectable! Not suitable for cello. Make offer. Sorry, no pics. 
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by Some chick on NPR THAT is a spectacularly difficult question... | |
04-10-2006, 01:25 AM
| | | | No what know what conductors mean when they ask us to play with more balls. |
04-10-2006, 08:54 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Rural Kansas City | | I have 2 little girls that love to drop stuff in my basses...do crayons increase the value....?
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