ready, set, NOOOoooOOOOooOO

Fetusyolk · #1 12-14-2009, 01:41 PM

I finally decided to take a picture of the catastrophe that is my headstock (for a separate thread) and thought i should create a new thread-
this happened a good amount of months ago.maybe 9 months ago (or more) a guitarist dropped my bass onto a concrete floor. months later.. while preparing to play a composition for my music theory class (i chose my bass as my instrument) my friend is taking it out of the case for me and BAM off goes the tuner and a good chunk of wood.

i've been playing it as a four string ever since.. i got a really great offer from a fellow bass player who has had his b-string break off as well (this is apparently common? i noticed a hairline crack on my friend's headstock as well... and he takes great care of his instruments).

i'll probably end up calling him even though his offer was a while ago. . . but i figured now's as good a time as ever to bring this to you guys.
i've still got the part that broke off of the headstock, as well as the tuners.what am i to do?

i nailed the composition by the way. my teacher was blown away <3

scottbass · #2 12-14-2009, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fetusyolk

i've still got the part that broke off of the headstock, as well as the tuners.what am i to do?

Bite the bullet and buy a new neck. IMHO, it's not worth it to try to glue & screw the broken headstock piece back in place and then hope it holds, doesn't buzz, etc.

jimmy rocket · #3 12-14-2009, 01:46 PM

glue it. when wood glue dries it's stronger than the wood around it so it should be nice and solid

5StringBlues · #4 12-14-2009, 01:47 PM

You might be able to have a luthier glue it back together for you.

My Roscoe Beck V had the headstock broken into two pieces,in a straight line,right along the middle of all five tuners.That was about 4 or 5 years ago.My luthier glued it back together and it's still holding firm.

It should hold.You are only dealing with the tension of one string versus my bass having the tension of all five strings pulling along the break.

Worth a try anyway.

Fetusyolk · #5 12-14-2009, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmy rocket

glue it. when wood glue dries it's stronger than the wood around it so it should be nice and solid

i think i'm going to go with this approach first- want to try to do it on my own. it's my baby anyways, right? what are recommendations? should i put pressure on every side so it's firmly pressed into the side or should i just clamp it so that it stays together?

also- why not gorilla glue?

FunkMetalBass · #6 12-14-2009, 02:14 PM

Glue it on, then drive some nails into it from the top so that they are flush with the neck and will worth with the glue to keep it stronger.

dmrogers · #7 12-14-2009, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fetusyolk

i think i'm going to go with this approach first- want to try to do it on my own. it's my baby anyways, right? what are recommendations? should i put pressure on every side so it's firmly pressed into the side or should i just clamp it so that it stays together? also- why not gorilla glue?

I would give gluing it a try. What have you got to lose? I glued a leg to a piece of furniture (full length mirror) over fifteen years ago and it's still holding fine. I used a couple of small finishing nail, a liberal application of wood glue and some clamps. Worked great. And it is a load bearing leg too.

Besides, if it doesn't work, you can then spring for a new neck.

Good luck!

Fetusyolk · #8 12-14-2009, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FunkMetalBass

Glue it on, then drive some nails into it from the top so that they are flush with the neck and will worth with the glue to keep it stronger.

won't this just split the wood even ferther and widen the divide?

thobbinghotrod · #9 12-14-2009, 02:20 PM

Just glue it, but don't use nails, if anything use screws. Pre-drill the holes so they don't crack. Even better, pin it with dowels.

Fetusyolk · #10 12-14-2009, 02:29 PM

so what's the general consensus, woodglue or gorilla glue? gorilla glue seems better to me, but i'd like to hear from you guys(gals)

standupright · #11 12-14-2009, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fetusyolk

so what's the general consensus, woodglue or gorilla glue? gorilla glue seems better to me, but i'd like to hear from you guys(gals)

hyde glue.

Fetusyolk · #12 12-14-2009, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by standupright

hyde glue.

well.. if you'll check my signature you'll see why that's out of the question

squashedOpossum · #13 12-14-2009, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thobbinghotrod

Just glue it, but don't use nails, if anything use screws. Pre-drill the holes so they don't crack. Even better, pin it with dowels.

+1

saxmachine777 · #14 12-14-2009, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fetusyolk

i think i'm going to go with this approach first- want to try to do it on my own. it's my baby anyways, right? what are recommendations? should i put pressure on every side so it's firmly pressed into the side or should i just clamp it so that it stays together?

also- why not gorilla glue?

You're going to want to clamp it on as many sides as you can get leverage and use wood glue, not Gorilla glue. Wood to wood, standard carpenters' glue is still the best adhesive. Gorilla glue has the tendency to expand as it sets/cures, which makes it great for gluing a peg into a drilled hole, but is less than desirable when going flat/flat, wood/wood.

standupright · #15 12-14-2009, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fetusyolk

well.. if you'll check my signature you'll see why that's out of the question

you don't eat it.

Fetusyolk · #16 12-14-2009, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saxmachine777

You're going to want to clamp it on as many sides as you can get leverage and use wood glue, not Gorilla glue. Wood to wood, standard carpenters' glue is still the best adhesive. Gorilla glue has the tendency to expand as it sets/cures, which makes it great for gluing a peg into a drilled hole, but is less than desirable when going flat/flat, wood/wood.

thank you for the explaination i was looking for, thanks! where can i get some clamps that won't do damage to my bass? should i remove the othe strings/ tuning knobs while doing this? remove the neck, even?

Quote:

Originally Posted by standupright

you don't eat it.

it's not about the consumption.. but this isn't the place to talk about that- thanks for your advice though.

Govier966 · #17 12-14-2009, 02:51 PM

go for wood glue i blocked the tremolo on my strat with wood glue and some small chunks of maple. I couldnt get that out even if i wanted too.

FunkMetalBass · #18 12-14-2009, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fetusyolk

won't this just split the wood even ferther and widen the divide?

No, you're going to drive them in perpendicular to the glue joint. If you pre-drill a hole, you'll eliminate the possibility of the wood splitting and they'll act like metal dowels, absorbing a lot of the strain.

Like so (blue = joint, red = nails):

__HM__ · #19 12-14-2009, 02:58 PM

I glued my cracked Ibanez head that was in 2 pieces. plays fine now.

Handyman · #20 12-14-2009, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by standupright

hyde glue.

Hide glue is usually used in situations when you want a bond that can be un-done without damaging the wood its attached to. Its very difficult to work with, and has relatively poor longevity. However, its really what you want to use for say, the neck joint of a double bass.

I think a modern glue would be a fine choice for this application. I can't imagine why you'd ever want to un-do this particular glue joint.

Gorilla glue in particular is known for being nearly indestructible, and impossible to undo. Sounds like a fine choice for this application. Unless the original poster really wants to convert his bass back to a four stringer in the future.