Firewood?

[Bass.]

This is a bass that was given to me from my school. So it was a free bass and I'm curious how much (roughly) it might be to get this baby back to playing. I lent it to a "friend" and he leaned it against the couch... standing up... and as you can guess it fell.

I'm really not sure even what to do.. when I saw it all I thought was... this bad boy is firewood

any input would be helpful






This crack goes straight through the top wood


back is almost three inches from the sides




The impact that did the deed

[moles]

Speaking not as a luthier, but as a fellow (concerned) bass player...

Are those strings still up to pitch? I'd detune them, pronto - the tension would be contributing to the separation of the ribs from the back. I'd be willing to bet, with the strings off, it's gonna look a whole lot worse.

Still gonna need a trip to a luthier, though

Sorry 'bout the bass, man.

[Rocky]

Call Lisa Gass at the L.A. Bass Works. Shes great at what she does,shes very honest, and she is nice .

http://www.losangelesbassworks.com/aboutus.html

[bejoyous]

Well, it looks like it has a carved top at least but it hasn't been taken care of.

The back was held on by finishing nails which is probably why it burst open.

Take it to a luthier for a more thorough assessment.

[uprightben]

Do you have the missing piece of ribs? That would be helpful for the luthier. If you are in no hurry, there's a good chance the repair cost will be less than the value of the bass, the damage in the photo is actually not that bad, of course there's probably a few more issues that were there before the accident. +1 on recommending Lisa Gass, I rented a bass from her a while ago and was very impressed by her.

[RCWilliams]

every thing can be repaired, the question is what can you buy for the cost of the repair? find out as much as you can about what you have and determine its value if un-mashed.

if the cost of repair by a competent luthier, decide if you want to learn repair yourself, unless someone will give you enough as a trade to make a purchase on another bass feasible.

[robobass]

Bassing (sic) my analysis mainly on the fact that the bass has a seemingly professionally fitted bridge, and a real tailpiece cable - not just a coathanger, I would say that at some time in the recent past someone cared enough about the instrument to take it to a luthier and spend a few hundred. That's a plus, but then again you've got those nails in the back. Around here that ranks about even with child porn in approval ratings. Some real butcher did do some work on this bass at some point. You don't know what else he might have done. I always hate to chime in on "take it to a luthier", just like Ann Landers always saying "get counselling" but here there is no real choice. From the photos I would say it definitely looks worth repairing, but only a pro inspection will tell.

[Bass.]

allright allright you've convinced me!

A trip to Lisa is definitely going to be worth it!

I think she's going on vacation but as soon as she gets back in I'll drop by her shop

[salcott]

Your friend needs to be getting his checkbook out.

[Rocky]

Didn't I see the bass on CL this weekend for sale?

[j.stemmler]

Originally Posted by salcott

Your friend needs to be getting his checkbook out.

my thoughts exactly!

[walterw]

nothing at all to do with double basses, but the worst basket case guitars and basses that i get to fix are usually presented with a story that begins,

Originally Posted by Bass.

I lent it to a "friend" and ...