Looking for wild guess on repair cost

[norcalguy]

Hi,

I have an old Kay double bass. It's probably about 60 years old.

It was in good shape until some dumbass kids took it out of its case and decided to mount it, as a decoration, hanging from the ceiling, with a rope around the end of the neck and another rope attached to the endpin.

Not long after being rescued from that situation, the neck started to come loose from the body. In looking at it, it appears that the glue just gave out, probably from the stress of the way it was hung. From what I can see, the neck doesn't appear to be warped, just loose where it attaches to the body.

I happened to stop in a shopping center with a little luthier shop in Sacramento (where I live) and decided to inquire for a rough idea of the cost to repair it. The guy seemed a little bit sketchy (as in, would charge whatever the traffic would bear) and I was asking for a wild ballpark on the price based on what I'd told him and he didn't want to give one, so finally I said "Well, are we talking $50? $100? $500? More? To which he responded "Oh, well, it could easily be $500 to $750.

I'm trying to get a feel for if that price is remotely in the ballpark, and, separately, what the value of the bass, in good shape, might be, in order to determine what to do.

Any help appreciated.

[Jim Ingraham]

Just had a neck reset done on my 60 yr old Epiphone. He had to add some new shims but basically the pocket was in decent shape. While the neck was off he added a set of adjusters to the bridge. Installed a new set of Helicores and polished it up. Cost me about 325.00

[powerbass]

Setting the neck may include cleaning out old glue and repairing a crack or 2, re glueing the neck back in. Then you will need a complete set up - new strings, new bridge fit/adjusted, planing/dressing the fingerboard, new string nut cut and fit, resetting the sound post, plus a little refinishing added in. To me this could add up to a fair amount - 8-16hrs +/- at average shop rate $50.00? per hour. Add on the cost of new strings and bridge, that's another $200-$300 depending on the quality you choose. Luthier's, carpenters etc. never like to quote a job they haven't seen. What looks like a simple repair to a lay person may be a total disaster to a pro.

[Eric Hochberg]

Originally Posted by powerbass

Setting the neck may include cleaning out old glue and repairing a crack or 2, re glueing the neck back in. Then you will need a complete set up - new strings, new bridge fit/adjusted, planing/dressing the fingerboard, new string nut cut and fit, resetting the sound post, plus a little refinishing added in. To me this could add up to a fair amount - 8-16hrs +/- at average shop rate $50.00? per hour. Add on the cost of new strings and bridge, that's another $200-$300 depending on the quality you choose. Luthier's, carpenters etc. never like to quote a job they haven't seen. What looks like a simple repair to a lay person may be a total disaster to a pro.

Exactly, and you don't know what else is wrong with it at this point. Nice condition Kays are getting 2-3k, AFAIK. You need to take it to a good bass luthier.

[uprightben]

Kay neck joints were designed for production, not to stand the test of time. Repairing one usually involves being suprised by a not so good older repair that has to be undone before a proper repair can be executed. Only a fool would give a turnkey quote for one of those. It sounds like your guy in the mall is guilty of bad comunication for not explaining why a hard quote is impossible in this situation, and you will obviously pay some of his overhead for his mall rent. Niether of those things speak to his ability or integrety as a luthier. For that I would get refrences.

[Square Bear]

Originally Posted by norcalguy

Hi,

I have an old Kay double bass. It's probably about 60 years old.

It was in good shape until some dumbass kids took it out of its case and decided to mount it, as a decoration, hanging from the ceiling, with a rope around the end of the neck and another rope attached to the endpin.

Not long after being rescued from that situation, the neck started to come loose from the body. In looking at it, it appears that the glue just gave out, probably from the stress of the way it was hung. From what I can see, the neck doesn't appear to be warped, just loose where it attaches to the body.

I happened to stop in a shopping center with a little luthier shop in Sacramento (where I live) and decided to inquire for a rough idea of the cost to repair it. The guy seemed a little bit sketchy (as in, would charge whatever the traffic would bear) and I was asking for a wild ballpark on the price based on what I'd told him and he didn't want to give one, so finally I said "Well, are we talking $50? $100? $500? More? To which he responded "Oh, well, it could easily be $500 to $750.

I'm trying to get a feel for if that price is remotely in the ballpark, and, separately, what the value of the bass, in good shape, might be, in order to determine what to do.

Any help appreciated.

If you are in Sacramento, I can vouch for Jeff Sahs. Maybe that is who you went to, there aren't too many luthiers in town there. He's a fair and honest guy, though he gets inundated with school instrument repairs around this time of year and can be a bit slow. My experience is that he is less slow and very fair if you show up with a 6 pack of porter! If you want his number, send me a PM.

[bassics1975]

One of my first basses was a Kay. One real problem with the Kay was the neck socket becoming dry and the glue failure (mine was no different). A half-decent luthier should not charge a bundle to reset the neck. When I had decided to trade-up from the Kay, I wasn't aware of just how valuable they could be and let it go for a couple of hundred bucks at the time. They are a real piece of Americana and very collectible so it may be worth the expense.

[Big B.]

If you only broke the glue joint and no wood came loose 300$ or so sounds about right. 500$ to 750$ is too high in my book.

[Jake deVilliers]

Originally Posted by Big B.

If you only broke the glue joint and no wood came loose 300$ or so sounds about right. 500$ to 750$ is too high in my book.

Oh sure. If the neck is moving in the mortise, the joint will need to be refitted - you can't ask the glue to fill the gaps. If I tell the customer "$300.00" and there is some repair/re-gluing of the block involved, not to mention re-shimming a French dovetail and the price reaches $750.00, he'll feel misled.
Then he'll post here about how I led him down the garden path!

The response from the luthier was the right response - he said it COULD be $500.00 to $750.00, which is the truth.

Bass repair isn't like auto repair - no two instruments present the same challenges and diagnosis is very difficult.

[MR PC]

Originally Posted by norcalguy

Hi,
I'm trying to get a feel for if that price is remotely in the ballpark, and, separately, what the value of the bass, in good shape, might be, in order to determine what to do.

Any help appreciated.

The price is in the ballpark. It doesn't sound like you showed the bass to the repairman. You need to bring your instrument to the luthier if you want a serious discussion about the repair.

Don't take it too some yo-yo with his fix it shop parked next to a bar.

Best Music Repair in Oakland, Kamimoto Strings in San Jose, or even Ifshin Strings in El Cerrito. Those are good places.

Pre-War Kay basses have been known to sell for a good price. Depends, not always, like yorself getting a good deal on the bass. Needing a neck set devalues them more than solid wood basses with a generally higher resale value.

[fdeck]

My old Kay had a loose neck, and it turned out that the neck block was cracked. That could add to the cost of a repair.