My Back is Seperated from my ribs

travatron4000 · #1 04-19-2004, 10:08 PM

my back got snagged on a bass extraction from a chevy tahoe and "CRACK" the back got seperated. I'm a college student, it's a week before finals, the nearest lutiher is 2 hours a way, i have no money, no car, a concert tomorrow, and a playing proficiency friday. Here's what the luthier said to me.

Travis, wow......clamping is the tough part, the taper in the shoulders of a bass make it hard for us even to clamp and we have the right clamps.
I suggest you drive down Wed afternoon/evening, we will work on it when you get here, sleep at my house on the couch, and drive to Marquette on Thursday. For tuesday night you can tape it up, using masking tape you have moderated a bit by stilcking it on a sweater then on to the bass. Glueing your instrument could be done with any good polyvinyl acetate glue, eg: Titebond, but not too much of it. But again, clamping is the tough part.

The problem with clamping is not marking the instrument, AND being able to hold the clamps on the tapered body shape. OK, look, if this was an older, European instrument it would be built with hide glue and I'd
NEVER
NEVEER NEVER glue it with PVA......but it is a recent chinese, probably built with PVA at the factory.......

So, go find an inner tube, cut it spiral fashion into one LOOOOOONNNGGG rubber band strip about an inch wide......take you 1/2 hour with a cheap scissors from the dollar store. The inner tube is free from a tire shop.
take your strings off......wrap the band around and arond and around after applying glue into the seam and wiping off the extra......

So... should i attepmt this myself or make the overnight trip with someone else's car, yet to be determined, remember time is of the essence, and i have classes all day and a million other things to do.

Let me know what you think guys,

Travis

McBass · #2 04-20-2004, 01:12 AM

It's a tough problem. I'd recommend just waiting on the bass until you can get to it after finals or tests or whatever. Borrow a bass or maybe use your teacher's. Do the best you can and anyone who's an instrumentalist should understand your predicament. They should really let you reshcedule. If they can't, there's nothing you can do. Don't do a panic repair that could cause more damage than is already done. Not to make light of your problem but, it's just one concert and one test among several during your education. Give yourself a break and borrow a bass. Try and get an hour or two before the concert and the test to familiarize yourself with the new instrument and make sure you explain what happened to your teacher. Maybe you can even get a better bass than you normaly play. Control the things you can and do your best with what you can't.

Don Higdon · #3 04-20-2004, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McBass

Control the things you can and do your best with what you can't.

An excellent recipe for life.

arnoldschnitzer · #4 04-21-2004, 07:57 AM

Sorry, it is never acceptable to use PVA glue in seams. It's too strong, and if there is old glue left in the seam, it will not really work. Also, PVA dries to a spongy consistency which is not good for sound. Only hide or fish glue should be used, regardless of the value of the bass.