sound post cracked the back

[Cristofre]

This is my first post on here, howdy!
I have been playing electric bass for 18 years. I have always wanted a cheap upright to screw around with, I found a new cremona (I know...I can already hear the comments) a while back and it is filling that purpose. The problem is that I noticed recently that there was a crack in the back of the bass where the sound post is seated against the back. I do not remember banging the bass hard enough at any point to cause this to happen. My questions are: has anyone seen this happen before? will it get worse? I cannot really fix it with cleats as the post is pushing against it on the inside. obviously I am not going to spend any money to have this repaired by someone else but I have some limited lutherie skills I might try out on it. When I bought the thing I had to do quite a bit of work to it to make it playable , but now it is actually a pretty decent bang-around bass.

[Wil Davis]

Originally Posted by Cristofre

This is my first post on here, howdy!
I have been playing electric bass for 18 years. I have always wanted a cheap upright to screw around with, I found a new cremona (I know...I can already hear the comments) a while back and it is filling that purpose. The problem is that I noticed recently that there was a crack in the back of the bass where the sound post is seated against the back. I do not remember banging the bass hard enough at any point to cause this to happen. My questions are: has anyone seen this happen before? will it get worse? I cannot really fix it with cleats as the post is pushing against it on the inside. obviously I am not going to spend any money to have this repaired by someone else but I have some limited lutherie skills I might try out on it. When I bought the thing I had to do quite a bit of work to it to make it playable , but now it is actually a pretty decent bang-around bass.

Welcome to talkbass.com - many fine people here, and lots of good information.

If you're going to to the repair yourself, you need to drop the post, do the repair, and then re-seat the post. It's difficult without seeing the bass, to say why it cracked - it might be a temperature/humidity thing; it might be that the post was incorrectly fitted.

Yes - it's likely to get worse with time - it will certainly not get better…

<…obviously I am not going to spend any money to have this repaired by someone else…>

Not obvious to me - unless your skills are adequate, you will take it to a luthier eventually, so why not have done with it and take it to an expert earlier rather than later? IMNSHO

Good Luck -

- Wil

(Oh, by the way, what does your teacher say?)

[Cristofre]

The reason I was not planning to take it to a luthier is that I live in a somewhat rural area and can picture that getting it to a luthier and having it repaired could very possibly cost more than the bass did! As for your other question, I do not have a teacher, I have been teaching myself.

I was looking closely at the bass yesterday and noticed that there is a somewhat noticeable protrubance on the front of the bass also where the post contacts it there. I just ordered a new bridge and some Corelli 370TX strings for it, so I am going to have it taken apart sometime next week. I can only guess that, like you said, the post was fitted incorrectly. The new strings are supposed to have a lower tension so that might help some, I am somwhat afraid to mess with the post as I can picture trying to stand up a wooden post in inside a big wooden box through two skinny holes would be a bit of work...

[Wil Davis]

Originally Posted by Cristofre

The reason I was not planning to take it to a luthier is that I live in a somewhat rural area and can picture that getting it to a luthier and having it repaired could very possibly cost more than the bass did! As for your other question, I do not have a teacher, I have been teaching myself.

I was looking closely at the bass yesterday and noticed that there is a somewhat noticeable protrubance on the front of the bass also where the post contacts it there. I just ordered a new bridge and some Corelli 370TX strings for it, so I am going to have it taken apart sometime next week. I can only guess that, like you said, the post was fitted incorrectly. The new strings are supposed to have a lower tension so that might help some, I am somwhat afraid to mess with the post as I can picture trying to stand up a wooden post in inside a big wooden box through two skinny holes would be a bit of work...

That's exactly why it needs to be repaired by someone who knows what they're doing - there's no way on earth that the repair can be done without dropping the sound-post. The sound-post might be incorrectly fitted, or too long. The front table might be too thin (fixable by a good luthier if the bass is considered worth fixing). You're dropping $$ on a new bridge and strings - the money might be better spent on getting a decent set-up… (this is not a criticism, just a suggestion…)

Well, good luck with whatever solution you choose -

- Wil

[hdiddy]

Not trying to be critical but, I think I would've sunk the money into fixing the bass and getting a setup rather than getting a new bridge. New bridge won't do alotta good when you still got a crack on the bass waiting to turn into a big hole. Besides, that things prob only gonna get worse.

I'd also heed all the luthier advice here and not do a soundpost setting by yourself if you have no experience. Setting it by an experienced luth prob won't cost that much. I just came home from getting mine reset and it only set me back $20. Although getting a crack repair done is whole nother ball of wax.

G'luck.

[farmerdude]

Originally Posted by Cristofre

The problem is that I noticed recently that there was a crack in the back of the bass where the sound post is seated against the back.

I am thinking this is the most serious crack you can have. I would have a pro check it out.

[mchildree]

Cristofre, where in Georgia are you? I'm in the Columbus area and can prolly help you find someone to work on your bass. There might be more luthiers here than you realize....

[Cristofre]

I'm in North Georgia in the upper corner. I was looking around on a site and found a list of a few nearby luthiers in the surrounding states. It seems like I saw that there was one or two between here and Atlanta....

[mchildree]

Try Tom Thoreson at Southeastern Strings, LTD...he's a little north of Atlanta, near Roswell. 770-973-9845

He's done work for me and I was very pleased...