Taking a bass apart literally

bassedsouth · #1 09-14-2009, 06:42 AM

I am interested in how you luthiers actually take an instrument apart for example when a bass needs to be totally rebuilt ?

I have heard of a few ways of doing it , some sound weird to me i.e. someone told me that they force wet cotton wool in between joints , others say that they use a heated blade that is continuously dipped into a mixture of water and industrial alcohol solution.

Is there a standard way of doing this ?

**Matthew Tucker** · #2 09-14-2009, 07:46 AM

There's not one answer. If the instrument is glued with hide glue you use a bunch of tricks to soften the glue, could be heat, wet, heat + wet, steam, alcohol, sharp knife, blunt knife, flat knife, wedge-shaped knife, wet cotton, sponge, sunlight, etc. Depends on the bass.

If the instrument is glued with anything other than hide glue you have to bring other things into the arsenal.