When playing the thumb-position my thumb is going to hurt within ten minutes. The action is set as low as possible: Roughly 6,5 mm. at the twelfth position for the G string.
Then thanks to TB I saw the tailpiece on
http://www.marvinusa.com.
This would bring more flexibility to the strings. And add some sustain also. So I'll give it a try.
Because the strings need be pulled off it's a nice oppurtunity to fill up some cracks also. Eh, trying that is:
Ready to operate:
The biggest crack before:
The original tailpiece:
And a small crack:
Warming up a bit of glue:
The first attempt is a bit rough. Probably the glue is too thick:
So reading the bass repair book I find out the glue needs to be warmed about an hour and mix it with a bit of water to become fluïd enough.
The next attempts are doing better:
Putting the new tailpiece and the strings on again after a days drying:
Putting the adhesive buffer underneath:
The other one on it and mounting the pu again:
One of the cracks is teared open again by the tension of the strings. Perhaps it needed longer drying? Too old glue? Too much water?
It's not a big deal. According to my luthier these cracks don't need immediate fixing. Perhaps I'll try it next year one more time.
It's right what Marvin says: The strings feel more flexible. The sound opens up. And unexpected: It's much easyer to get a good tone when bowing!
Operation succeeded.
