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Double Bass Advice on gluing neck to body

#21
Hey I'd replace that steel toolrest with a small timber block. Steel's gonna twang at certain frequencies.

hey, you could just leave the adjuster bolt in there, with its adjusting rod, with a felt collar in the endpin hole.. You'd have a neck-connected endpin! Talk about letting the body vibrate freely! Now THERE's an idea. :) Quick, let's patent it ...
 
#22
Matthew Tucker said:
Hey I'd replace that steel toolrest with a small timber block. Steel's gonna twang at certain frequencies.

hey, you could just leave the adjuster bolt in there, with its adjusting rod, with a felt collar in the endpin hole.. You'd have a neck-connected endpin! Talk about letting the body vibrate freely! Now THERE's an idea. :) Quick, let's patent it ...
Click to expand...
I will think about that while I still have it open, but I could always unscrew the metal thing through the tailblock if it twangs.
 
#24
Sorry, I am not a luthier, but I am just intrigued about this. You could embed a magnet behind the tip of the adjusting rod, and it would stay put without the bracket. Little "neo" magnets are cheap and readily available.

My first spectrometer design had a critical adjustment that required the technician to be a contortionist, and we solved it by ordering custom hex drivers that are two feet long.
 
#26
+1. Also Ken, check that you can get enough torque with your wooden extension rod. I find that the hex bolt does need a firm 1/4 turn with an allen key a couple of times after the neck is first in place and the bass played and lifted a few times. You wooden wanna have to do that from the inside, as you'd have to remove the endpin each time. Maybe a second hole in the endblock is called for? You know you can get steel 1/4" hex rod in long lengths.
 
#30
Okay here's the deal guys...all of these schemes make sense and keep the suggestions coming... believe me I have thought much more than I should have about this one...in fact if I were a physicist I could have probably solved some big theory by now...or not. In practicality it was pretty easy going.

Matthew, I have a custom endpin with a 3/4 inch diameter rod that is removable, made from solid aluminum. The hole is plenty big to get the dowel rod through with some wiggle room.

As for torque, the rod with the hex thing embedded in its end might not be able to stay rigid enough, but in my mock up it seems fine.

KD hardware is a good idea, I have used it for my guitars neck joints. For this one I plan to use a threaded insert into the end grain of the neck butt.

I am probably going to make a wooden cradle for the wrench as suggested, seems more elegant... thanks.
 
#32
forester said:
avail. in brass/stainless steel,metric or stand. i suggest a fastener with a pilot on it..
(funnel/keyhole application)
Click to expand...
I have a brass one. I will look for a fastener with a pilot, good idea, never thought about that, but makes it easier to start, right?

When I put the rod in and inserted the hex into the fastener, the hex stuck and was not able to pull away easily. I filed the hex so the 8 ends were beveled and it came out easier. Any ideas here? I guess it wasn't a straight on fit for the dowel.
 
#34
Jake deVilliers said:
Ken, you should definitely use copper anti-seize on the insert. I would also suggest that you use steel for both insert and bolt so as to prevent galvanic galling, where the dissimilar metals bond to each other. :(
Click to expand...

Jake,
I will definitely do both, thanks.

I replaced the metal twanger with a wooden guider. Turns out the twanger had quite a resonance!
 
#35
quite a resonance!
Click to expand...
:):):)

Ken, I'd be really nervous about a shortish threaded insert into endgrain. My bolt-on system runs right through the block into a threaded insert at the bottom of the block. Impossible to pull out unless the threads strip (unlikely) or the insert gets pulled THROUGH the entire block. Impossible. For this the price to pay is a 10mm hole in th neck heel and a decorative insert.
if you must use insert into endgrain, try to find a really long one that goes almost through the neck.

I have no brass/hardened steel galvanic issues. That wouldn't be a problem unless the assembly is prone to being wet with brine, sweat or other conductive liquid. Unlikely at the bottom of the block!
 
#38
You guys are nuttier than me :hmm:

I found these http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=364

And I was also thinking about the heel area. How did you handle yours Matthew? Did you just leave the thickness of the back where the plate and neck come together? Or did you split the neck heel and leave some connected to the back?

I have seen one very old one with a brass thingy at the end that holds it in. I will look for a link.
 
#39
I just thought of a simple solution after looking at some the the detachable necks available. Upton has one and the French luthier Auray or something like that. Both use a single threaded post that goes parallel to the end of the neck butt. With an inch, or so, of neck connected to the plate back, the rest of the neck heel slides strait forward out of the mortise. The rod can either go to the front where there is a retaining bolt under the fingerboard or through the back where there is a fancier bolt.

I am just going to use metal pit to prevent the neck from raising up at the back end and my threaded insert to hold it in. That way the treaded insert will be more for stability than holding all the pressure.

Sorry for hijacking the thread.
 
#40
Exactly as you see in this picture

3061318150_43733f46c0.jpg


the finished result is like this:

1384932347_37247d82bb.jpg


The idea of shortening the neck heel seems un-necessary and extra work.

I suppose you could just take a slice off the well-fit heel and glue it in place. But it doesn't seem necessary to me to add ANOTHER glue line.
 

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