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Double Bass Alignment Issues

#41
My cello has a crooked neck, so the bridge had to be slid over by a few mm towards the bass side, and the bridge foot was not sitting over the bass bar. There was also a growing crack nearby. I ended up fitting a new bridge with one leg shorter than the other, and it did the trick. The cello isn't worth the cost of having the neck reset.
 
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#42
Cool bass! My '54 Kay has a similar but less pronounced quirk. It had a wonky neck repair when I first got it and after re-gluing the joint, I felt that it would be strong enough to gig on. Like your luthier is advising, I cut a new bridge for it that compensated a bit for the minor angle discrepancy and then strung 'er up. I've put a couple hundred rough bar gigs on it since then and it seems to be holding up well.
 
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#43
I'd bet that the source of the problem was the replacement Englehardt neck. Many of those that I used to see sold as "replacements" were factory rejects from the production line.

A little tip for anyone who has to "cheat" their bridge position to compensate for misalignment:

-take a cake of bow rosin and rub it on the bottom of the bridge feet. It will me much more sticky and not slide around into a different position...I also use them for some of the old machines in my workshop. I have a giant Oliver patternmaker's lathe from 1929 that uses a big wide belt from the motor that used to slip off. I rubbed a bit of rosin on the inside of the belt while it was running and it has worked flawlessly for about four months of regular use!
 
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