Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Any ideas on how to fix this damage?
- Thread starter Celtamongstmen
- Start date
Looks and feels like wood after you dig a little bit into it. I'm thinking the previous owner tried to stain it just to make it blend a bit. Also no funky smell(Yeah, I shoved my nose against it and took a whiff).
Attachments
Last edited:
Okay, one more random thought / observation:
Looks like it was damaged, back-filled w/ putty, and painted. The lower bout appears to be a shade of taupe which doesn't jive.
Riis
Looks like it was damaged, back-filled w/ putty, and painted. The lower bout appears to be a shade of taupe which doesn't jive.
Riis
It's all wood underneath. Gently sanded the stained parts away, as shown in the picture attached. Just to get it prepped for the repair job. Didn't find any puddy, apoxy, or whatever else. Just plain ol' wood.
Okay, well this has morphed from a "kill the seller" (my stance) to full-blown restoration...let it be a challenge and do post step-by-step pics as things progress. Don't hesitate to tap-in to some of the more experienced folks here on the forum.
Riis
Hd and lowes used to sell a wood filler that hardened. It may have been epoxy based. That's what i would use to build that up to shape back down.
Answering both your posts here.
1. No, all the wood was hard enough. As stated before, pretty sure it was just some sort of rodent or perhaps small dog that chewed on it, then the owner put some wood stain on it to try and blend the colours. That's my best hypothesis, anyway. I bought it from a store, not an individual, so I'm afraid I can't flesh out the actual story behind the damage.
2. I brought my bass in to work today to have my buddy take a look at it, and he also suggested using wood filler and all that. So that's the plan. I'll let him do the work, as he's actually pretty experienced at this kind of stuff. He's been a handyman since his teens(he's 32 now), since his father was a carpenter at one point, then had his own landscape company and stuff.
There's a lot of signs of neglect and age on this bass that some decent TLC will fix up right quick and she'll be a happy bass all over again.
I suppose this means the question has found an answer and is now case closed. I can post some pictures of the work if anyone actually wants me to.
Either way, thank you everyone for the replies and all that. Glad to know my bass is made of wood and not cake or something. Hah
Last edited:
Wood filler? Really? The finish carpenter I have been using for many years on projects around the house would shudder at that idea. He would glue small wood blocks of matching wood/grain/etc. in those areas, then reshape them to match the contours of the body.
Any kind of wood filler will look like an amateur patch job. Even patching and reshaping an additional piece of wood can be difficult due to the difficulty of grain matching and wood color differences. If the damage wasn't too deep, and as you have sanded out the damaged area, just reshape slightly and fair the surrounding area with scrapers so the curves blend in and call it a day. Then you need to match and blend the finish.
Entrusting this sort of work to a handyman or carpenter, or even a cabinet maker is folly; this is highly specialized work that should only be entrusted to a trained luthier if you want an acceptable job of it. However, the bass probably isn't worth putting much money into it.
Entrusting this sort of work to a handyman or carpenter, or even a cabinet maker is folly; this is highly specialized work that should only be entrusted to a trained luthier if you want an acceptable job of it. However, the bass probably isn't worth putting much money into it.
I would just gently re-contour the edge of the bass to disguise the damaged area instead of having chunks of putty falling out over time.
were it mine i'd grain match as best as i could some mahogany patches. glue, blend and stain/finish to match. it'll never look quite right but it wouldn't be a raw wood wound or cakey filler.
fwiw, the finish on those seems to literally fall off after a while. soon it'll all look broken in.
fwiw, the finish on those seems to literally fall off after a while. soon it'll all look broken in.
Look at that damage compared to the knobs. That is a very small damage area. That could have happened just sitting id down harshly on concrete/macadam or another hard rough surface a couple times. I agree with @bolophonic, re-contour and refinish that area. Done.
Just grab a melon-baller and replicate the damage throughout, paint it white and it may look something like this:
I agree with a lot of the previous comments to leave it as is. The Japanese have a term "kintsugi" which means to see the beauty in a damaged or broken item, the idea being that the imperfection is part of the history of the object. The damaged area is relatively small and, to me, would not deter from the enjoyment I would get from the instrument.
Danger: Thin Ice!
That goes to their Shinto religion, wherein they believe everything has a spirit. We don't, generally speaking, have those beliefs.
Last edited:
