Double Bass Bass Buggy buggy?

[bengreen]

I'm a huge Bass Buggy fan, happily endorsing it whenever the subject of wheels arises, but may have just come up with a caveat.

Some folks have argued which is worse, conventional wheels stressing the end block or carriage type wheels stressing ribs and edging?

My bass has been kind of erratic sounding for a while. I suspected an open seam but hadn't found it. Last night, I was bagging it up so I could get an early start traveling to work this morning and decided to take one last look. Found a 12" opening between top and rib right where the buggy sat plus two cracks in the edging which, if left much longer, would have propagated to the top.

I mostly work with bows, not instruments (except my own), so no glue pot constantly simmering, ready to go. Luckily found a chunk I'd stuck in the freezer which was still good so got it all clamped up by 2am!

So, buggy induced? Total coincidence?

I use the cushion all the time as well as the Mooradian bag. But I've always left it attached in the car, the bass lying on its back. I'm thinking I probably on many occasions have closed the rear hatch when the bass wasn't pushed quite far enough for the upper wheel to complety be clear of the sloped opening. This morning, before closing, I unhooked the wheel from the endpin and moved it out of contact with the bass, and think I'll do that from now on.

Anyone else have similar issues?

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

I'm a huge Bass Buggy fan, happily endorsing it whenever the subject of wheels arises, but may have just come up with a caveat.

Some folks have argued which is worse, conventional wheels stressing the end block or carriage type wheels stressing ribs and edging?

My bass has been kind of erratic sounding for a while. I suspected an open seam but hadn't found it. Last night, I was bagging it up so I could get an early start traveling to work this morning and decided to take one last look. Found a 12" opening between top and rib right where the buggy sat plus two cracks in the edging which, if left much longer, would have propagated to the top.

I mostly work with bows, not instruments (except my own), so no glue pot constantly simmering, ready to go. Luckily found a chunk I'd stuck in the freezer which was still good so got it all clamped up by 2am!

So, buggy induced? Total coincidence?

I use the cushion all the time as well as the Mooradian bag. But I've always left it attached in the car, the bass lying on its back. I'm thinking I probably on many occasions have closed the rear hatch when the bass wasn't pushed quite far enough for the upper wheel to complety be clear of the sloped opening. This morning, before closing, I unhooked the wheel from the endpin and moved it out of contact with the bass, and think I'll do that from now on.

Anyone else have similar issues?

I once was careless loading my bass into the car and dropped it onto the upper rib, punching the ball securing the buggie through the rib.
I no longer use the ball, hooking the bungee around the plastic hook.

Your issue could be stress from the rear hatch. Hard to tell.
I can’t see a scenario where the buggie could cause any damage to the lower rib or plates in normal use. I have bent two axles and never hurt my bass down there.

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

In case anyone cares. Rick Williams, the inventor and maker of the Bass Buggie is not associated with KC Strings. KC Strings is a dealer for his products.

 

[bengreen]

Thanks for the reply.

"ball...through the rib"... that's one I wouldn't have seen coming. How extensive was the repair?

Yeah, I have no idea if my top/rib separation had anything to do with the buggy. But thought I should record it in case it comes up again.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

It might be possible because (!) you used the cushion/bag that there was a top/rib separation.
I can imagine that a hard bump presses more against the rib than the edges of the top and back because of the larger area (the small edges of top and rib can sink easier into the cushion than a large area) and that might (!) press enough to separate the rib from top and/or back, but on the other hand the hard bump gets softened by the cushion/bag so it is no longer a really hard bump. So, as long as you try to avoid hard bumps, you should be safe. But if you put the bass with the buggy into a car and do it in a way that the buggy may get bumped by the car often that can accelerate and improve probability for such an incident.

Anyway, if this was caused by the buggie, it shouldn't happen often, at least from now on when you can try t avoid potentially harmful situations.

And thanks for your report, I haven't thought about that earlier.

 

[Don Hergert]

I'm a constant user of the Bass Buggy, but my bass is welded so it probably would never come apart at the "ribs"...

But from my general instrument repair experience, I would say that it sounds logical that with a traditional wooden bass, the added gravitational and bouncing pressure of the weight of the whole bass on the cushion against the rib glue joints could cause a release at the joints, especially if there's already a weakness there. The arch of the ribs would try to protect against that, but I could still see it happening in a weak area with enough stress.

But it seems really odd that there isn't already a trail of basses that have documented this problem.

Questions: (1) Is or was your end block loose? (2) Is this an older bass or a modern one?

A big congratulations on the successful repair in such a short time!!!

 

[bengreen]

Interesting you both hit on my weakest point when I've tried to solve physics problems: identifying the forces in real life situations. It would never have occured to me that extra cushioning would transfer more of the weight and jolts to the ribs.

So this makes a lever between ribs and plates?

I'll check endblock when I get home in a
few days. Doubt it's loose. Open seam stopped short of it.

Old/new? In between: Pollmann 5-string from mid 1970's. Has the carved external trim/lining not sure if they do anymore.