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Double Bass Bohemian Wreck

#2
I was talking to the guy and almost bought it, but chickened out. A blockless wonder with a broken-out neck, missing button and the worst soundpost repair crack repair I've ever seen was a little bit more than I was willing to take on. A luthier from the area is considering it.
 
#7
I took a look at this bass in person the weekend before last. The photo's don't quite show how bad the problems are. The sound post crack is uglier than the pics show, and there is warping the length of the crack. It looked like it may have been strung up without a sound post. It looked like the whole area around the crack would have to be removed and new spruce grafted and carved as a replacement. The treble side upper rib is toast and will have to be replaced. The lower treble side rib has a strange outside brace. The whole bass was painted white (maybe a primer) and then brown; most of the paint was scraped off by the current owner. In various places I saw Pva glue, nails, what may have been some kind of resin (epoxy) and what looked like a bit of bondo near what was once the neck joint. Every part of the body seemed very thin... The top was carved thin and the ribs and back were also the thin. It seemed very brittle. The button area of the back is badly snapped and like KFS said it is a blockless wonder. So a block would have to be fitted and installed and the neck itself modded to allow for a proper mortise and tenon. The fingerboard was junk and needs to be replaced and the tuners have hatpegs which have had the ends cut or carved off. Oh and there was a very strange little plate of metal somehow affixed to the top near the treble side f hole. There was just too much work to be done. It was worth the 45 minute drive to check it out, just for the piece of mind knowing I didn't let some diamond in the rough slip by.
 
#8
Rich,

Thanks for the really clear description: I had wondered what the white stuff was, and you've confirmed the worst suspicions.

It would probably be quicker to build a bass from scratch than to try and repair this once-upon-a-time bass!

Cheers,

Paul (Eh_train)
 

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