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Double Bass Bumpers

#21
They work well but the peel and eat adhesive they come with is not very aggressive as the OP found out. Replace it with banner tape. Any graphics shop that sells large vinyl banners, trade show displays and "window shade" retractable banners will likely give you a foot or so of it. It also helps to pre-flex the sliders until they stay at roughly the curve you want. Make sure the area you want to apply the sliders to is perfectly clean and oil free. I use this method and they have never moved.

If you are going to cut your own, you will need some rough pieces of ebony and some thick strips of rawhide. Also, buy a "profile gauge" Google that term in the Images search window to see what one looks like. It's like a super fine toothed double sided comb. You press one side of the comb onto the area you want to see the curvature for and the outside of the gauge will show you the exact curve of the inside of your bumper. A belt sander locked into a bench vise will help you shape the ebony pieces. Try not to re-shape your finger tips or knuckles! Top these perfectly shaped ebony bases off with the leather cut to size.

Check out the Upton website. You can see pretty good images of what they need to look like. I'm going to do this some day, but for now my furniture sliders work fine and my arco technique sucks... Priorities!
 
#23
I made mine from an old ceiling fan blade.

I cut four half inch wide strips. I found the areas where the bass touches the ground and marked it off with a pencil. I placed the strips there and using a pencil flat against the bout , drew the curve of the bout on the strip. I used a belt sander to shape the strips inside and out. I scraped away the finish where the bumpers go then used epoxy to glue them in place.

When people ask what those black strips are, I say they are magnets so I can stick the bass to my fridge to hold up notes!

The fan belt idea or the Gollihur product seems a lot easier though. If only I knew then....
 
#26
BPeder said:
A belt sander locked into a bench vise will help you shape the ebony pieces. Try not to re-shape your finger tips or knuckles!
Click to expand...
:eek:

Let me be the first to point out how dangerous this is!!! I much prefer a belt/disc sander that is mounted to a base. One false slip with the vised sander and off to the emergency room. Very bad idea... IMO.

If you are looking for a cheap way to shape wood, then you should use a microplane with a curved surface. You can find one at woodcraft or a similar store for around $10. It is very agressive and will remove wood very quickly. Finish up with some sandpaper or files and there you are. Much safer.

FYI,
Brian
 
#27
jstiel said:
Is that because of a difference between the width of the bumpers and the lining?
Click to expand...

Partially, yeah. Look at the pitcher there on Bob's great site. (All hail, by the way, as usual). On that bass with no external linings, the bumpers are tucked down neat and stable with the help of the top and back plates allowing stability. With outer linings the bumpers are not as stable because they further out with more surface/edges exposed to bumping and rocking around when you lay the bass down and pick it up. Also, IME, that adhesive dries out in climates like here in Colorado. The bumpers fall off taking varnish with them.
And one more, once, anybody that uses anything but hide glue for any glue purposes anywhere near a seam is nutz, (IMO).
And, no, don't install the bumpers on the playing side of the bass, for obvious reasons. (I hope, IMO, IME).
 
#31
Alcohol works for me... er, for the cleaning up before gluing on of my leather bumpers. I have been laminating belt leather as thick as needed (usually two layers, sometimes three, sometimes uneven thicknesses to straighten out wobbly basses for solid laying down) and gluing them on with contact cement for about 15 years now. Went with water-based contact cement for a few years, but found they were starting to pop off here and there and the glue didn't leave the varnish underneath any prettier than the solvent type cement, so back to Lepage's for me.

I've encountered basses from one German manufacturer where the varnish is dissolved by contact cement, and that meant for those two basses from that maker that I had to pre-strip the varnish where the bumpers were going. Sounds nasty, sure, but these are student grade basses, sub-$3000, and no one's cryin' the blues over a bit of hidden varnish damage on these otherwise high gloss orange beasts. Besides which, a bass should always have bumpers on it, period. Varnish damage underneath a decently scaled set of bumpers (mine are typically half an inch or so wide, about three inches long or less and look very tasteful) is not really significant, as it'll always be covered. Still, I have yet to see any permanent harm done to an oil or a good spirit varnish by sticking on this sort of bumpers. If they need to come off for a repair, they just peel off with some careful prying. And one doesn't, of course, saturate the area in alcohol and give it a scrub! It's a matter of a light, quick wipe to clean off any finger oils or other contaminants, not lingering enough to soften varnish.

Leather soaks up bumps better than wooden bumpers. I've seen quite a few basses with seams opened right alongside ebony or maple bumpers, thanks to the increased localization of impact when setting the bass down awkwardly. Rubber bumpers work... but are a bit sticky on some floors and could result in the bass tipping over when kicked instead of spinning a bit. May or may not make a difference in damage owing to blind fellow musicians or stage hands, but I prefer the idea of it sliding a bit on a shellacked leather bumper. I brush on a dilute orange shellac, 4 or 5 coats with sanding every second coat, until the leather resembles polished wood. Then it's time for gluing them in place. I also ramp the ends quite gradually so they don't catch on bass bag zippers.
 
#32
If your bass spends any time in a bag or trunk, just wait to see if the chemicals in those auto belts start to interact with the finish on your instrument over time. It might get ugly.

Maybe they will, or maybe they won't.....but time will tell.
 
#33
Well to be fair, the tanning agents in most prepared leathers can be somewhat dangerous to finishes as well. Sulphur compounds being especially nasty. But the rate of off-gassing from leather or from a fan belt isn't likely to be faster than an average bass bag can disperse. I'd be a bit concerned about this in a trunk, especially those which have inflatable bladders pressing snugly against the body and an O-ring around the whole lip to make it waterproof. But then again, leaving any instrument for prolonged periods without air circulation is dangerous to the sound and even to the structure, unless the interior climate is maintained by sophisticated, museum-grade control systems. Never heard of a case like that yet but it may exist.
 
#34
I look after my basses very well but I've never considered bumpers, mainly for the reasons/problems outlined here but also for the aesthetics. I always take a small piece of carpet to the gig so I can lay the bass down on its side without getting damaged.

Sorry if that derails the topic.
 
#35
GerardSamija said:
Well to be fair, the tanning agents in most prepared leathers can be somewhat dangerous to finishes as well. Sulphur compounds being especially nasty. But the rate of off-gassing from leather or from a fan belt isn't likely to be faster than an average bass bag can disperse. I'd be a bit concerned about this in a trunk, especially those which have inflatable bladders pressing snugly against the body and an O-ring around the whole lip to make it waterproof. But then again, leaving any instrument for prolonged periods without air circulation is dangerous to the sound and even to the structure, unless the interior climate is maintained by sophisticated, museum-grade control systems. Never heard of a case like that yet but it may exist.
Click to expand...

Only time will tell......

I like the bring your own carpet method, myself.
 
#36
Roger Davis said:
I look after my basses very well but I've never considered bumpers, mainly for the reasons/problems outlined here but also for the aesthetics. I always take a small piece of carpet to the gig so I can lay the bass down on its side without getting damaged.

Sorry if that derails the topic.
Click to expand...

I like that idea. It can be rolled up and will not take up much room. I have been wondering which way to go on this subject. For now, I'll go cut a piece of carpet off some I have stashed and use it until I can clearly decide what to do.
 
#38
Roger Davis said:
I always take a small piece of carpet to the gig so I can lay the bass down on its side without getting damaged.

Sorry if that derails the topic.
Click to expand...
I did this for about 30 years. It just got to be a pain in the neck to carry around with all the other crap. Also, there were places where I couldn't use it. So I went to leather bumpers, custom sized and placed by Arnold. I think they look good. I'm fortunate to finally own instruments that merit that kind of care.
 

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