Double Bass Crack

[Menacewarf]

I have a crack developing between the neck and fingerboard. The fingerboard can wiggle a bit off the neck. The bass is cheap, was bought used and has asiatic origins.

I don't want to spend on a fixing such a cheap bass. Am I wrong in wanting to just squirt some glue in it and clamp it so I can keep playing?



Thanks!

 

[Ed Fuqua]

It doesn't sound like a crack, it just sounds like the fingerboard is coming unglued. It's up to you, dude, since you're the one that has money tied up in a potentially bass shaped object. But it may be worthwhile to take it to a luthier and find out if the fingerboard is coming unglued because the original job was badly done or it's becoming unglued because the board is warping.

 

[Silversorcerer]

If you do choose to "just squirt some glue in there" choose the glue carefully. If you check the recent "neck snapped" thread you will see that using the wrong glue might be worse than having a loose fingerboard. Also, clamping is very important when gluing. How much experience do you have successfully repairing things that have come unglued?

I used to be a proponent of DIY, but more lately, reading some recent repair questions;- and having rescued a few nice guitars from dastardly gluing mistakes, I'm adopting a new policy. If you don't know what to do, take it to a person who repairs instruments professionally. It sounds like all it might need is re-gluing. While that sounds simple, you certainly don't want to add "removing some nearly impenetrable inappropriate adhesive mess" to the repair list.

 

[toman]

If the board is coming unglued from the neck, your neck is in danger, too. The neck alone can't stand up the the tension without the fingerboard solidly afixed. Loosen the strings and go to a luther, it shouldn't cost much to have the board re-glued.