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Double Bass Fixing a hole in plywood / laminate rib

mindwell

mindwell

Aug 17, 2006
1,918
3,794
Wichita, KS
www.youtube.com
#1
I've got this Engelhardt EM-1 listed in the classified, and I had a possible buyer who was concerned that this hole in the ribs on the lower bout would be expensive to fix. As near I can tell, it's been stable for 10+ years, but his reservations got me to thinking. So I shined a light into the body and, lo and behold, saw the backside of the crack (see pictures).

So, I wonder whether this would absolutely *need* a repair. If it does, am I looking at easy job that's relatively cheap, or one in which the top would have to be removed for a 100% fix?

And yeah, I take this as a sign that when I *do* move up, it should be to a hybrid rather than a fully carved bass.

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#2
I suspect the hole will be stable forever, since the layers of plywood are running with grain crossed in different directions. My Kay had a puncture wound like that, which I fixed when I had it open for repairing the bass bar. I straightened out the wood as well as I could, and backed it up with a patch of veneer.
 
#4
Is the hole on the driver's side or the side that you put the bass on when you lay it on the ground? On the player's side, it is not much to worry about. If it is the side where you always lay it down on the ground, then it will likely keep getting larger over time and you'll get dirt and such in there which will make any eventual repair more work.

If you are trying to sell it, consider it one more area where you'll likely have to listen to potential buyers keep complaining. If you plan on keeping the bass, just ask yourself, "What Willie Nelson would tell me about a sissy little hole in my bass????"
j.
www.condino.com
www.kaybassrepair.com
 
#6
I'd be surprised if the plies on recent Engelhardts were stuck together with hide glue. The last one I had, from 1980, had the bass bar laid in with hot glue.

If it must be repaired with the top off, I vote for epoxy, pressure and a linen patch soaked in hide glue on the inside of the rib.
 
#10
Drill a tiny hole in the middle of the cleat-- run the guitar string through the hole, and use the jig Sam mentioned. All it amounts to is a windlass on the outside, lifting a cleat on the inside. The windlass provides the pressure-- the hide-glue makes it permanent. (I used a violin string and violin peg, but that is just what I deal with, so it is what I had. A guitar string and tuner would be better.)

After the hide-glue on the inside is dry, you can excavate the broken fibers from the outside and lay in veneers to make a perfect patch. Chuck Traegar goes into this method in his book. I have used it, and created a patch that was really difficult to see, unless someone pointed it out, in which case it seemed obvious. The only thing lacking was (at the time) my retouch skills. It was absolutely flush, absolutely tight, and absolutely smooth. But I never got the color quite right.

BTW, the repair in question was a hole I could have put my thumb through, not a little bitty thing like this one. :-)

Another thing: hide glue is not just "reversible" when you want a joint to come apart-- it is "reversible", as in, when you fouled something up, and have to start over. :-)
 

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