Double Bass Fun and rewarding project or self-inflicted heartache?

[SAlcott]

OK, if we take that $15,000 estimate as in the ballpark (and I'm not going to dispute it, given that it looks liike the object in question is mostly an assembly of dry-rotted wooden strips in the general form of a double bass), what does that estimate mean? Materials to repair this thing will surely cost less than $1000, and probably more like $500. So we're talking about $14,000 in labor. At $75/hour shop rate, that implies that an experienced qualified luthier would spend about 190 hours working on this. That's five weeks, solid, 40 hours a week, with all necessary tools and supplies instantly ready to hand and done at full speed, just as if it were gluing up a simple seam separation or adjusting a soundpost. Honestly, five full time weeks for an experienced person sounds awful short to me.

I'd say the most likely outcome for this thing is to end up on a restaurant wall for decoration. Anyone who takes it on with the hope of making it into a usable musical instrument is 99% certain to leave it partly disassembled after a couple years. After which it either becomes firewood or gets mounted on a restaurant wall for decoration.

Some restoration work, like correcting the arch, has to be allowed to settle, which adds time to the job. Carving a new neck for a graft isn't a quick job, either. Someone I know had a small Italian bass that was damaged by some ill-advised "restoration"; the re-arching and belly patch alone took a year.

 

[SAlcott]

Jeff Bollbach Luthier, Inc.: Images - Restoration

 

[Markshan]

OP, if you want to buy a double bass to learn to play, don't start with a pile of wood; rent a well set up Shen, Christopher, or equivalent, hire a qualified instructor, learn how to play the DB (bow, too, please!) and THEN set out shopping for something that you can use to play the DB.

Well this is going to take the thread off course, but I think if I were actually looking to learn to play a double bass I would probably buy one of those cheap Ned Steinburger eubs. But again this isn't about finding a bass to play this is about teaching myself how to work on it.

 

[Bruce Calin]

Many(many!) years ago I took a violin construction and repair course at a music camp. I was playing bass at the time but took the course to learn about bowed instruments, since the construction is more or less the same. Maybe it would be smart to work on a fiddle first to give you an idea of what's involved before you muscle that bass around.

 

[Markshan]

That's a really great idea.

 

[turf3]

Many(many!) years ago I took a violin construction and repair course at a music camp. I was playing bass at the time but took the course to learn about bowed instruments, since the construction is more or less the same. Maybe it would be smart to work on a fiddle first to give you an idea of what's involved before you muscle that bass around.

The double bass IS a bowed instrument.

 

[Bruce Calin]

The double bass IS a bowed instrument.

Since I bow my bass quite frequently I understand that. I meant the given the size difference.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

I said the screws were my most major concern.

Not even close. Fitting a neck block with multiple planes and recurves with tolerances of 1mm at most and modifying the neck to fit while achieving the correct angle for proper bridge height without collapsing the belly will be the hard part.

 

[turf3]

You know, maybe I'm naive, but it seems like taking on a job of major reconstruction of an instrument you don't even know how to play might not turn out so well...

 

[Carl Hillman]

I said the screws were my most major concern.

You may also have to remove an integrated bass bar, fashion a new one, and install it.

You've got a heck of a learning curve to tackle. If I were attempting this, I think I'd find a luthier who take over the hardest bits of the restoration if I ran into trouble.

If they're cool, you might also talk them into observing their work. (an offer of beer, or other adult beverage, might gain you favor in this respect)

 

[klyph]

Your appropriate first resto project would be repairing a ply bass with neck and/or cosmetic problems, not this. On the plus side, you could probably do just that, get some great experience and insight, and this guy will still have this bass. Your call.

 

[eh_train]

I've just skimmed over the posts - did anyone use the term "underwater" yet? As in, the value of the bass is underwater (ie., less than zero) because it will cost, let's say, $12k to repair, and then you'll have a 6k instrument to resell.

Really uninformed people tend to think "it's old and therefore valuable". The posts on this one prove otherwise.

I started doing bass repairs by adjusting the slots on my nut. Maybe scale back a wee bit...

 

[SAlcott]

Not even close. Fitting a neck block with multiple planes and recurves with tolerances of 1mm at most and modifying the neck to fit while achieving the correct angle for proper bridge height without collapsing the belly will be the hard part.

Yep-not to mention figuring out how to either make an already hugely compromised by the visible break at the heel blockless neck fit into the new block or carving a new neck and doing a scroll graft.

Also, there will be tools to obtain, and a dedicated work area (for a couple of years) will be imperative. Bending iron for the new bottom ribs that will have to be made, 50-60 clamps of various types (some expensive and specialized), assorted chisels and gouges along with sharpening stones and learning how to do that job, a glue pot for the hide glue you'll have to learn how to make and use. You'll need to learn how to carve and fit cleats and new linings from wood you'll have to source, carve a bridge from a blank, plane a fingerboard, ream an endpin hole, rejuvenate hat peg tuners.....need I go on?

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

The tools are the easy part. I’ve put ribs back into true with a steam iron and my glue pot is a glass baby food jar in a pan of water. But the sheer idiot determination to finish the job is the primary reason that bass is a wreck the seller is trying to make into somebody else’s problem.

 

[Markshan]

Not even close. Fitting a neck block with multiple planes and recurves with tolerances of 1mm at most and modifying the neck to fit while achieving the correct angle for proper bridge height without collapsing the belly will be the hard part.

Learning stuff like that is EXACTLY what appeals to me about a "project bass".

 

[Markshan]

You know, maybe I'm naive, but it seems like taking on a job of major reconstruction of an instrument you don't even know how to play might not turn out so well...

Leo Fender didn't know how to tune a guitar.

 

[Markshan]

Your appropriate first resto project would be repairing a ply bass with neck and/or cosmetic problems, not this. On the plus side, you could probably do just that, get some great experience and insight, and this guy will still have this bass. Your call.

Have you got one for me?

 

[Markshan]

sheer idiot determination

That would be a GREAT band name.

'Ello Cleveland, we're Sheer Idiot Determination!

 

[SAlcott]

The tools are the easy part. I’ve put ribs back into true with a steam iron and my glue pot is a glass baby food jar in a pan of water. But the sheer idiot determination to finish the job is the primary reason that bass is a wreck the seller is trying to make into somebody else’s problem.

The difference is, you know what you're doing. OP doesn't even know what he doesn't know.

 

[Markshan]

The difference is, you know what you're doing. OP doesn't even know what he doesn't know.

That's why it's called learning.