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Double Bass I dropped my kid's double bass

S

SergeTx

May 31, 2022
4
6
#1
My kid is an 8th grader. I am not a real musician. He has shown an affinity and love for the double bass. He's playing a couple of years ahead of his peers and today, after checking him out of orchestra camp, I dropped his double bass. I feel terrible. We're gonna take it back to the rental shop and I'm sure they will fix it, but it'll be a few weeks without an instrument and I'm afraid we're gonna end up with a repaired instrument that when he gets to high school and gets serious about trying out for all-state and all that, that he won't be able to produce his best sound.

The neck is cracked right where it meets the head and the head has some small cracks in it paralleling the main crack in the neck. I've done some amateur carpentry in the past and recognize that the crack is fixable, but here are my questions: What happens to the integrity and sound of an instrument when you conduct semi-serious repair?

I mean, will he not be able to produce an adequate sound when the time comes for him to audition at an elite, or all-state, level? Does it really matter?

stricken with guilt,

SergeTX
 
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#2
You'd be amazed what a great luthier can do to a bass. I go to The Bass Shop in Sydney and some of the damaged basses he's seen are excruciating to look at. But give him a few weeks, and you'd never know there was any damage at all. He's repaired basses for touring artists and orchestral players, players that need their basses sounding 100% and he does that for them.

As long as it goes to a double bass luthier I think you'll be all good.
 
#3
You're on the bass guitar side. You might try the repair section on the double bass side.

Having said that, it's definitely repairable and will most likely be playable. While not a bass if you look up Rosa String Works and the "Chocolate" series on his channel he rebuilt a violin that was almost just splinters in the case when he got it. There's a video of the owner playing it at the end and it sounds very good.
 
#4
Upright player here. If repaired correctly, the sound will be un-affected. Lots of basses have repairs. It's the consequence of a big instrument that can't be transported in a hard case.

The challenge is finding a qualified bass luthier to repair it. Are you saying you're renting it right now?

Take a look at close-up pictures of Stradivarius violins. They've all had scroll grafts.

Antonio Stradivari 1728
 
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#6
Matt Liebenau said:
You're on the bass guitar side. You might try the repair section on the double bass side.

Having said that, it's definitely repairable and will most likely be playable. While not a bass if you look up Rosa String Works and the "Chocolate" series on his channel he rebuilt a violin that was almost just splinters in the case when he got it. There's a video of the owner playing it at the end and it sounds very good.
Click to expand...


I've watched a few of his "repair/restoration"videos. They're a crash course in how not to do it. I wouldn't let that guy anywhere near a musical instrument. Having someone like that work on a bass guarantees that the job will have to be redone properly down the road. Post your location and you'll get pointed in the right direction.
 
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#9
It's a rental. Read your contract, most likely you take it back, and they give you a fresh one. Then they send you a bill for the repairs. It's probably a terrible idea for you to attempt any repairs. It will end up costing you even more because poorly made repairs are even more expensive to fix than a fresh clean break. Even more so if you don't know what glue to use.
 
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#10
Indeed, the rental shop has to be in charge of what happens next. Plus if you get another bass and they decide to perform an unorthodox repair, it's not your problem. The fact that they paid less than retail for the bass will influence their math.
 
#11
SAlcott said:
I've watched a few of his "repair/restoration"videos. They're a crash course in how not to do it. I wouldn't let that guy anywhere near a musical instrument.
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Wow. You weren't kidding.

Slathering that whole violin in Titebond...no cleats...and the bonus of realizing the block wouldn't fit inside the ribs when he went to put the top back on.
 
#12
My goodness. Just skimmed through a couple of his bass 'repair' videos and was left amazed that someone displaying such gross ignorance and incompetence has the audacity to ask for Patreon donations. I've never asked for a handout for my work. People pay me to repair things well, and they come back year after year when accidents happen or adjustments are required, because I've done a decent job. This Rosa String Works dufus is committing acts of violence against instruments, and by extension, against musicians, and music itself. I see enough of that sort of nonsense on my workbench when it's brought to me for correcting, when the repairs inevitably fail. Shocking to see a man actually showing it off as 'repair' work on Youtube. He even makes a big point of showing that some filler used along an edge isn't hide glue in one repair, then proceeds to use Titebond PVA glue for crack repairs and edge seams. Is his suffering some sort of schizoid disorder? Or just a very low IQ, such that he doesn't notice the contradiction?
 
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#13
OP, if you're in Texas as implied by your handle, and IF this bass isn't a rental, then you could try Cody Sisk in Dallas at Brook Mays or Quantum Bass Center in Houston. But of course if it's a rental, take it to the place where you're renting.
If he's an 8th grader now, by the time he's "auditioning at an elite/All-State level" he won't be (hopefully) playing the same exact rental bass, anyway.
 
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#14
turf3 said:
But of course if it's a rental, take it to the place where you're renting.
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This.

turf3 said:
If he's an 8th grader now, by the time he's "auditioning at an elite/All-State level" he won't be (hopefully) playing the same exact rental bass, anyway.
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That's what I was thinking. He's going to progress to a higher quality bass by that point. Start saving your pennies now, Serge.
 
#16
GerardSamija said:
My goodness. Just skimmed through a couple of his bass 'repair' videos and was left amazed that someone displaying such gross ignorance and incompetence has the audacity to ask for Patreon donations. I've never asked for a handout for my work. People pay me to repair things well, and they come back year after year when accidents happen or adjustments are required, because I've done a decent job. This Rosa String Works dufus is committing acts of violence against instruments, and by extension, against musicians, and music itself. I see enough of that sort of nonsense on my workbench when it's brought to me for correcting, when the repairs inevitably fail. Shocking to see a man actually showing it off as 'repair' work on Youtube. He even makes a big point of showing that some filler used along an edge isn't hide glue in one repair, then proceeds to use Titebond PVA glue for crack repairs and edge seams. Is his suffering some sort of schizoid disorder? Or just a very low IQ, such that he doesn't notice the contradiction?
Click to expand...

Gobsmacking ignorance.
 
#18
There's a great line in Ed Heron-Allen's 1885 book 'Violin Making as it Was and Is.' After discussing various bizarre interventions advertised as improving tone of violins, his last example was of a man in Scotland (if memory serves - I read the book in 1986) who would take a musician's violin and break the belly into something over 200 pieces, each of a different size, then painstakingly glue the kindling back together. His 'theory' being that each note played on the instrument needed a sympathetically vibrating, corresponding piece of wood to reinforce it. As the author put it:

"While this is a great testament to the acoustical properties of glue, it seems altogether too much of a muchness."
 
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#19
I'd take it as a sign to pony up and buy him his first bass. It's quite likely that the rental is not doing him any favors as far as sound and playability. If he is truly passionate about the instrument it is time for him to have his own. Buy from a reputable shop, in person, with guidance from a pro or double bass teacher, no exceptions. Insure his new instrument with Music Pro insurance. It wont be that expensive. Get a proper bass bag with all the handles you need to never drop his bass again. A musical life can keep a kid out of all kinds of trouble and give him something he can be proud of for life, even if he doesnt pursue it. It is a great investment. A nice round-back hybrid Shen bass will run you about 3.5K.
 
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#20
SergeTx said:
My kid is an 8th grader.
...
I mean, will he not be able to produce an adequate sound when the time comes for him to audition at an elite, or all-state, level? Does it really matter?
...
Click to expand...

I really wouldn't sweat that for one more minute. As @turf3 said, by the time he is ready for audtions at that level he should have moved well beyond your average rental instrument. That said, he won't need a great instrument to get in* but will need something much better to see him through to the end. You/he will also need to (eventually) budget some serious coin for a quality bow (possibly as much as the bass!).

* Based on my experience of getting my daughter ready for the Royal Academy of Music (just finished her 2nd year), most worthwhile institutions appreciate that auditioning students will not have great instruments - if the student has talent and musicianship the panel members will recognise that even through any shortcomings in the instrument.
 
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