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Double Bass Is this a steal?

#41
One for jazz and one for legit (strung accordingly) is what I did. Another assessment is a good idea. It is not that hard to find out what is rattling. A new bridge sounds like a "must do," and a rattle means something is loose. Either a seem is open, a brace is loose, or something else is vibrating where it should not be. The right luthier will find that in a hurry.
I would not treat this like an investment account. Instead, I'd get it to someone who will offer a reasonable plan to get it to its potential. Doing some work on it will not cost enough to affect your standard of living when you retire. (Not like buying a boat). If you get it really playing at full potential, you may never want to sell it anyway!
Good luck--being the steward of one of these is a cool thing to do.
Tom
 
#42
Hey all heres the latest news.

On Monday like ive said i took the bass into the shop and they were a little hesitant to do the work. They said i should pretty much only put a little money into the bass and live with the sound that comes out. They were giving me a rough estimate of about 2000 to plane the fingerboard, put a new bridge on and new nut. and then they were going to fix the cracks all from the outside. they refused to take the top off and address the rattle coming from the bass bar.

On Thursday i took the bass into another shop who basically said the exact same thing except their estimate was 4000. and again they refused to tale the top off and address the bass bar issue. they said after that 4000 went into the bass i would have to live with what ever sound i got from it. they said it wasnt worth the money to take the top off and address the work that needs to be done internally.

after all this i was feeling mighty bumbed out. but i had a number of a luthier that my teacher had given me. he mostly works from home and is highly respected in the st. louis area.

so i called him up and he kindly asked if he could take the bass for a day to examine it. i told him sure. i just got off the phone with him and he said he thinks we can make this a really nice bass. to take the top off and address the internal issues and fix up the cracks he said he would charge me 1500 dollars. correct me if im wrong to do so, but i jumped for joy when i heard that. we are gonna get together on Tuesday and i plan to talk to him about other things i would like done im thinking and in no particular order:

[top off and fix all internal problems cracks, bass bar, soundpost, etc.
new fingerboard
new bridge
new tailpiece/wire
new nut
endpin
and possibly having him move the neck out further. this was something my teacher had recommended doing.

i know this is going to add alot more to the price but i feel like its worth it considering the fact that he is willing to put in the work to make this a good sounding instrument.

let me know what u guys think.
 
#45
I actually went and saw this bass too, a few days after it was posted on CL. I passed because I didn't want something that needed immediate attention - even though I thought it was a good deal. I was concerned mostly by the homemade repairs (ie, i think wood glue has been used, and I also saw the cloth patches on the sides). I thought the sound was decent which means it probably will turn out great after the work.

For what its worth, my opinion is that this was a good deal for you because you considered the repair costs and final value of the instrument. If I had the money to sponsor a restoration it would've been in my house, not yours :smug:

Congrats, hope it turns out well for you.
 
#46
Before you proceed, get all the prices to do all the work you're contemplating. To move the neck out, you'll need a neck block installed, too. It's probably got an integral bass bar which will need to be replaced.

When you add it all up, ask yourself, could you go out and find another bass in good shape that you like for the same money? In other words, a bass that you don't have to gamble on. There are some pretty nice newer instruments in the $5k range. I'm hesitant to say go ahead because I don't think you know if it has a sound you really want at this point.
 

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