Double Bass Is this fixable?

[patrickj]

First double bass section post!

I started packing my daughter's 1/2 DB into the case for her 5th grade spring concert and found that the neck had separated from the body. Not sure when it happened, the strings where already slack when I got to it.

Not a particularly fancy or expensive bass, but we were hoping to get a few years out of it before her switch to 3/4.

Is this fixable? Or rather, is it worth fixing considering it is neither a fancy nor expensive bass?

 

[DrayMiles]

Yes, I believe it can be reglued from what I can see...

 

[patrickj]

The neck is completely separated from body right now.. nothing appears to be cracked or broken, no splinters or anything, looks basically like the glue stopped holding.

 

[unbrokenchain]

Totally fixable.

Clean up both sides with a rag and hot/warm water. Use granulated hot hide glue to set it back in its mortise, not the stuff in a bottle from the hardware store. You can use a wide clamp from the button to the fingerboard, taking care the pressure doesn't lift the heel back out.

 

[unbrokenchain]

At least you're not looking at this Why hide glue?

You can find it in other threads as well, but there's some good info on hide glue in that one

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Grit your teeth and gently work the neck the rest of the way out of the block. Post photos of what you see. If the block is intact and correctly made I’ll send you some glue granules and tell you what to do.

If you’d rather have a professional do it for you it shouldn’t be more than a hundred bucks.

If the bass is a rental that’s the shop’s problem.

 

[bengreen]

Even though you could do this repair yourself, you still might want to take it to a luthier. Clamping is the problem. You’re working with rounded and angled surfaces. I can promise you that when you tighten those clamps you’re going to get some unintended movement of the neck and have little time to correct it because the working time of that hot glue will be all of about 1 minute (unless you heat the room and preheat the parts, then you might get 2 minutes). And while you’re positioning and tightening before the glue sets, you’ll find that glue actually acts like grease, making everything all slippy, slidey. Any slight misalignment you introduce at the joint will be magnified at the end of the fingerboard, so that you could end up with a neck that no longer has the right direction or elevation with respect to the bridge. And if you think, well it’s hide glue after all, I can just melt it and have a do over if it doesn’t go right the first time, you’ll find just how not fun removing a glued neck without damaging the bass can be.

Sorry to sound so alarming. Things may go just peachy. But they may not and then you’ll have a costly mess instead of a straightforward fix.

If you do this, I strongly recommend you do some research of techniques, and definitely do some trial dry clamping “rehearsals” first (though again, it’ll be different when the pieces are wetted with glue).

Here’s a page I found where you can get a sense of the clamping setup. This was probably (hopefully) more complex than your situation because he had to put some shims in to adjust angles. The last pic is the pertinent one showing the clamping setup. In particular check out the wedge (caul) clamped to the fingerboard. There’s usually one in back too.

Upright Bass with a broken neck

And another:

Bass Neck Repair

Notice the back wedges and the small clamp across the fingerboard to prevent the large clamp from traveling.

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

That’s a fairly simple job. The challenge is in preparing it for glue. Best to take it to a pro.

 

[SAlcott]

I tried doing a repair like this myself many years ago. When it failed, it cost twice as much to fix properly because the luthier had to undo my crappy job before he could do it right.

 

[David Potts]

Have you tested the glue to make sure that it is water soluble (eg hide glue)? Because it is not an expensive bass some other sort of unknown glue may have to be carefully scraped/sanded/chiseled off both the neck base and block mortise, back to almost bare wood, before proceeding. This you can do before it goes to a luthier and may save you time and $s.

 

[robobass]

Listen to David. It does not look like hide glue to me either.

 

[SAlcott]

It doesn't look like hide glue for sure; I'd be real careful if i were to start chiseling it off, though. You could inadvertently remove wood from both surfaces, which would make the repair much more complicated.

 

[damonsmith]

A half sized ply bass is worth rolling the dice and trying yourself if you have any feel for basic woodworking.

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

It doesn't look like hide glue for sure; I'd be real careful if i were to start chiseling it off, though. You could inadvertently remove wood from both surfaces, which would make the repair much more complicated.

Chances are there is a large gap along the bottom and the sides are within a mm or so. Might be better to use a scraper or be careful with a chisel and not remove much wood. If the sides are close and it dry fits OK, put some hot hide glue on both the neck heel and block and glue it up. I use a clamp on the botton and a ratchet strap around the body and neck heel. Really, with hide glue it’s not much of a risk. If it fails again, no real harm.
To do it right, you have to get all that glue out, shim and chalk fit which takes time.
Your dime.

 

[unbrokenchain]

If it's not hide glue, you might try a little vinegar and an electric toothbrush. No risk of wood removal.

 

[bengreen]

I use a clamp on the botton and a ratchet strap around the body and neck heel.

Sorry, just realized a link I gave doesn't show on a phone unless the desktop site is requested.

Here's the link to the pertinent photo on the page.

http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2167752685?profile=original

We're not allowed to copy/paste photos to here from other sites, are we?

 

[GretschWretch]

If the vinegar does not work you might try spraying with Goo Gone (not Goof Off). That stuff can soften dried Super Glue to the point it can easily be scraped. The glue on your bass clearly should be softer than Super Glue.