Double Bass Magnetic trapdoors

[james condino]

A few years back I bought an old 1945 unloaded Kay body here in the classifieds that sat untouched in the pile of projects. After much more bench time than I should admit, it finally got a full pimped out re-build, re-arch, scroll grafted new removable neck and a few other things and is back up running. Here is the current version of the neodymium magnetic trap door. Super strong, rattle free, and pops back into place out of your hand as soon as you get the cover anywhere near....

j.
www.kaybassrepair.com
www.condino.com

 

[Don Hergert]

Very impressive James. Speaking as someone who has become a trapdoor enthusiast in the last 6 months and who has had to figure out a rattle or two, this is a really great idea!

I had one persistent rattle and was about to remove the 14 pop-rivets in my Alcoa's trapdoor to replace them all with bolts and lock nuts, but with my last string change the higher string tension seems to have found the real source of the rattle and corrected it -- a pleasing collateral benefit of the new strings.

My trapdoor just uses high density Velcro to keep open or keep closed, but your magnet idea is one I'm going to keep in mind. I usually open my trapdoor while playing for the extra 7"x7" driver-side sound hole.