• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

ready, set, NOOOoooOOOOooOO

Fetusyolk

Fetusyolk

Aug 7, 2008
1,260
6
#1
20l1liq.jpg
2m35i0i.jpg


I finally decided to take a picture of the catastrophe that is my headstock (for a separate thread) and thought i should create a new thread-
this happened a good amount of months ago.maybe 9 months ago (or more) a guitarist dropped my bass onto a concrete floor. months later.. while preparing to play a composition for my music theory class (i chose my bass as my instrument) my friend is taking it out of the case for me and BAM off goes the tuner and a good chunk of wood.

i've been playing it as a four string ever since.. i got a really great offer from a fellow bass player who has had his b-string break off as well (this is apparently common? i noticed a hairline crack on my friend's headstock as well... and he takes great care of his instruments).

i'll probably end up calling him even though his offer was a while ago. . . but i figured now's as good a time as ever to bring this to you guys.
i've still got the part that broke off of the headstock, as well as the tuners.what am i to do?

i nailed the composition by the way. my teacher was blown away <3
 
#4
You might be able to have a luthier glue it back together for you.

My Roscoe Beck V had the headstock broken into two pieces,in a straight line,right along the middle of all five tuners.That was about 4 or 5 years ago.My luthier glued it back together and it's still holding firm.

It should hold.You are only dealing with the tension of one string versus my bass having the tension of all five strings pulling along the break.

Worth a try anyway.
 
#5
jimmy rocket said:
glue it. when wood glue dries it's stronger than the wood around it so it should be nice and solid
Click to expand...

i think i'm going to go with this approach first- want to try to do it on my own. it's my baby anyways, right? what are recommendations? should i put pressure on every side so it's firmly pressed into the side or should i just clamp it so that it stays together?

also- why not gorilla glue?
 
#7
Fetusyolk said:
i think i'm going to go with this approach first- want to try to do it on my own. it's my baby anyways, right? what are recommendations? should i put pressure on every side so it's firmly pressed into the side or should i just clamp it so that it stays together? also- why not gorilla glue?
Click to expand...

I would give gluing it a try. What have you got to lose? I glued a leg to a piece of furniture (full length mirror) over fifteen years ago and it's still holding fine. I used a couple of small finishing nail, a liberal application of wood glue and some clamps. Worked great. And it is a load bearing leg too.

Besides, if it doesn't work, you can then spring for a new neck.

Good luck!
 
#14
Fetusyolk said:
i think i'm going to go with this approach first- want to try to do it on my own. it's my baby anyways, right? what are recommendations? should i put pressure on every side so it's firmly pressed into the side or should i just clamp it so that it stays together?

also- why not gorilla glue?
Click to expand...

You're going to want to clamp it on as many sides as you can get leverage and use wood glue, not Gorilla glue. Wood to wood, standard carpenters' glue is still the best adhesive. Gorilla glue has the tendency to expand as it sets/cures, which makes it great for gluing a peg into a drilled hole, but is less than desirable when going flat/flat, wood/wood.
 
#16
saxmachine777 said:
You're going to want to clamp it on as many sides as you can get leverage and use wood glue, not Gorilla glue. Wood to wood, standard carpenters' glue is still the best adhesive. Gorilla glue has the tendency to expand as it sets/cures, which makes it great for gluing a peg into a drilled hole, but is less than desirable when going flat/flat, wood/wood.
Click to expand...

thank you for the explaination i was looking for, thanks! where can i get some clamps that won't do damage to my bass? should i remove the othe strings/ tuning knobs while doing this? remove the neck, even?

standupright said:
you don't eat it.
Click to expand...

:rollno: it's not about the consumption.. but this isn't the place to talk about that- thanks for your advice though.
 
#18
Fetusyolk said:
won't this just split the wood even ferther and widen the divide?
Click to expand...

No, you're going to drive them in perpendicular to the glue joint. If you pre-drill a hole, you'll eliminate the possibility of the wood splitting and they'll act like metal dowels, absorbing a lot of the strain.


Like so (blue = joint, red = nails):
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#20
standupright said:
hyde glue.
Click to expand...

Hide glue is usually used in situations when you want a bond that can be un-done without damaging the wood its attached to. Its very difficult to work with, and has relatively poor longevity. However, its really what you want to use for say, the neck joint of a double bass.

I think a modern glue would be a fine choice for this application. I can't imagine why you'd ever want to un-do this particular glue joint.

Gorilla glue in particular is known for being nearly indestructible, and impossible to undo. Sounds like a fine choice for this application. Unless the original poster really wants to convert his bass back to a four stringer in the future. :)
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back