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Double Bass Regraduating?

T

turf3

Sep 26, 2011
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16,334
#1
My bass is in the repair shop. It's a pretty heavily built bass, and the luthier mentioned that the flatback braces could be lightened up and the top regraduated for more volume. The cost to do this would be a substantial fraction of the instrument's worth. I'm not particularly dissatisfied with the instrument as it sits, but I would like it louder. By the way, the repair that's in progress now does not involve taking the top off, so there would be no advantage to doing a regraduation now versus at some later date.

I know very well that just selling the existing instrument and investing that plus the cost of regraduating into a new instrument might very well be the better economic option. But, I would like to get some opinions on the option of regraduating an instrument.

Has anyone here ever done this, especially to a moderate-price, moderate-quality instrument, and how did it turn out?
 
#2
I have only re-graduated very cheap, carved instruments, and never a bass, so perhaps I am not the one to answer...BUT, I have, on occasion, re-graduated a clunker and made it into a pretty respectable instrument which the owner happily used for many years to come.

The one I am thinking of was an extremely heavy viola with an incredibly hard, thick finish. I have no idea what that finish was, but even stripping compound was hard-pressed to remove it. The only reason I removed the finish was that the entire instrument was so thick that I was able to re-arch and re-graduate. The result, after having re-arched and re-graduated both plates, thinned the ribs, and re-carved the scroll (clunky, machine-carved mess), and set it up optimally, was essentially a hand-made instrument, though my time invested was far less than it takes me to make one from scratch.

There had been some damage to the top of the "donor" VSO, so I had no qualms about finishing in an "antiqued" style. The fellow for whom it was made enjoyed it and played it for years. I don't know where it is today.

Was it worth it? He simply could not have afforded a handmade instrument. He got this one for an affordable price, and it played like a handmade gem, though it was exceedingly plain wood, and nothing special to look at. I'd say it was worth it, but you do have to balance (as you pointed out) the cost of your instrument PLUS the cost of the re-work, against the possibility of a better instrument for the combined cost.

Good luck with it.
 
#4
Eventually something will happen that needs to have the top removed and worked on. Those are the times I prefer to do any internal work on the bass. Regraduation is best done by someone who really understands how to build a nice bass; you can easily go too far and make a huge inprovement for six months and then have it collapse from too much love.
 
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#5
I had the regraduation done only on a 5-string Chinese bass made by Neolson. It made some difference in the bass- particularly in the mid range and lower ends. But, having said that, I'm not sure I'd do it again. Steve Swan is a big fan of regraduation for heavier instruments tries to "voice" the regraduation to optimize the instrument (String Bass Sales & Repair · Steve Swan String Basses). I would ask the OP 1) where he is; 2) how much he loves this particular bass; 3) how much he trust the luthier?

It my be a process to be done in stages (expense being equal): lighten the braces first and see if the make enough difference

Louis
 
#6
Some examples from Steve's site:

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This should give you an idea of the process on three very different basses. Good luck
Louis
 
#8
John Sprague said:
What model bass are we talking about here, Turf3?
Click to expand...

It's a no-name Romanian flatback. I strongly believe it's a Gliga, private-labeled for a music store. I think the general construction quality is pretty good, just with less fancy wood. It's quite heavy (in lbs) and when I play others' instruments sometimes they seem to have more projection.

I have not experimented at all with strings, soundpost adjustments, tailpiece weights, etc. Just trying to understand whether the idea of regraduating a bass like this is idiocy or something worth considering.
 
#10
By coincidence, I just recently took in trade an older (mid-1980s?) heavily built Romanian 3/4 flatback from the same Reghin factory. Something that I didn't catch at the time of the trade-in will demand that the top come off, so I will also have an aggressive regraduation, bass bar remodeling, and significant lightening of the extreme mass for the back brace done to get this bass to sing more as a regular rental or loaner instrument. The economics do not make any sense if I was just going to sell it. In that case, I would have used it as a regraduation process training bass for one of the less experienced luthiers on the team.
 
#11
Steve's situation is different, to the OP I would recommend to first try alternative methods.

If you play amplified; 'less loud' is not necessarily bad. Then 'good' is more important than 'loud', IMHO.
 

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