• 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.

Double Bass Small crack on the back were the sound post is, help!

I

Inconnu

Nov 1, 2005
2,407
1,148
Montreal, Canada
#1
Hi!
Picked up my upright for a bit of fun tonight and, surprise, I see a crack!

Now I need your help!

I'm mainly an electric bass player, so the upright, well I play it at home for fun and that's it. But I love that thing and take care of it. It hasn't went to the luthier much, but since I don't carry it around and it stays in the same room, were I try to control humidity as best as I can, I wasn't worrying. My electrics are all fine and I barely need to just setups in season changes.

Anyways, here's the thing. My upright is a plywood Strunal. It has a little bump where the sound post is. On the front, you can barely see it, but it is there, just under the foot of the bridge. On the back, it's there too but it seems, maybe, to have gotten bigger. A luthier once told me not to worry about that too much, he said it happens and it's not all that bad. But tonight, I saw a small crack just were the bump is on the back. The crack is about a half a inch long. It is superficial right now, it looks more like a crack in the finish but I can see a thin pale line, and feel it too.

Now my immediate reaction was to detune the upright bass a little, to remove some pressure. Am I doing the right thing?

What else can I do to help the bass right now?

I'm getting nervous about this and I won't have access to a luthier for at least 3 weeks, as most businesses are closed around here right now because of the Covid-19.

I really need your help!
 
#3
Not much of an expert but you can't go wrong with taking pressure off a crack. I do know that neither your top nor your back should distort from the sound post. It sounds like you may need a winter sound post after the crack is repaired.
 
#5
KUNGfuSHERIFF said:
Slack the strings, knock the sound post down, and wait until you can have the post trimmed by a professional.
Click to expand...

Yep! They might also put in a reinforcing patch, inside the body, to stop any cracks or bumps from growing. Not as complicated as it sounds, and can be done through the f-holes (rather than taking off the top).
 
  • Like
Reactions: robobass, Povl Carstensen, Don Hergert and 2 others
#6
Hopefully you've taken care of this by now (at least as far as getting tension of the strings). I had a similar thing go down within my old Strunal years ago, although in a worse way than you're describing. Super easy fix, and the bass sounded much better with the new (shorter) soundpost.
 
#7
RSBBass said:
Not much of an expert but you can't go wrong with taking pressure off a crack. I do know that neither your top nor your back should distort from the sound post. It sounds like you may need a winter sound post after the crack is repaired.
Click to expand...
Both the top and back can be distorted with a too-tight soundpost. A good amount of the school basses I work on have this problem. but, yes, you should slack the strings( or just take the bridge down completley) and knock the post down
 
#8
A friend has a beater plywood which he brings to me for repairs since he's too cheap to go to a pro. He came by once and the back was more than 2/3 open. I glued it up and told him that the SP was like a centimeter too long and if he didn't take care of it it would lead to lots of problems. He took it to a local guy who said it's just a junker and re-cutting the post would be a waste of money. I finally did it myself on the table saw:D It went in perfectly!
 
#9
OddSenses said:
Both the top and back can be distorted with a too-tight soundpost. A good amount of the school basses I work on have this problem. but, yes, you should slack the strings( or just take the bridge down completley) and knock the post down
Click to expand...

I didn't say that it couldn't be from too tight of a sound post. I said a sound post shouldn't cause distortion to the top. I was trying to indicate where the problem was. Sorry if that wasn't clear.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OddSenses

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back