Double Bass So I did a stupid thing....

[bassface747]

Don't you love it when a thread starts that way?

I played a recital last Saturday and had my 1965ish German plywood tuned up into solo tuning. Old strings, the cores are already stretched. But I didn't take it out of it's case again until Friday, a week later, and the action is a bit higher at the end the fingerboard. This bass was set up very well previously.

Has the extra tension for the week warped my neck, or does it take significantly longer for that to take effect? It had a nasty fall a couple of moths ago and the neck was reset into the body, if that makes a difference.

Right now, I've loosened the tension on all the strings - will the wood resettle to where it was before, or do I need to take it to a luthier?

Oh, I feel like an irresponsible bassist.

 

[Silversorcerer]

How does it look at the neck join where the repair is? Make sure the button is still one with the back and look very close;- sometimes a hairline split is hard to detect. That's the first thing to look at. Also, check to make sure that the neck is not curling forward. Usually the neck will not warp if you have a good ebony board, but anything else might curve. Lay a straight edge along the seam between the fingerboard and handle and make sure the seam is dead straight.

I had a Czech made plywood DB that had horribly thick, old, dead strings on it at first and it had this kind of problem. It did not have an ebony board. A hairline crack across the button gradually opened so the string height got worse and worse in spite of me changing the strings right away. Eventually I will repair that instrument. Unfortunately the expense of professional repairs exceed the value of the instrument, but your case could be different. It would be worth getting the opinion of the luthier who did the previous repairs. When I consulted a luthier, they pronounced mine dead essentially.

 

[Damon Rondeau]

I think it would certainly be worth while to get a good luthier's opinion, if only to put your mind at ease. It very well could be nothing at all to do with neck warping or damage of that type.

For example, I know at my end of the Canadian prairie we're having an unusually warm and humid summer -- the tornadoes wrought a bunch of havoc here over this past weekend. That's certainly possible around here -- it's thunderstorm country -- but the tornado bit isn't normal. Has it been the same in Edmonton, on the other side of the prairie? I believe it has. Is it possible your bridge has swelled up a teensy bit past what you're used to and re-visiting the instrument after a week of no playing you might be a little sensitive to such small differences?

I'm just guessing on that, but the point is: it may be no big deal. Put your mind at ease and get it checked.

 

[bassface747]

Nah, it's definately not an ebony board. I did the seam test though, and it doesn't seem to be warped. But, I think I'll take it to a luthier anyway. If I get bridgework done, it may screw me up once the humidity goes down (after our 2 week summer) though, but I'll see what a luthier can do.