Spector NS-5 USA Model w/ Broken Headstock Thoughts?

[iceboxbass]

Wow Bruce Johnson, it’s really amazing seeing this coming together! Kudos to Alex for his dedication and willingness in learning into this craftsmanship.
Still waiting with anticipation in how much of the scar will be visible by the human eye.

 

[daveman50]

Amazing. Good work!

If it were my bass, I wouldn't be very concerned about the appearance of the back of the neck, as long as I couldn't feel the scar while playing.

 

[japhy4529]

Amazing. Good work!

If it were my bass, I wouldn't be very concerned about the appearance of the back of the neck, as long as I couldn't feel the scar while playing.

Still thinking it over since Pat Wilkins is nearly down the street from Bruce. Very convenient to just have it done while out there.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Continuing on:

Okay, now we're going to see what we can do to hide the scars. I used a small V-gouge to scrape the debris out the remaining grooves on the back, particularly over that black spot. Then I mixed up a little bit of West Systems 105/205 and put a blop on a piece of cardboard. I mixed in small amounts of Mixol pigment, Caramel and white, into a pale tan color. Taking a guess on what shade it will dry to, and what it will look like under the oil finish. I dabbed it along the crack on the back.

Then a similar thing on the front, except with black pigment in the epoxy. This is to fill those ripples from the laminate being folded.

You may ask why didn't I add pigment to the epoxy during the main glue-up? Risk. Coloring epoxy is always a bit risky. The pigment can mess with the chemistry and cause it to not kick or cure properly. On a structural joint like this, I don't want to take the chance. So, I glue it first with straight West Systems, to make sure I got a good structural joint. Then, do the fills and patches with tinted epoxy. If something goes wrong with them, I can wipe it off and try again.

I hope you are noticing that everything we're doing here is with hand tools on a workbench. No big specialized machines. Repair jobs like this mostly require time and patience. If you are paying someone else to do it, you are paying for hours and knowledge. But you can do this kind of work yourself. It isn't that difficult to learn.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Amazing. Good work!

If it were my bass, I wouldn't be very concerned about the appearance of the back of the neck, as long as I couldn't feel the scar while playing.

I guarantee that the repair seam will be smooth to the touch. That's easy. The question is if I can get the color of the scar to match. Under the touched-up oil finish. We'll see.

 

[J Gold]

This is the most positive thing I've read on the web in weeks!

 

[japhy4529]

Thanks for the updates, Bruce. Looks like it's coming along nicely!

 

[Bruce Johnson]

This is the most positive thing I've read on the web in weeks!

I want to encourage folks to repair instruments that get broken. Particularly fine old ones like this Spector. In most cases, it's not that hard to make them playable again. Maybe not cosmetically perfect, but fully functional so someone can enjoy them. Don't put them in the dumpster!

There was a thread recently about a Epiphone T-Bird with a cracked neck. The poster ended up being scared away from buying it, because the cost of repairing it (paying a pro Luthier) was too much vs the instrument's value. That's sad, because that repair is actually much simpler than this one. Hopefully someone will buy it and put an hour into it on their workbench. And they'll have a nice T-Bird.

And there's a similar thing with fretwork and warped necks. So many fine instruments get abandoned and thrown away because they need fretwork. It's not that hard to fix them. I post a lot of stories here on TalkBass, just to show that almost anything can be repaired on an electric bass. Keep basses out of the landfills.

 

[Jon Clegg]

I want to encourage folks to repair instruments that get broken. Particularly fine old ones like this Spector. In most cases, it's not that hard to make them playable again. Maybe not cosmetically perfect, but fully functional so someone can enjoy them. Don't put them in the dumpster!

There was a thread recently about a Epiphone T-Bird with a cracked neck. The poster ended up being scared away from buying it, because the cost of repairing it (paying a pro Luthier) was too much vs the instrument's value. That's sad, because that repair is actually much simpler than this one. Hopefully someone will buy it and put an hour into it on their workbench. And they'll have a nice T-Bird.

And there's a similar thing with fretwork and warped necks. So many fine instruments get abandoned and thrown away because they need fretwork. It's not that hard to fix them. I post a lot of stories here on TalkBass, just to show that almost anything can be repaired on an electric bass. Keep basses out of the landfills.

Amen.

 

[Jisch]

I just bought a Steinberger off Fleabay with a broken headpiece because of this thread. I intend to restore it to playable condition. You guys are good at spending my money.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I just bought a Steinberger off Fleabay with a broken headpiece because of this thread. I intend to restore it to playable condition. You guys are good at spending my money.

Go for it! Fix it! Make it sing again! Even if your repair job is less than perfectly professional, you are saving a bass's life. And gaining one for your collection that you can have some personal pride in.

Start a thread here documenting the process, and I'll help with advice.

 

[Jisch]

Go for it! Fix it! Make it sing again! Even if your repair job is less than perfectly professional, you are saving a bass's life. And gaining one for your collection that you can have some personal pride in.

Start a thread here documenting the process, and I'll help with advice.

I absolutely will start a thread once it gets here. I want to covert it to a clamping system so I don't have to use dual ball end strings.

 

[Jon Clegg]

I absolutely will start a thread once it gets here. I want to covert it to a clamping system so I don't have to use dual ball end strings.

Well now I'm feeling compelled to get my hangar queens fixed up and maybe out to new homes.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I absolutely will start a thread once it gets here. I want to covert it to a clamping system so I don't have to use dual ball end strings.

When you get started on it, I'll offer some of my design ideas on a really good clamping system for using normal strings on a headless bass block.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Another fascinating thread, thus confirming my status as a card carrying Wood Nerd. Unite! Resist the Dumpster! I’m glad I’m not the only one a little jealous of the apprenticeship Alex is getting, that’s rare these days. Not a Road to Riches for most, but tremendous personal satisfaction and pride in craftsmanship is its own form of wealth. The moral of this story might be “fix it sooner than later, and do it right once”. Most of the work seems to be accounting for the wood movement while it sat. Well done, Sir.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Continuing on with the Spector:

A couple of days of filling spots with more dabs of epoxy, letting it cure, filing and sanding, etc. Now all the repair areas are filled up the surface and are smooth. Here's what it looks like, front and back:

Now I cleaned my small spray gun and mixed up a little bit of nitro lacquer, adding caramel and white Mixol to get an opaque light beige color. I'm trying to get it right about the color of bare maple.

And I sprayed on two coats of a light band over the repair area. Again, the point is to make it look like bare maple, and make the crack disappear.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Note that the maple strip down the center of the neck is a little darker than the outer ones. I lay down two strips of masking tape to follow the lines of those seams.

Then I mix up some nitro lacquer with two drops of transparent Vintage Amber dye, and spray that center stripe.

And there's the center strip, slightly darker than the sides.

Then a light dusting of the amber tint lacquer over the whole area. This looks a little dark, but it will lighten up when I do the final scrub. If not, I can always scrub it off and try again.

You can see how faking those seam lines can fool your eyes. If some of the lines continue across the repair area, then your brain imagines that the rest of the lines do too.

 

[bass12]

Great thread - thanks for detailing the process, Bruce. Fascinating stuff. I have to say, though - this looks like a lot more than $100 worth of work!

 

[TundraMan]

Great thread - thanks for detailing the process, Bruce. Fascinating stuff. I have to say, though - this looks like a lot more than $100 worth of work!

My thought as well.

 

[nervous]

Awesome! So impressed. Right skills, tools and attitude.