Double Bass Taking Apart Old Bass

[PSUdb]

Hi!

I'm a DB student up at PSU, and I'm currently in possession of a rather old and unusable double bass. The entire pegbox has come completely off, it's a very cheap plywood instrument anyway, and I'd like to take this thing apart and convert it.

Does anyone have any tips on taking off the entire neck (fingerboard included) and the face? It doesn't need to be a delicate operation, but I don't want to rip it apart to splinters, either. I've heard using a rawhide hammer delicately with a cloth to cover the wood works...but I'm not so sure. Can someone help?

Thanks!
Alex

 

[toman]

I have no advice on taking your bass apart, but PSU as in... Portland State University?

 

[Silversorcerer]

So this is a project bass, eh? I don't think a hammer is the way to go. The top comes off with a hot butter knife, if it isn't put on with industrial grade glue. Traditional hide glue is water and heat activated, so try that first to get the top off. I'm hoping this is not a Kay or American Standard or some valuable vintage plywood. If it is one of those, take it to someone whose never heard of approaching these with a hammer. Truly! You can get a factory made replacement neck and pegbox from Engelhardt if the bass is worth saving, but this is truly a tricky repair best left to an expert, so unless it is recent foreign no-name junk, take some care and try to do a delicate operation on it. You want to wind up with a bass that plays well, not kindling, right?

 

[Damon Rondeau]

I'm curious: what do you mean by "converting" the bass?

 

[Paul Warburton]

I'm curious: what do you mean by "converting" the bass?

That's what I was gonna ask...i'm assuming he's meanig converting it into a 'usable bass'?

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

Convert it to electric...

 

[PSUdb]

No, Toman, I'm from Penn State.

By project bass, I mean that this thing is very, very unusable and therefore I'm turning it into a usable cabinet (still in the shape of the bass, mind you! The face will swing out and reveal shelves). Please...please...don't kill me! haha

It was mistreated for a few years at a local school, and after they gave it to me (completely torn up), the luthiers I went to all refused to fix it. Trust me! It's not a Kay, I played on one and have made sure that it's not of any real value.

Foreign no-name junk is just the right description!

 

[Ken McKay]

It is gonna be one ugly bookshelf, and it reminds me when I was talking with Steve Reiley a while back and he was looking for a matching aluminum bass to use as gate posts at his property in the country in Michigan.

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

I'm always amazed from reading TB how Americans seem to love filling up their homes with junk, while I'm trying as much as I can to empty my house of it!!