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Double Bass Thought this might be of interest

#2
For those who don't know, Dan Erlewine is a well-regarded guitar repair/setup person, and the author of several books on the subject.

I am intrigued by "...a Shark brand bathroom tile cleaner that delivers steam at the pull of a trigger." Sounds a lot more convenient than my pressure-cooker-and-hoses contraption.
 
#4
I posted the same thread as "How the other half lives." Dan's guitar repair techniques are exemplary. I was hoping for more discussion about his approach to this DB repair.
 
#5
I'm nowhere near qualified to comment on the repair procedures, but as a repairman myself (motorcycles) I found it odd that he routinely charges the customer for the tools he needs to make. Tools are tools... you buy or make whatever you need to get the job done, and they are thereafter in your professional arsenal awaiting the next similar task. They are a cost of doing business. If I charged my customers for special tools and then offered the tools to them to keep after the repair, I'd be out of business.

Maybe luthiery is different, but the impression I got is that the tools he referred to were perfectly good tools for a luthier and probably no one else.
 
#7
AntonLargiader said:
I found it odd that he routinely charges the customer for the tools he needs to make. Tools are tools... you buy or make whatever you need to get the job done, and they are thereafter in your professional arsenal awaiting the next similar task. They are a cost of doing business.
Click to expand...

Bear in mind that the purpose of the article is to promote the sale of tools by Stewmac :ninja: So mentioning the cost doesn't hurt.

On the other hand, Dan is set up for guitars not basses and the size of one's tool does make all the difference in this game. So if by adapting a few tools for the job he can avoid the far costlier top-off repair, then it's quite reasonable to wind that cost into the repair quote. He probably doesn't do it on his more routine repairs - and by the sounds of it he's not looking for more bass work!
 
#8
Matthew Tucker said:
Bear in mind that the purpose of the article is to promote the sale of tools by Stewmac :ninja: So mentioning the cost doesn't hurt.

On the other hand, Dan is set up for guitars not basses and the size of one's tool does make all the difference in this game. So if by adapting a few tools for the job he can avoid the far costlier top-off repair, then it's quite reasonable to wind that cost into the repair quote. He probably doesn't do it on his more routine repairs - and by the sounds of it he's not looking for more bass work!
Click to expand...
That's the kind of comments I was looking for. Yes, I have bought several tools from StewMac for work on guitars, both electric and acoustic. Yes, he is specialized. Yes, he did this repair as a favor.

I was intrigued by the use of the acoustic guitar bridge gluing clamps. That seems like a good idea in the event it is not feasible, practical or economical to do a complete top-off repair.

I did question his bridge placement reasoning, in that he seems to have chosen an arbitrary scale length instead of the traditional centering of the bridge on the notches of the "F" holes. But then again, the scale of a Kay is right at 42 inches anyway, and they did not show the final position of the soundpost, just that it had been passed on by another knowledgible person. So I guess it's however you get there....
 
#9
tstone said:
I am intrigued by "...a Shark brand bathroom tile cleaner that delivers steam at the pull of a trigger." Sounds a lot more convenient than my pressure-cooker-and-hoses contraption.
Click to expand...

James Hamm gave a great workshop at the last Guild of American Luthier's Convention this past July in Tacoma where he did a LOT of work using a bright yellow Eureka "Hot Shot" handheld steamer. They work great and are very simple and fair priced- way better than my old espresso machine / pressure cooker hoses and contraption type of setup.

As for Dan, I like the man and respect his guitar work, but he should stick to guitars. Instead of making all of those fancy tools for one awkward job, I could have used that steamer to pop the lower bout seams, hide glue and clamp the bassbar very clean, and then glue the seam back together for just a couple of hours billed bench time. That may be the real "trade secret"....

j.
 
#10
Easy to fling stones from a distance, but i'm wondering how long his clamping job is going to hold if all he used to clamp is the StewmacTM bridge clamping caul only $26.98

ts0148clamping.jpg


Unless the bass bar was still solidly glued at the tip you'd normally want to clamp a bit tighter at the extremities. That clamp isn't very long.

But, the repair was to sell the bass to get it out of the shop. I wonder whose workshop it will end up in when it pops again? Is there a bass luthier in in Athens?

I like the bridge adjusters. Might have to use that idea one day.

ts0148soundpost.jpg
 

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