What do you do with a bass that "died?"

[hrodbert696]

It's been about fourteen years since I started playing, and now a new milestone - one of my basses died on me. By which I mean, it needs a repair that I'm unlikely to have done.

The bass is "Looney Toon" - a 5er made by John Toon out in Kansas City (he used to be on TB, but haven't seen him in a while). It's one of a kind, very light and perfectly balanced, which is part of why I love it. It has a slim 35" scale set neck, which is great to play but is also probably the problem. I had to have it heat-treated to straighten out a warp some years ago already. Now the neck is bowed and the truss rod is frozen. I think it may just be too slim to stay stable at its scale length. Since it's a set neck (and custom) I can't just swap it out, and fixing it would mean disassembling and rebuilding the whole thing. That looks to cost about as much as I paid for it in the first place, and given the history, I'm concerned the problem might just happen again.

So what do you do with a bass that you can't play any more? Throw it in the trash? Make it a wall hanging? Leave it in a gig bag to collect dust in the basement and let your kids throw it out when you die? What?

UPDATE: SEE POST #85.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

That thing, I would hang it on a wall as art.

 

[StereoPlayer]

It’s would sell very easily. Im very sure someone would love to mess/repair it.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Either wall art, or experiment with light gauge strings and pray.

 

[Crawforde]

If I really wanted to play it I might try cutting the neck off, then carving out a pocket so I could set a new slightly beefier bolt on, or set neck in place. It would be a lot of work, but if there is enough wood at the attachment point it may work.

 

[J Posega]

If you like the tone and feel, pony up the cash to have someone remove the fretboard, rout it for (and install) some graphite stiffening rods, and replace the truss rod.

If you don't want to spend money on it, then either hang it on the wall or sell it cheap.

 

[Hot Rats]

I took a shotgun to it, but it was a cheap bass and seeing the result of 00 buck was more important than the bass.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

Sweet looking bass. Shouldn't have warped. This is why I prefer bolt on basses. Can always replace the neck.

 

[motoman]

Wall art

 

[Auer]

Judging by the picture it's on it's way to the burner already.

 

[BobKos]

It looks like a quality build. I think fixing it HAS to be less expensive than replacing it with anything close to the same quality. I think @J Posega has it right in post # 6.

 

[Chris cook]

It's been about fourteen years since I started playing, and now a new milestone - one of my basses died on me. By which I mean, it needs a repair that I'm unlikely to have done.

The bass is "Looney Toon" - a 5er made by John Toon out in Kansas City (he used to be on TB, but haven't seen him in a while). It's one of a kind, very light and perfectly balanced, which is part of why I love it. It has a slim 35" scale set neck, which is great to play but is also probably the problem. I had to have it heat-treated to straighten out a warp some years ago already. Now the neck is bowed and the truss rod is frozen. I think it may just be too slim to stay stable at its scale length. Since it's a set neck (and custom) I can't just swap it out, and fixing it would mean disassembling and rebuilding the whole thing. That looks to cost about as much as I paid for it in the first place, and given the history, I'm concerned the problem might just happen again.

So what do you do with a bass that you can't play any more? Throw it in the trash? Make it a wall hanging? Leave it in a gig bag to collect dust in the basement and let your kids throw it out when you die? What?

View attachment 5132807

That thing, I would hang it on a wall as art.

I agree.
Exactly what I would do and exactly what I do

 

[Lownote38]

I am sure it can be fixed, and probably for less money than you might think. The truss rod can probably be freed up, and a better heat treatment like warpedneck.com uses could straighten that neck out. If you love the bass, look into getting it fixed.

 

[bobyoung53]

 

[Thumpin6string]

Take it to a luthier and let them tell you if it is fixable. Or you could sell it to me cheap.

 

[ajschnitzelbank]

There’s a guitar repair school near me that offers free repairs by students (they post on Craigslist sometimes). Maybe some young luthier student would repair it for the experience on the understanding they aren’t skilled yet and there’s no guarantee?

 

[yodedude2]

Perhaps it would work as a piccolo bass?

 

[Chop11777]

Bury it in the yard

 

[fhm555]

If I liked it enough I'd at least get a pro assessment and an estimate for that work if they think it's viable. If not hang it on the wall, or maybe make a floor lamp out of it.

 

[DaveParker39]

If I liked it, I would keep it until I could get it repaired.
Display it, whatever, I would hang onto it. It's a cool conversation piece.

If I had no emotional attachment I would probably sell it As-Is and disclose the issues.