Best bass for metal is definitely one being slowly eaten by worms
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Wormwood
- Thread starter Bluesbob
- Start date
It's natural chambering. The bass gains value by the day.
I envy real worms in my bass. I have simulated worms:
I envy real worms in my bass. I have simulated worms:
If you look closely they are more egg-shaped than round. Classic woodworm.
One way to establish if there is still an infestation is to suspend the instrument horizontally an inch or so over some white paper and leave a few days. If there are active larvae you will see small piles of fine saw-dust on the paper.
If it's a poly finish, fill each hole with acetone (as a poison), and let it sit till it fully evaporates. Then drop fill each hole with resin, epoxy, or professional quality Super Glue. Level, wet sand in steps, then rebuff and repolish the body.
If it's a lacquer finish, then use lighter fluid as the poison and lacquer for the drop fills.
If it's a lacquer finish, then use lighter fluid as the poison and lacquer for the drop fills.
Search for powderpost beetle. The eggs were in the wood before it was finished. This is most likely a manufacturing defect, and should go back to them for replacement. If this is an older instrument, then it is possible the beetles gained access to an unfinished part of the wood where they could lay their eggs. Heat will kill them, but it takes several hours at a minimum of 133 degrees Fahrenheit. That's internal wood temperature - not just the temperature of the air around it.
Jeff
Jeff
We have an antique dining room set made from wormy chestnut...as for an instrument with evidence of wood borers, not so much, but I’m sure there are some that would pay good money for that.
Take the bass to the Ukraine and let it spend a few minutes at Chernobyl or 3 Mile Island or Okuma, Japan. Fixed.
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I agree, and said as much earlier. What is interesting in the pictures is that all of the holes appear to be one side of the join, which supports the idea that the wood may well have been infested before it was even built into an instrument. If I was the builder I would want to know about this so as to check my wood stores.
This is not a joke. Those are Ash Boring Beetles. They nearly destroyed the crop of ash lumber in the US about 15 years ago. Many instrument manufacturers and Luthiers were badly affected. I personally had an infestation in my shop and had to build all new bodies for two $4500 basses.
Here's a thread all about this problem:
Ash issues
The bad news is: You cannot get them out of there. Freezing, insecticides, etc work with some other types of beetle infestations, but not with these guys. You can kill off the ones on the surface, but they've already laid their eggs deep down inside. Next spring, the kids will be back. And every year after that.
That bass is ruined. The ash boards have to be cut off and replaced. The Ash Borers only go for ash, and won't spread into other woods.
Here's a thread all about this problem:
Ash issues
The bad news is: You cannot get them out of there. Freezing, insecticides, etc work with some other types of beetle infestations, but not with these guys. You can kill off the ones on the surface, but they've already laid their eggs deep down inside. Next spring, the kids will be back. And every year after that.
That bass is ruined. The ash boards have to be cut off and replaced. The Ash Borers only go for ash, and won't spread into other woods.
Not the OPs bass as it's ruined. But will roasting planks kill these? I really prefer ash for body woods for my builds.
I don't know for sure, but I'll guess that the boring beetles wouldn't go for roasted ash boards. I assume that the moisture in the board is part of their diet, and a roasted board is much more dried out and sealed up.
In my shop, they found and infested every little scrap of bare dry ash that I had. Except for one board, if I remember right, which must have tasted bad. They didn't touch any other species of wood. And they didn't touch any of my ash-bodied completed basses that had full poly finishes.
The two of my bass bodies that they destroyed had full gloss finishes, but the boards that I built them from were already infested and had eggs down inside.
- Finishing an ash board that's already infested doesn't kill them or keep them out.
- Finishing an un-infested ash board does appear to keep them away.
- Once a board is infested, it's ruined. You cannot un-infest it.
I don't use ash much these days, but if I do it will only be with a full relatively thick finish. And making sure that all the pockets and corners are sealed up too.
They can make a right mess. This is one of the timbers in my house. It's over 500 years old now so a bit too hard and dry for them, but once upon a time...
Here's one of the little buggers, an Ash Boring Beetle. This is a mature beetle, taking a brief break on the surface after munching another tunnel through an ash bass body. I swear I heard him belch.
And this is what he and his buddies were munching on, an unfinished ash mule body. They got into the one side of it, and I had to send it to the landfill. I presume that they finished it off there. Burp.
These pictures are from around 2008.
And this is what he and his buddies were munching on, an unfinished ash mule body. They got into the one side of it, and I had to send it to the landfill. I presume that they finished it off there. Burp.
These pictures are from around 2008.
