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What to do with broken double bass?


lobematt
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Hey everyone, just looking for a bit of advice.

A couple of months ago I knocked my bass over and snapped the neck off. I got a few quotes for the repair and the job was looking to be £1000+ which is more than the bass is worth. I got myself a cheapish Thomann bass so I can keep playing but now I don't know what to do with this bad boy?

I'm tempted to post it as an ebay auction with no reserve to recoup whatever money I can from it but I'm willing to let it go to a good home for nothing really if somebody wanted to take it on as a project.

Any ideas??

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Difficult to see how it would clear anything at auction, given the PITA of collection as well.  

Wonder if you could strike a deal with a luthier in these straightened times. They repair it for a reduced rate, knowing it will be sold and they can recoup X, you get anything above this. 

Or if you were just thinking of giving it away, maybe said luthier would take it off your hands to repair in their own time, and eventually move it on as a 'Cat-D' starter bass for someone. 

Don't really know how the economics work here tbh. Fully appreciate most luthiers are on v low comparative hourly rate when you break down how much they do. 

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29 minutes ago, Drax said:

Difficult to see how it would clear anything at auction, given the PITA of collection as well.  

Wonder if you could strike a deal with a luthier in these straightened times. They repair it for a reduced rate, knowing it will be sold and they can recoup X, you get anything above this. 

Or if you were just thinking of giving it away, maybe said luthier would take it off your hands to repair in their own time, and eventually move it on as a 'Cat-D' starter bass for someone. 

Don't really know how the economics work here tbh. Fully appreciate most luthiers are on v low comparative hourly rate when you break down how much they do. 

My new bass is in need of a set up, could maybe swap a set up for the broken bass? 

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20 hours ago, TheRev said:

If the neck and fingerboard are undamaged, you might be able to flog it to someone for an EUB build?

Even the fingerboard on its own is worth trying to sell, if it's ebony.

The finger board is actually flamed maple that's been stained black. Looks quite pretty but not sure how much value it has...

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You'd be surprised at how many people would want to have a project like this. Gear 4 Music often sell off their broken returns on everybody's favorite auction site and they always seem to ask fairly decent money for them. It looks like a ply bass so most luthiers wouldn't be that interested but the upside is it can be repaired with normal white wood glue and some G clamps. Better than giving it away, or burning it...

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just wondering what you decided to do with this bass @lobematt ?
It doesn't look that bad, in all honesty. I'd be tempted to have a go at repairing it myself - you might learn some valuable lessons about repairs.....


Otherwise, list it on eBay - as there's always someone out there who fancies "having a go". 
Best of luck with it anyway, and moreover, sorry to hear of this accident :( 

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's not a terribly difficult repair. I had a similar incident happen, and cleaned up the joints, glued and clamped them, and it's been like that for 27 years now. The only thing you have to really watch is that you install the neck straight (centre line of neck lines up with centre line of body). I used aliphatic resin (pva) which is not really the proper thing to do, but the repair cost me nothing.

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  • 2 months later...

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