Double bass rebuild - not for the faint of heart!

[Stub Mandrel]

On 08/05/2025 at 16:12, The Guitar Weasel said:

Alcohol seems to soften the finish as stands,

 

French polish?

[The Guitar Weasel]

9 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

French polish?

It's possible ... I may try some 99% acetone on an odd area to see if that gets it off. 

[bass_dinger]

On 08/05/2025 at 16:12, The Guitar Weasel said:

Suggestions on a postcard please ... 

 

I looked up suggestions on Google.  Artificial Intelligence told me to use a heat gun, or a sander.  I think that AI confused "double bass" with "floorboards ". Easily done. 

 

My money would be on talking to a violin maker, or a luthier, to ask how they would remove a finish. 

[Hellzero]

1 hour ago, bass_dinger said:

 

I looked up suggestions on Google.  Artificial Intelligence told me to use a heat gun, or a sander.  I think that AI confused "double bass" with "floorboards ". Easily done. 

 

My money would be on talking to a violin maker, or a luthier, to ask how they would remove a finish. 

I think @The Guitar Weasel is some kind of a luthier. 😉

[bass_dinger]

On 02/05/2025 at 16:31, The Guitar Weasel said:

These other basses I looked at were all fixer-uppers, as I am fairly handy - owning a guitar pickup company helps .

 

On 10/05/2025 at 08:40, Hellzero said:

I think @The Guitar Weasel is some kind of a luthier. 😉

You are right - and I am embarrassed!

 

I once tried to clean my 120 year old violin with surgical spirit, which made the finish go all sticky.  When I mentioned surgical spirit to my tame violin repairer, he knew exactly what the problem would be. From that day, I decided that I would leave this work to the experts (like @The Guitar Weasel)

[The Guitar Weasel]

So the neck pocket has gone from this: 

To this 

The shorter end to the left cheek of the neck socket is to allow for a piece of ply to be let in to repair the top. 

Looks a bit neater now  

[The Guitar Weasel]

7.00am this morning - in the cool of the yard outside our Oil City workshop - I took off the extra unwanted neck heel - bringing the neck angle to 90 degrees. This was a bit of a 'brown trouser job' as a cock up here could ruin the whole neck. 

I am getting used to the Japanese saw ... it's very strange cutting on the draw stroke - but by the Lord Harry it razors through maple like soft wood! That's a huge slab of American oak everything is clamped to - somebody just fly-tipped down the road from my house a few weeks ago - amazing what some folks throw out!  

 

I got thing mostly bang on - with a bit of end grain No4 Stanley plane work which was pretty soon sorted. 
The only slight downer is that I now find out the base of the neck pocket itself is a tad out of true with the bass centre line - clearly their production tolerances were a bit iffy - so a little bit of extra plane work will be needed.

 

The lower part of the heel also needs tapered down a lot ... but that's not so 'mission critical'.

[The Guitar Weasel]

I was resisting sticking even low tack tape down the front of the bass to establish a centreline as the finish comes off on masking tape as easily as the finish comes off a Murphy Labs Les paul neck! And that's bloody easily.

I could 'Chinagraph' pencil or wax marking crayon a centre line - but there are so many check lines that go all the way to the wood I'd probably be left with a permanent 'ghost line' - unless of course I strip the whole finish - sigh, that's looking more and more likely. But with a wayward floor to the neck pocket I will have to be a bit more proactive in lining stuff up, so I think the tape is the way to go. 

 

The plan is for the neck to be bolt on - and I'm already coming up with a jig to drill the neck bolt holes exactly in parallel with each other and with the neck. 130mm x M8 high tensile steel Allen key cap bolts (nickel or chrome plated if I can get them) with captive nuts inside the bass - these nuts have 'prongs' that are dragged into the wood when tightened and will be permanently fixed inside.  I plan to mount the nuts on the cap bolts by way of a long rod (and some Blu Tack) through the end pin hole - probably with an auxiliary positioning arm through one of the F holes. Yes it's keyhole surgery (well F hole actually), but the alternative is to cut an access hatch - and I don't do bodges like that! 

 

Yes I could glue the neck joint - but I may well be doing some travelling, and a  bolt on neck double bass is an attractive proposition. The cap bolts will be sunk into the neck heel so they won't be visible.   

[Rosie C]

On 08/05/2025 at 16:12, The Guitar Weasel said:

Suggestions on a postcard please ... 

 

Feel welcome to send villagers with pitchforks and lighted torches, but my first thoughts are a small power sander for the main body and a dremel for the detail  😈

[Beer of the Bass]

I reckon nobody would look askance at a neatly done access hatch on a removable neck bass. Some very well-respected luthiers do them, for example;

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/nz-non-standard-cleveland-removeable-neck-and-sound-post-hatch.562329/