bubba upright Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 Howdy fellow bassists!! I live in Central Florida, where you can drink the humidity, and play upright in a jazz quartet 3 to 6 nights a week. I've lived here for a long time now--so I should be used to it--but for about 15 years now I've been wrestling with my carved upright's top splitting from the side. I've created my own concoctions of super adhesives to try to combat this problem, but even with the strongest glues, the side still seperates from the top. the split goes from where the "C" cut starts parallel to the F hole down around the lower bout for about a foot. I've even had to invest in brown duct tape at times to help control the buzz on the fly. I would very much appreciate any comments or suggestions from anybody with similar problems. Thanks! "Study, study, study...or BONK BONK bad kids!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattC Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 AN old edition of BP magazine details this problem. As I'm on campus right now, I can't get that exact issue, but I will detail a point made therein: Certain seams are made to be able to easily come apart to respond to humidity and temperature. In doing so, the luthiers trade an simple repair for something that would be much more nasty, namely dealing with splitting wood and the like. While it may seem to be counter productive advice, you should not try to adhere it so that it will always stay together. You may not want the bass to split, but you should keep things so that it can. The tension will have to be released somewhere, may as well make it where it was made to be released. ...think funky thoughts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebrownbass Posted December 2, 2003 Share Posted December 2, 2003 Sounds like you have a problem. I agree that the area needs to be glued with exactly the right kind of glue for easy separation. Actually, it should be hot hide glue, which is opened with a hot knife. At this point, you have a couple of problems: I suspect the reason this seam is opening all the time is that inner tensions on the top, as it relaxes are putting undue pressure on it. Second problem: you have put all kinds of spurious glues there, most likely glue on top of glue....that never works. A luthier would probably go in there and remove all the old glue to the bare wood...then reglue with hot glue. He probably would also recommend opening at least the lower bout to relieve tension and reglue it. Bonus is...if you had a luthier do this work (even if they removed the top...about $300, the bass would most likely sound a lot better. "Let's raise the level of this conversation" -- Jeremy Cohen, in the Picasso Thread. Still spendin' that political capital far faster than I can earn it...stretched way out on a limb here and looking for a better interest rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenLoy Posted December 2, 2003 Share Posted December 2, 2003 Yeah, never use anything but hide glue on a double bass... Read this rant by Jeff Bollbach , a well respected double bass luthier about the wisdom of using only hide glue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Hansen Reed Posted December 2, 2003 Share Posted December 2, 2003 Bubbaupright, I had the exact opposite problem the you with the same exact result. Went to college further north than I am living now in a sub arctic desert region. Humidity was less than 10%. It took two years for my bass to split right up the side. I took it to a luthier who fixed the problem and added a layer of finish/laquer something or other to it. The bass does not look nearly as pretty as it did before but he said he could refinish after I left Alaska. I haven't left but it hasn't split (7 years ago). This finish does not affect the tone. I put two buckets of water into my locker to add to the humidity. So far the humidity in my bass locker is 38%. Maybe you should build an wood enclosure, a make shift locker for your bass. Isn't there something to pull humidity out the air (packets that come with shoes and instruments)? Oh wait, desiccant? Put a small amount of desiccant in with it? I have one of those cards that tells me how humid my locker is. I could be way off here but after you take it to a luthier (I don't think this is a do-it-your-selfer), I would find a way to remove some of the atmospheric water from the place you store the bass. Just an Idea. Hansen "What's it going to be then, eh?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tnb Posted December 2, 2003 Share Posted December 2, 2003 BenLoy, thanks for that Jeff Bollbach link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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