Is this practical?

[JoeyNaeger]

I don’t know how familiar people are with Solano’s work, but they are known for having some issues with their construction. In December of 2005 I had a rib pop open in the middle of a concert down the entire length of the rib. This was when the bass a little over a year old. Solano repaired it well and he did it for free. He laminated some more wood to the rib, but he also decided to do this to all the ribs. It was obvious when the rib was split, that there was a tremendous amount of force pulling on the wood. That and some talk I’ve heard makes me think there is a sprung bass bar or something causing all that tension. If that’s the case, would it really be beneficial to replace the bass bar with one that really fits right? Also, if this turns out to be the source of the problem, I want to have the extra wood removed because it makes the bass heavier and can’t be helping the sound. This seems a little extravagant, but if it will prevent future problems, then perhaps it’s worth it. The biggest factor I guess will be getting a quote from the luthier I will have it done by, but I’d like some of yall’s input on the matter too.

[Arnold Schnitzer]

I'd bet money you have a flat-back bass.

[JoeyNaeger]

Nope, it's a carved back.

[Arnold Schnitzer]

Surprising. I doubt you have a bass bar issue. I don't think a sprung bass bar would exert enough force to blow open a rib. I think perhaps the back has dried out and tried to shrink, resulting in the edges pulling away from the rib assembly. Have you had open back seams? If so, was the gap wide? When you say more wood was laminated to the ribs, do you mean narrow strips or full-width? With the grain or across it?

[JoeyNaeger]

I've never had any seams open before. The wood is full width, and the flame of the new wood is parrellel with the flames on the rib wood if that is what you mean.

[Arnold Schnitzer]

If the back was attached with very strong glue, and a seam tries to pop open (but cannot), a rib will split (or the top will). Sounds like he completely doubled the ribs as a fix.

[Ken Smith]

If the back was attached with very strong glue, and a seam tries to pop open (but cannot), a rib will split (or the top will). Sounds like he completely doubled the ribs as a fix.

911, 911, mayday, mayday...

Like Arnold has said and preached and is proven, when the wood moves, something has to go. The wood is not flexible enough to just bend. In this case, the Top is most likely to split becoming the most expensive repair over Ribs cracking or seams splitting open. Also, with the tension on the Bass Bass and Sound Post, those are likely candidates. Other 'hot spots' include the outer flanks or 'wings' as I like to refer to them being the area just below the FFs or in line with them down to the bottom of the Bass as well as the upper or lower bout areas of the Top depending on where the stress actually is. Most Backs are stronger than the Top especially if the Back is carved and not flat.

I have two Basses that just came over from Italy and both of them had some minor Top splitting due to the shifting of the plates of the Bass. I think mainly the Back and some with the Ribs caused this. I have re-glued the Ribs several times on one of the Basses and the other with outer linings has had 2 splits and some other cracks open as well as some seam openings.

Other than a Bass changing location or the seasons changing I would suspect that a new Instrument doing this early on could also be due to poorly seasoned wood. I have a 4 year old Bollbach Bass that has a 10 year aged top and 5 year aged Back and Rib set all additionally dried in the build area. My two Shens now 5 and 10 years all are also crack free. The 10 year old Bass opened in two small areas in the seam for a few inches only. This is also a good sign of well aged woods pre-building the Bass as Sam Shen had personally described his aging methods and concerns about dried woods to me about 10 years ago. These newer Basses I mentioned above have had very little humidity control care if at all for their life and still they hold up in the Northeast USA for years without incident while other Basses around them split left and right like a Ballerina!

A good sounding Bass is not always a well made Bass. A well made Bass is not always made with well seasoned woods. A well designed, well made, good sounding and made with good aged timbers is something we rarely see these days with the masses of Basses being put out. Shop good before you purchase and spend you money wisely.