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Old 01-10-2011, 07:02 AM
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Matthew Tucker Matthew Tucker is offline
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I'm not quite sure what "qualified" means, actually. I have never apprenticed with anybody nor done any courses in luthiery let alone carpentry. However, I do seek out and - sponge-like - absorb knowledge, filter it, and store it away to use later in my own concoctions. And I love what I do.

Actually i suspect that many of the repairs on this bass, including the metalwork, were done by "qualified" luthiers. The holes were drilled accurately, the dowelling fit properly, certainly the screw through the heel was done neatly and finished with a proper wooden plug. I'm less impressed with the bolt through the button and the damage that caused to the button area. The nails around the rim ... well yes, that's an amateur repair.

I think the problem with this bass may have been the choice of wood for the top block. Probably not quite dry enough and too close to the centre of the trunk; I suspect it cracked fairly early in the bass's life and everything since, the wobbly neck, the cracks in the top and ribs, the open seams, etc etc came about as a consequence.
The only repair worth doing was a block replacement and that didn't happen; everything else was bound to fail at some point or other.

I'm considering a laminated top block, and since I'm going to need to rebuild the neck/scroll from scratch or do a scroll graft, we may opt for a bolt-on neck as I have done for my other basses.
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