Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Bollbach
Hey guys-
Years ago in previous employ  we used to scrape off the varnish, score the rib with a checkerboard pattern, and crazy glue the leather bumpers on. Always seemed pretty nasty to me. The problem is that a material like wood or leather will not glue on to a varnished surface well. What I have found to work well is thick neoprene glued on with contact cement. It does not harm the varnish and if they come loose the player can reattach them by themselves without visiting a luthier. |
This past summer I decided to finally get my Prescott much need bumpers. The G side upper bout edge was really taking some abuse and I was carrying around an Ingles bass stand to all my gigs just to avoid further damage. From a long life of heavy repairs this bass has some amorphous and uneven rib linings. I took my Prescott to Jeff for bumpers. Eventhough I was initially repelled by the idea of gluing rubber to the bass, Jeff talked me into his fitted black neoprene bumpers instead of hard wood. He sited several advantages to the neoprene. The wood ones would be harder to fit unless I put them further away from the top and back, directly onto the ribs. This would run the risk of possible future damage from the bumpers popping thru or cracking the rib wood. Wood bumpers would have to be glued on by hide glue or some other very strong glue and would not adhere well unless the varnish underneath was sanded down to then bare wood. Short of this some kind of screw or pin would have to be used to prevent the wood bumpers from coming off, perhaps taking precious original wood off along w/ them. OTOH Neoprene bumpers could be glued on with contact cement which would not damage the finish and could easily be re installed by the player if one were to come off w/o any damage to the bass.
The neoprene looks like ebony and provides the bass w/ a bit of cushion when placed down on a hard bare surface. I'm less than 5' 7" tall and play w/ the end pin out only about 2 inches, so when I place this bass down w/ its fairly large lower bouts it rolls along that bout edge a bit. For this reason we decided to place four pairs of bumpers on the G side. One pair on the upper bout and three pair spread along the lower bout. Now I can roll the bass down along the lower bout w/ a pleasant cushiony feel knowing that my edges are being fully protected. In almost 5 months of heavy use none of them have come off yet, knock on wood
. Jeff shapes them by hand very nicely so they look good as well. I'll post pix of them when I get a chance. THANKS Jeff!
Ken, I too had read those bumper TB threads in the past and had agreed w/ you about only wanting to use hard wood or maybe leather in a pinch, but I have to admit that Jeff's neoprene really has worked out well and they can always be easily removed w/o any damage. No more schlepping a bass stand (unless I'm doubling on BG on a crowded stage) or a rubber mat to gigs. You may want to consider them for the Loveri, which I saw, BTW, with the top off in Jeff's shop. A beautiful bass.
Happy Winter Solstice Holiday Thing
, Bri
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