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Old 09-22-2007, 08:19 PM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Cool Final leg...

The Hart Bass is on its final leg of the restoration process. A few Purfling repairs and it goes into the 'Varnish Rack' For touch up. Arnold will rough out the new Chromatic Extension first and then start the Varnish process. There are a few new Edges, half-edged all around inside the Top, Tuner hole inlay pieces and new Scroll Cheeks to repair the damage from the ill-fitted brass plates.

I was at Arnold's shop today and much to my surprise, he had the Bass temporarily strung up for me to play. It looked like it was delicate with all the repair work exposed on the Top, Back, Ribs and Scroll but the Bass is strong as a Tank.

Even in its rough state, she sounded beautiful with sweetness on the G and D string and smooth low end spread on the A and E. The Bass was even sounding from top to bottom.

For the empty hole/missing emblem in the upper Back, I had a brass coin made to fit in the existing empty circle. The letters go around the edge and say "J.HART" (at the top as it was originally stamped inside the Bass 4x) and "LONDON" (at the bottom where it was made). The letters were engraved in the Brass and then the Coin was put in an ultra sonic machine to pre-oxidize it to match the aged look of the brass Baker gears. The letters were filled in with black ink as well to stand out.

The Hart coin looks nearly identical in color and age as do the original Baker Gears which by the way are fantastic. Today is the first time I have seen them mounted directly to the Scroll cheeks without the brass plates. What an improvement!

By the way, this is my personal Bass and not one I am trying to sell.
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