Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthew Tucker
Stefano told me that his old italian cornerless bass has sack-cloth lining all around, and no visible wooden reinforcement.
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Sack-cloth lining all around? Oh, ok but it would be nice if we could see some pics of
Stefano Sciascia's Bass you refer to. Also, if the Bass is old and has a lot of rib cracks, stripping like in Jeff's pics would make it easier to repair.
One other thing especially in new Basses is that when the Back moves thru the seasons you want either a seam to pop or the Rib to crack. If the Rib construction is too strong like with 20th century German Basses with lining in and outside the Ribs, Only the Top will crack or in the case of a Flatback, maybe the Back as well.
Just ask any repairman in the northeast how many Juzekish Basses (mainly those Germanic style shop Basses with outer linings on them) are flooding the benches this winter with cracks. Arnold, Jeff and a NJ repairman have told me how busy they are with mainly these 'stronger constructed' Basses just 'cracking up' and not from my jokes!
One of my newer Basses (20th century) was repaired this past summer and in the beginning of this winter each lower seam popped from the bottom Block up about a foot or less on each side a few weeks apart from each other.
After I re-glued them nice and tight with hide glue, the Top split up a few inches from the outer lower flank from the edge thru the purfling in line with the outer edge of the F-hole but only about 6" long.
I glued that right away to stop it from spreading. A week later the lower seam on the same side popped again and this time some splinters of the Back were still on the Ribs so I know it wasn't my Glue job.
The wood just needed to move. Then I decided to leave it alone until after the winter and fix it in the spring after the Bass settles from the dry weather.
So, don't build the Ribs so strong that the Top or Back becomes the first victim.