I bought an old English Bass early in 2006 in much need of repair. Since it was a supposed Fendt (later discovered to be a Hart Bass) with the sound to match, the repair costs didn't scare me. One thing was that it had Bumpers on both sides, upper and lower Bouts. They were circular Ebony buttons *about 5/8" in diameter (*Arnold might have some left to measure).
My plan was to maybe put them only on one side when the Bass was done but when the Top, Back and Rib assembly were all apart and the restoration underway we noticed that the Bumpers were 'dowel' pinned somehow into the Ribs. This Bass had its Ribs completely doubled so this was not visible until the doubling was removed from the inside. Now, I had 8 holes in the Ribs that had to be filled.
The new plan was to make 8 new Bumpers and cover all the repaired holes. Heres some 'before and after' pics;
Sorry about the hard to see b4 pics. Here's the 'after' shots showing the new Bumpers along with the Gilkes;
The other day I was on an Orchestra gig and my buddy using my Gilkes mentions that I laid the Hart Bass down on the wrong side when he noticed the Bumpers on the 'up side'. I proudly said "it has Bumpers on both sides".
The Gilkes he was using only had them on one side.
My Loveri is now in restoration and nearing its completion. I just called Jeff Bollbach and told him I want Bumpers on the Bass when it's done. With the Loveri the Bumpers are very necessary since the Ribs are
nearly flush with the Top and Back. The Back was just widened to overlap the Ribs a bit but the Top is still mostly flush. The Bumpers will help keep the edges from further damage. I will post the b4 and after of the Loveri when it's complete as well.