What's in a Restoration?

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by David Hosking

Ken,
The work in the neck graft photo looks classy.
Have neck radii changed much over the centuries? David

That was my Prescott. Arnold did a great job keeping the shapes original. If you look close thru the Varnish you can see his work next to Abe's.

[Ken Smith]

A few days ago I visited Arnold and saw the Top of my Hart Bass hitting the home stretch. The Top was pressed out from some sinkage but as Arnold explained, some areas were pressed back in. Apparently, when the center is pushed down under the Bridge other area bulge out like a balloon when you squeeze. It took several months to get the Top re-shaped but it least one restorer in London re-graduated the Top if not more than one. The last being done in 1944 as inscribed in the Bass "Repaired and Tone improved by _ _ _". A dangerous statement made by a Maker/Restorer noted by his timeless inscription carved into the inner Back.

From that 'Repair' in 1944 if not others before, the Top was left too thin in a few areas so new Wood had to be added and then once again, re-graduated to meet with the existing old wood. In about a month or so, all the cracks will be studded and edge work completed. (Arnold? You taking pics as usual? I forgot to bring my Camera on Monday.. swy..)

The Ribs on this Bass were completely doubled and it was not really necessary. Around the Block area a separate Rib was grafted meeting the other tow a few inches from the Block making it a 3-pc lower section. This piece needs to be replaced and re-grafted as well. Doubling in this area will most likely be needed but as for the other Ribs, they all need new Linings as they were either missing or completely 'shot'.

The Flat Back of this Bass is about the best I have ever seen wood and condition wise combined!

[Ken Smith]

I currently have two olde English Basses in Restoration at two different shops. Arnold has my Hart Bass and Biase has my Mystery Bass. Within the same week recently I visited them both and to my surprise I saw the exact same type of method/concept use on both Basses by these two experienced Luthiers.

The Neck Block in the Mystery Bass may or may not be the original but it is very old. The Bass has repairs from 100-150 years ago and the Bass was old at that time as well. The current cut in the Neck Block is an old Dovetail joint but it's pretty messy and can easily be an alteration if the Block is the original. Also, this Bass being build with more Viol style internal work than Violin, could have been a Dovetail as well being that the olde English followed the German School way before they went Italian. This Bass being more of a 4/4 size with about a 44" String length needs a Block-cut to help shorten the playing length. The Block is not quite big enough to cut into and have enough support for the new Neck Graft so Biase laminated a piece of Spruce along the bottom of the Block to make up for the cut that will be made as well as change it from a Dovetail to a standard Mortise. The rest of the length will be made up with the Neck Graft which will be about 1" shorter than the current Neck which may have been an 'Eb' as well. WE should end up with a D-neck just under 42". The Bridge will also be cheated if and as needed being that the Top is very strong and the FFs Eyes are a 'mile' apart (190mm or so). Moving the Bridge forward brings the notes closer to the player.

A few days later I was up at Arnold's shop looking over the work on my Hart Bass (while picking up my Martini and dropping off my Batchelder mainly) when I looked at the Neck Block. Arnold had laminated a piece of Spruce along the bottom of the Block just like Biase did to 'beef-up' it's holding Strength as the mortise area needed to me re-cut slightly. This Block looks to be its original as well.

Two different olde English Basses. Two different Luthiers trained by different people doing the identical type repair. In both Basses, I had expected them to make a new Neck Block because there were problems with them in similar by also different ways. In both cases, the Luthiers decided to preserve the integrity of the Bass as best possible and repair the existing Block.

For this, I thanked and complimented them individually at the time of discovery. A warm feeling in my body went thru me when I saw how much they each respected the Bass they were working on.

On the hart Bass, it did have to get one new Cornerblock made and a new Tailblock. I have the old ones in my collection saved in my office.

On the Mystery Bass, all the Blocks that were on the Bass are still on the Bass. They are ancient and still in 100% working order but with about 200 years of oxidation on them.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

[Charles Federle]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

I currently have two olde English Basses in Restoration at two different shops. Arnold has my Hart Bass and Biase has my Mystery Bass. Within the same week recently I visited them both and to my surprise I saw the exact same type of method/concept use on both Basses by these two experienced Luthiers.

The Neck Block in the Mystery Bass may or may not be the original but it is very old. The Bass has repairs from 100-150 years ago and the Bass was old at that time as well. The current cut in the Neck Block is an old Dovetail joint but it's pretty messy and can easily be an alteration if the Block is the original. Also, this Bass being build with more Viol style internal work than Violin, could have been a Dovetail as well being that the olde English followed the German School way before they went Italian. This Bass being more of a 4/4 size with about a 44" String length needs a Block-cut to help shorten the playing length. The Block is not quite big enough to cut into and have enough support for the new Neck Graft so Biase laminated a piece of Spruce along the bottom of the Block to make up for the cut that will be made as well as change it from a Dovetail to a standard Mortise. The rest of the length will be made up with the Neck Graft which will be about 1" shorter than the current Neck which may have been an 'Eb' as well. WE should end up with a D-neck just under 42". The Bridge will also be cheated if and as needed being that the Top is very strong and the FFs Eyes are a 'mile' apart (190mm or so). Moving the Bridge forward brings the notes closer to the player.

A few days later I was up at Arnold's shop looking over the work on my Hart Bass (while picking up my Martini and dropping off my Batchelder mainly) when I looked at the Neck Block. Arnold had laminated a piece of Spruce along the bottom of the Block just like Biase did to 'beef-up' it's holding Strength as the mortise area needed to me re-cut slightly. This Block looks to be its original as well.

Two different olde English Basses. Two different Luthiers trained by different people doing the identical type repair. In both Basses, I had expected them to make a new Neck Block because there were problems with them in similar by also different ways. In both cases, the Luthiers decided to preserve the integrity of the Bass as best possible and repair the existing Block.

For this, I thanked and complimented them individually at the time of discovery. A warm feeling in my body went thru me when I saw how much they each respected the Bass they were working on.

On the hart Bass, it did have to get one new Cornerblock made and a new Tailblock. I have the old ones in my collection saved in my office.

On the Mystery Bass, all the Blocks that were on the Bass are still on the Bass. They are ancient and still in 100% working order but with about 200 years of oxidation on them.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

This story makes me very happy, not only because instruments that really should be taken well care of are, but because in my opinion they are being taken care of correctly.

I just had to have major surgery for my bass since it was damaged in transit, and I keep almost the exact same sentiments. Don't remove original woods if you don't have to. To me regraduation and refinishing are extremely unwanted operations to be done to a bass.

Through my basses life as I could afford it has undergone many things in order to be restored. These have included a new bass bar, setting the bass up properly, converting it from a 5 back to a 4 string and mostly the repairing of alot of bad work. The bad work is what has been the worst to deal with, the bass used to have alot of extra wood (maybe five pounds of unneeded or extremely heavy cletting was removed and recletted as needed), the bass bar was closer to a 2x4 then anything I had ever seen before, and to make matters worse most of the repairs were done with white glue. I have had to have this all done in 3 stages over the last ten years (being a poor student and having costly repairs are a bad combination), and there are still some work to the bass that could be done, mostly taking apart the rest of the cracks and putting back together so that they are all pretty, but that is something I will have done if and when the top ever needs to come off again. I agree very much with Ken's opinion -- If it is not broke then don't fix it. I do have to say though each time I had a major set of repairs done the bass has come back at least twice as good as before.

[Ken Smith]

Did I mention Scroll repairs from being cut in the past to fit a C-Extension.

A neck graft was performed a few decades ago and the pitch of the Scroll to the fingerboard plane did not allow for an Extension FB without the cutting of the Scroll. Amongst all things about the condition of this bass at time of purchase the thing that bothered me the most then was the cutting of the Scroll.

This is how it looked when I took off the Extension and made new Nut so I can play it normally strung until it went into restoration.


I just got some email pics from Arnold showing the repair of the Scroll cut. Although the repair wood is still in the white I an confident under varnish it will match up just fine. The grain and type of wood used for the repair matches the original very well.

Maybe Arnold will post some pics of it in progress. And then again, maybe not. It's totally up to him. It's my bass but it's his work. When all done, of course I will show it off. Until then, it's in his hands.

[Ken Smith]

I posted this in the Classical Strings/new Pirastro Deluxe, but it's mainly about the bass itself, the Hart. I think this is something people should be aware of when major restorations are performed.

That Flex proto set I was on the fence about? On and off the Hart, then Mougenot and then back on the Hart? Remember my comments here about that?

Well then, we did something..

Unrelated (partially) to strings, I sent the Hart in to Arnold for a 5-year check-up on the restoration break-in. A lot of new wood in there. The Back has a new center and lower brace, the upper-mid left out and only studded on the angle-break. New half-edging all around and 3 different breast patches. One at each end of the bar and one under the post. so.. I asked Arnold to take off the Top and examine the repair wood and see if anything is making the bass overly stiff. The Flex Deluxe's were smooth one one bass and stiff on the Hart so after some nearly out-patient surgery (some of the repair wood trimmed), the Top back on and re-strung with the same strings, a 4th time going on a bass, 3rd time on the Hart, the bass is like half new again. Not new in sound, just improved as if it's a different bass. Twice the power on the bottom as before and the upper notes, as smooth as they were before the first restoration. These strings NOW sound and feel great on this bass as opposed to before.

I attribute this to two possible things. The bass is improved and the strings are broken in combined but, they were broken in the 2nd time they went on and the bass sounded like itself, so it's beyond the break-in theory.

If a bass is tight within itself, a tight string will not help it. It will only amplify that situation. Like putting dark strings on a dark bass. In many cases between a bass and its chosen string, opposites attract.

The Hart is a dark smooth bass. Just not overly powerful, before! Now, it's a cannon and the Flex Deluxe set seems perfectly at home with it. I will play these strings till they 'go'. Then I will put a new set of them on that I already tried on the Panormo. I took them off after a brief trial and will have them available for the Hart when needed. These strings can make your day!

Theadditional work just performed on this bass is something I experienced on my old Italian bass over 35 years ago. Trimming the repair wood that was added can make a huge difference but you have to test the bass for awhile with the work done as-is before determining if the work needs to be trimmed. If repaired too lightly, the repairs could fail causing damage to the bass that was just repaired or new damage. Going back in after the restoration within a reasonable test/break-in time (2-5 years) is preferred.

[Scott Pope]

I agree. It's all a balance between strong enough to withstand use, but still light enough to not impede resonance. I wish I could hear the Hart in person.