too much wood ?

[Thomas Erickson]

Originally Posted by wayne holmes

don't take off the top and back at the same time.

bah, where's the fun in that?

[Matthew Tucker]

That linen repair looks OK to me. And the blocks, OK so they're nice and solid, but they don't look too heavy to me. They look well made; I'd leave them. Apparently the linings for the C bouts were typically sawn rather than bent which is why they are thicker. Fairly easy to replace but I'd rather replace them on a free edge than one glued to top because clamping is much simpler! The other linings can be thinned carefully with a plane, but I doubt whether these changes alone will make much of a difference.

Have you posted pics elsewhere of the bass so I can see the button/scroll/ffs?

[Adrian Levi]

Have you posted pics elsewhere of the bass so I can see the button/scroll/ffs?[/quote]

Her are some pics . The linings are separated from the ribs in many places and will need to be removed and re-attached. The neck block is also not in great shape and I see that the neck foot bottom is not flush with the neck block floor .
Hmm - looks like more repairs than I thought . I cant believe that the 'bass mechanic' gave this bass back to me with a smile and said "now that its repaired all we have to do is a little tweaking to get her sounding great"

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Adrian Levi

Here are some pics . The linings are separated from the ribs in many places and will need to be removed and re-attached. The neck block is also not in great shape and I see that the neck foot bottom is not flush with the neck block floor .
Hmm - looks like more repairs than I thought . I cant believe that the 'bass mechanic' gave this bass back to me with a smile and said "now that its repaired all we have to do is a little tweaking to get her sounding great"

What happened to the varnish? That hurts the value usually unless it was already gone by someone before and you had no choice. Still, original varnish should never be stripped in my opinion. The lining is about 2-4x what it needs. have that width and less thickness. It only needs to aid the plate-rib glue surface. The excess dampens the tone. Most likely this is a Mirecourt factory bass and was made on a 'Friday' from the looks of that neck/block fit..

[Adrian Levi]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

What happened to the varnish? That hurts the value usually unless it was already gone by someone before and you had no choice. Still, original varnish should never be stripped in my opinion. The lining is about 2-4x what it needs. have that width and less thickness. It only needs to aid the plate-rib glue surface. The excess dampens the tone. Most likely this is a Mirecourt factory bass and was made on a 'Friday' from the looks of that neck/block fit..

Sadly when I got the bass it had been re-varnished with a color that was horribly red and so I have stripped the bass and will redo it after its playable.
The scroll may have original varnish under some clear coat of something , and the small piece of color on the button I think may be original .

That neck was knocked out of the neck block and was reset like that by the aforementioned 'bass mechanic' . As a matter of fact the very reason that I am learning to repair instruments is because of how much money and time I waisted trying to have this bass repaired.

[Adrian Levi]

ken , is it possible to hazard a guess as to the age of the bass ?I'm guessing
early 1900s ..

Also I'm guessing that one cant expect a huge difference in tone by merely cutting the linings down ?

Could it be worth it sound wise to replace or cut down the end block.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Adrian Levi

ken , is it possible to hazard a guess as to the age of the bass ?I'm guessing
early 1900s ..

Also I'm guessing that one cant expect a huge difference in tone by merely cutting the linings down ?

Could it be worth it sound wise to replace or cut down the end block.

The end block has water damage, maybe from a Dampit. Seal the cracks with something on the block and don't trim too much from it or, make a new block fresh.

The linings being smaller will free up the Rib vibrations and it WILL make a noticeable difference in the sound/tone. Give any bass going thru a full restoration from 2-5 years to settle in with the sound it will have going forward. Re-repairing after a big restoration within that time is sometimes done as the bass settles from all the work as well.