Bumpers...

[Brian Glassman]

Originally Posted by Jeff Bollbach

Hey guys-
Years ago in previous employ we used to scrape off the varnish, score the rib with a checkerboard pattern, and crazy glue the leather bumpers on. Always seemed pretty nasty to me. The problem is that a material like wood or leather will not glue on to a varnished surface well. What I have found to work well is thick neoprene glued on with contact cement. It does not harm the varnish and if they come loose the player can reattach them by themselves without visiting a luthier.

This past summer I decided to finally get my Prescott much need bumpers. The G side upper bout edge was really taking some abuse and I was carrying around an Ingles bass stand to all my gigs just to avoid further damage. From a long life of heavy repairs this bass has some amorphous and uneven rib linings. I took my Prescott to Jeff for bumpers. Eventhough I was initially repelled by the idea of gluing rubber to the bass, Jeff talked me into his fitted black neoprene bumpers instead of hard wood. He sited several advantages to the neoprene. The wood ones would be harder to fit unless I put them further away from the top and back, directly onto the ribs. This would run the risk of possible future damage from the bumpers popping thru or cracking the rib wood. Wood bumpers would have to be glued on by hide glue or some other very strong glue and would not adhere well unless the varnish underneath was sanded down to then bare wood. Short of this some kind of screw or pin would have to be used to prevent the wood bumpers from coming off, perhaps taking precious original wood off along w/ them. OTOH Neoprene bumpers could be glued on with contact cement which would not damage the finish and could easily be re installed by the player if one were to come off w/o any damage to the bass.
The neoprene looks like ebony and provides the bass w/ a bit of cushion when placed down on a hard bare surface. I'm less than 5' 7" tall and play w/ the end pin out only about 2 inches, so when I place this bass down w/ its fairly large lower bouts it rolls along that bout edge a bit. For this reason we decided to place four pairs of bumpers on the G side. One pair on the upper bout and three pair spread along the lower bout. Now I can roll the bass down along the lower bout w/ a pleasant cushiony feel knowing that my edges are being fully protected. In almost 5 months of heavy use none of them have come off yet, knock on wood . Jeff shapes them by hand very nicely so they look good as well. I'll post pix of them when I get a chance. THANKS Jeff!

Ken, I too had read those bumper TB threads in the past and had agreed w/ you about only wanting to use hard wood or maybe leather in a pinch, but I have to admit that Jeff's neoprene really has worked out well and they can always be easily removed w/o any damage. No more schlepping a bass stand (unless I'm doubling on BG on a crowded stage) or a rubber mat to gigs. You may want to consider them for the Loveri, which I saw, BTW, with the top off in Jeff's shop. A beautiful bass.

Happy Winter Solstice Holiday Thing, Bri

__________________

[Ken Smith]

On the Loveri, you saw the Back off, not the top. The Top/Ribs/Neck are still attached. It is the Back that is getting all the much needed work. The Back made with some crotch or butt end knotted wood that looks like a Cat's Eye figure wise..

On the Neoprene, Jeff used that same stuff for the under side of the 'fingers' on my Bisiach Extension. It works great by the way and I look forward to getting my Loveri back sometime next month with some new Neoprene Bumpers on it. I think I'll request them on the Storioni as well.

As far as how much I lay the Bass down, it's not much. I usually lean the Bass C-bout on a chair. When I first saw the Philly Orch., it looked like they had Stools with a side chair for the Bass. I looked high and low for this product and came up empty. Then one day after meeting Hal Robinson I emailed him asking about it and he told me the just place a chair next to each stool as a tradition they have there. Well, I've been doing the chair thing all my life so I've stuck with it. On occasion, there is no chair around to lean the Bass on and I have to lay it down. That's when I need the Bumpers.

[Ken McKay]

Merry Christmas to all.

Paul Warburton uses old pieces of fan belts, and glues then on with rubber cement...works like a charm.

Here's my patentable, removable bumper that I will divulge in the sake of preservation. When you have top or back off, glue on one of these inside the bass at the points where you want to stick the bumbers. Line the bumper underside with felt so the finish will be unharmed.

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/emag34.html

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

Very interesting concept with the magnets.

I first tried rubber cement with the V belt, but they didn't stay on. Maybe I just don't have the touch. Hide glue works well.

[Anselm Hauke]

Originally Posted by Brian Glassman

Jeff talked me into his fitted black neoprene bumpers.............I'll post pix of them when I get a chance.

brian, i really would like to see those pics! Thank you.

[Brian Glassman]

Originally Posted by Anselm Hauke

brian, i really would like to see those pics! Thank you.

Best ones I could take. These pics are under the intense flash of my camera. In regular light they look like ebony.

BTW-Anselm, did you by any chance play in a youth symphony in Bremen under Herbert Kolovski back in 1989?

[Anselm Hauke]

Originally Posted by Brian Glassman

BTW-Anselm, did you by any chance play in a youth symphony in Bremen under Herbert Kolovski back in 1989?

hmm, well, i think i´m gonna send you a pm

edit: thanks for the pix!

[Martin Byrne]

I've recently been on a weeks course with the English player, Danny Thompson.
His fine old full size French Bass, is attributed to Gand C1865 and Danny had Ebony inlaid into the the actual edges of the upper and lower bouts several years ago.

No doubt a tricky job, but it works very well. Has anyone else come across that solution?

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by martini

I've recently been on a weeks course with the English player, Danny Thompson.
His fine old full size French Bass, is attributed to Gand C1865 and Danny had Ebony inlaid into the the actual edges of the upper and lower bouts several years ago.

No doubt a tricky job, but it works very well. Has anyone else come across that solution?

My Hart Bass had small round Ebony bumpers on both sides of the Bass upper and lower bouts. They were inlaid thru the Rib but not thru the Lining. These were very old. The previous restoration was done in 1944 and all the Ribs were doubled inside without any lining so the Bumpers were under the Doubling but thru the Ribs.

All of this work was removed during the recent restoration and the Bumper holes filled. Ribs were re-repaired and Lining was installed inside the Bass as it should be.

Here is a picture of the old Bumpers what little you can see in this pic;

These round Button style inlaid were on both sides, a total of 8 of them on the Bass. Here is what they look like now with the new Ebony fitted (not inlaid) Bumpers.


Hey, I just realized that my first and initial post of this Thread has all thee Pics and more. I mentioned they were 'dowel pinned' but maybe 'inlaid' would have been and easier term to understand.

I can't see what they should be inlaid unless done to cover up some other damage to the Ribs of the Bass. If you mean inlaying them intro the actual Edges of the Top and Back I think that's strange and easy to break off in time. The Purpose of the Bumpers are to actually 'protect' the outer edges. Why use them as Bumpers?

[Matthew Tucker]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

If you mean inlaying them intro the actual Edges of the Top and Back I think that's strange and easy to break off in time. The Purpose of the Bumpers are to actually 'protect' the outer edges. Why use them as Bumpers?

A number of very good contemporary makers either inlay a strip of hardwood into the outside edges, or use hardwood edges in strategic places. It's a fair bit of extra work but ... why not?

Neville Whitehead uses maple half-edging to the purfling line at certain points on new basses

Charton's B21 uses a hard rubber insert into the edges. He claims it is easy to replace when it wears out.