epoxy ??

[Adrian Levi]

I'm interested in how one can get epoxy off an instrument ! I saw a bass the other day that had literally been 'restored' to a fraction of its former glory with this super rock hard epoxy , and I mean gobs of the stuff !! Even the plates appeared to have been epoxied onto the ribs.

It would seem to me that a significant part of a luthiers time must be undoing other peoples 'repairs' ...

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Adrian Levi

I'm interested in how one can get epoxy off an instrument ! I saw a bass the other day that had literally been 'restored' to a fraction of its former glory with this super rock hard epoxy , and I mean gobs of the stuff !! Even the plates appeared to have been epoxied onto the ribs.

It would seem to me that a significant part of a luthiers time must be undoing other peoples 'repairs' ...

This was repaired over there where you are with epoxy or came from somewhere else?

You will loose some original wood where ever the epoxy touched the wood as it sinks into the fibers. This will double the time of a restoration if not triple it to restore it correctly. One of the Basses I have in restoration had a similar problem so I know now how difficult this epoxy stuff is to remove from talking to the luthier doing this job. When all is done, no one will ever know epoxy had touched that bass, hopefully..

[Calvin Marks]

Adrian, where are you finding these basses? I didn't even know there were so many instruments in South Africa period.

[Adrian Levi]

[quote=Ken Smith;16793]This was repaired over there where you are with epoxy or came from somewhere else?

I'm guessing the bass in question was probably repaired over here , but one never knows.I think its another older german bass!I passed on buying it due to
the epoxy problem.
I would have thought that there was some sort of solvent to break the stuff down !

[Adrian Levi]

Originally Posted by Calvin Marks

Adrian, where are you finding these basses? I didn't even know there were so many instruments in South Africa period.

They are everywhere

[Brian Gencarelli]

Originally Posted by Adrian Levi

I'm interested in how one can get epoxy off an instrument ! I saw a bass the other day that had literally been 'restored' to a fraction of its former glory with this super rock hard epoxy , and I mean gobs of the stuff !! Even the plates appeared to have been epoxied onto the ribs.

It would seem to me that a significant part of a luthiers time must be undoing other peoples 'repairs' ...

A match.

[Arnold Schnitzer]

A few years back I restored a nice French bass that had an epoxied-in breast patch. After planing out all the patch wood, I was left with a thick, uneven layer of epoxy. I tried every possible chemical I could get my hands on, and nothing worked. My solution was to run a convex scraper blade against a grinding wheel to create a vicious burr, then scrape until it went dull (5 minutes or so), then repeat over and over. It took a few days to get down to untouched wood, and some original material was lost. During the process I learned several new curse words and used them often.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Arnold Schnitzer

A few years back I restored a nice French bass that had an epoxied-in breast patch. After planing out all the patch wood, I was left with a thick, uneven layer of epoxy. I tried every possible chemical I could get my hands on, and nothing worked. My solution was to run a convex scraper blade against a grinding wheel to create a vicious burr, then scrape until it went dull (5 minutes or so), then repeat over and over. It took a few days to get down to untouched wood, and some original material was lost. During the process I learned several new curse words and used them often.

Do you happen to know what shop that was that did that patch?

I saw an Italian Bass with the same thing and it was like a horror. What a crime.

The sad thing about this is that at least one shop I know of that did that epoxied-in breast patch deal is STILL doing it like that as well as other things on the 'never do' list. Yet, people still go there thinking they are getting a good deal on an old restored bass or just letting them restore their own bass.

How long can a Doctor purposely commit similar crimes to patients before getting shut down?

If only the poor basses could speak up for themselves.

Whenever a bass from that shop comes in for sale or trade and I know before hand where it's been, I usually back down on any such deal for trade or sale. Sometimes however, its too late as I find out later that what I bought was once restored over there. My bad luck in that case because re-fixing it is way harder and more expensive that fixing it right in the first place. Not to mention that these epoxe repairs fail over time., Epoxy does not bond the repair wood like hide glue does so it will need fixing again regardless.

[Eric Hochberg]

How about letting us know which shop it is so we don't make the mistake of buying a bass from them?

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Eric Hochberg

How about letting us know which shop it is so we don't make the mistake of buying a bass from them?

For legal protection I can't say it on line or in writing anywhere. You can PM me and maybe get a clue. In the mean time. the only two people in the NY area I feel totally safe dealing with on both repairs and sales are Jeff Bollbach and Arnold Schnitzer. Another shop I have done business with in NY is Paul Biase. These three shops are excluded from the Epoxy mess. That's all I will say. Upstate NY I have had work done in the past by Peter Eibert and trust him as well. He is getting up there in years and is probably close to retiring, being a ripe young age now of about 83 or so. So, that makes 4 people in the State. A 5th who is way upstate NY is Robert McIntosh. He has and is doing work for me as we speak and is one of the best in the repair business as well.

I am not saying that any other shops in NY not mentioned can't do good work. I am just telling you where I go and who I feel safe with.

Let's leave it at that for now, please. I know several others in the business that I don't necessarily do business with but am acquainted with them. These others have always treated me with respect personally and professionally so I have to show some level of reserve here regardless or my opinions of what kind of work is correct and what is not. I think I have said plenty already.