Old French Bass full Restoration

[matthew]

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Originally Posted on: Thu May 06, 2010

Here’s an interesting project for me. Customer brought in this old bass, found in an attic.



The button carving below and the outline is typical of French “Vuillaume” style basses. This one has no immediately apparent makers mark or label. A mystery bass!



The Scroll has snapped off just below the nut and this will mean a scroll graft repair for sure.



Nice big scroll, looks original, four pegs and a very crusty set of gut strings. This was never a three-stringer. Also the volute has been broken off above the top tuner at some point and repaired but not in a very satisfactory way.



The Scroll gives an idea of the original red-brown varnish which on the rest of the instrument has deteriorated into a pobbly mess. I suspect it was a spirit varnish because of the brittleness of what is remaining, but the heat of the attic has shrunken and denatured whetever was there originally. There are a few spots on the top where the colour shows through. I think the ground is intact and I may be able to keep this by carefully scraping the crud off the surface then cleaning, when it’s time to refinish. That’s a long way off yet.



There are about ten cracks in the top ranging from these long ones to the usual short cracks near the FF tabs. And a nasty sound post crack that will come together OK but require an inlaid patch.



Corners are worn but repairable. This is the worst one.



Inside the top block looks like a bit of a mess, and I think I can see a dowel AND a coachbolt and a split.



The single wide centre brace is typical of French basses but has split in several places and will likely need to be replaced. Not looking forward to that one. The back seam has shrunken and there is one crack as shown but other than that the back is in good condition.



First evidence of home repairs – a weird flat fingerboard held on with a bolt. And some pine blocks underneath, nailed in Sad



Neck heel badly damages, evidence of both professional and home repairs. You can see evidence of a dowel plug on the right near the button.



The ribs have numerous cracks, some repaired, but all the wood is there … and it is lovely wood, as per the back.



Next is for me to open up the instrument to have a look inside!

[Luke]

I am sure we are all going to enjoy watching you fix this one Matthew the customer must have a bag of money Shocked
What would an instrument like this in good playing condition sell for?
Keep up the pics

[matthew]

All I am prepared to say on that subject is that I am confident that the value of the instrument when restored will be at least that of the cost of restoration! Very Happy

[Nick]

It'll buff out. Shocked Laughing Laughing Laughing

I'll also be looking forward to watching this puppy breathe again in your more than capable hands Matthew. Certainly what I would call a problem child but deserve's rehabilitation! Wink

Is the apparent 'black' finish on the front just the old finish in such a bad way Matthew or did they come with a darkened front? The ribs and back look as though they'll be stunning with a bit of TLC though, plenty of flaming in them. Love the bolt in the fingerboard though, classic Laughing .

[Allen]

So, if it's stood up to "ageing" in the attic, it's going to handle just about anything that's thrown at it now. Really looking forward to seeing this one come apart, and then go back together. You really do get some interesting jobs sent your way Matthew.

[Mike Thomas]

Are the back and ribs maple? They appear to have a narrow flame, but plenty of it.

[matthew]

It's lovely flamed maple.

The finish is so deteriorated and black with age and dirt. the original bass would have been something like this one



more info on this sort of instrument here: http://www.stringemporium.com/french-upright-bass.htm

[Mike Thomas]

It's going to look, and no doubt sound, beautiful when the restoration is finished. Do you know yet whether you are going to use an oil or spirit varnish?

[matthew]

Nope I've no idea what finish to use yet. I suppose it depends a bit how the instrument restoration comes up, and what I can resurrect of the original ground. It was a spirit varnish originally. I've had most success with wipe-on oil finishes but this one might require something more traditional.

[matthew]

Removing the top went OK until I hit these nails in the lower and upper bouts.






The bolt holding the neck together came out with a little persuasion.



As I thought, the bolt had several companions!



Top off, time to take a closer look:



Ugly piece of work.



Bottom block area shows previous repairs as you’d expect from a bass of this age.



Top block similar



here’s one of the nastier cracks and edge damage caused by nails and putty! I was interested by what looked like a signature across the linen strip, but once cleaned it appears just a zigzag mark with a pencil. So we know for sure the bass was repaired by Zorro.



Common cracks here. You can see the glue beads of an old white-glue repair on the RHS

[matthew]

Here’s the first look inside. Filthy dirty so I vacuumed out the crud and had a close look all over, but I can’t find any makers marks, or stamps. Perhaps when I do a proper cleanup something may appear, but I doubt it.



Inside the top block – can see splits, and yes, a failed dowel repair PLUS a coach-bolt PLUS a whole load of black resinous stuff, probably resorcinol or something like that.



Some successful repairs. Look at how thick the C bout linings are on the right hand side! They are really well made, and the centre brace sits very snugly up against them.





And some failed ones that I’ll have to redo. But look at how smooth and well-made the blocks are!



These were put in from through the FF holes I think.



The mortise still has the back of the heel firmly attached. I’m not going to worry too much about this as I have to replace the whole block anyway.



Altogether, this heel had one wooden dowel from back of heel diagonally down into the block, which obviously failed, and which was followed by a coachbolt through the same hole and down into the block at another angle. I reckon THIS is what split the block. Then another dowel through from front to back, (probably through the button) which obviously failed, so this was followed by a threaded rod right through from button through to the rustic fingerboard!

[kiwigeo]

The nails suggest that at some stage a coffin builder did some repairs on this instrument. Fascinating stuff and Im looking forward to watching progress reports on this one.

Cheers Martin

[matthew]

Well we already know that Zorro was involved, so maybe one of his mates helped him put the lid back on. MOOHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[kiwigeo]

This is the famous double bass that they nailed Zorro into before they buried him alive.

[Nick]

Could have belonged to a drug smuggler, easy access removable front. Laughing Laughing
Certainly got yourself a challenge there Matthew, if the bass didn't have an historical point of interest or pedigree that front would be kindling in my shop! Razz

[kiwigeo]

Kevin Rudd would fit nicely inside that bass...

[Lillian]

Could have belonged to a drug smuggler, easy access removable front. Laughing Laughing
Certainly got yourself a challenge there Matthew, if the bass didn't have an historical point of interest or pedigree that front would be kindling in my shop! Razz

Think it might be dry enough now?

[Steve]

Bottom block area shows previous repairs as you’d expect from a bass of this age.

Without a maker's stamp, I guess it would be hard to accurately date this bass. Would you hazard any rough guesses?
As the others have said - a really interesting thread. Thanks for being so thorough.
Steve

[matthew]

1850-1900 judging by the patina of the wood and the style of the bass and tuners.

[Allen]

If they had only bent those nails over properly instead of just driving them in straight, that joint would never have failed.

[Luke]

Hey Matthew, this is fascinating as well as a good laugh to watch this job unfold full marks for posting and putting up with the likes of Martin Very Happy

Anyhow, I start to think who has played and owned this instrument where it has been around the world, its history.
No dought some poor blues player like me fashioned the make do fret board.
Imagine the types of music something this old may have played.

[matthew]

Luke that's exactly why the owner and I are keen on restoring such a lump of kindling. The wood underneath is spectacular. It has a history of beautiful music; it has been repaired and repaired again. And a fully restored instrument of this vintage costs more than your average family car.

[John Steele]

If they had only bent those nails over properly instead of just driving them in straight, that joint would never have failed.

Flat head slotted screws would have showed a future thinking of repairs...

This is a pretty cool thread Matthew. Thanks for taking the time to post so many pics and thoughts. That poor thing has been through the ringer!
John

[Kim]

Fascinating stuff Matthew, I always look forward to your posts and this will be a terrific thread to follow. Thanks for taking the time to share with us. Cool

As you point out, this old girl looks to have been quite the belle in her day, well made with lovely figure she will certainly be worthy of your efforts I think. Looking at all the muck insides, just the ridging and texture of it and the bluish colour, it makes me think she may have been caught in a basement flood at some point in time and in rescue placed in a hot dry attic. If the normal passage of time is not enough, a rapid 'dry out' could explain the many cracks and other damage.

Cheers

Kim

[matthew]

Actually cracks are common on double basses for two main reasons. First is use of under-seasoned wood; there is a such a lot of wood in a bass that the shrinkage is relatively large. Second is impact, a bass is a large cumbersome object liable to knocking into doorjambs, kicked by drummers as the leave the stage, little kids pulling the bass down onto them, bass falling onto bridge while in back of the truck, dropped by airline handlers etc etc. Happens. The other thing is that the top should be glued on with weak hide glue so that if there IS an impact or shrinkage, the seam pops, not the top cracks. The popped seams on this bass were eventually NAILED together, and this wouldn't have helped!

In this case I doubt whether the wood is at fault, the fact that there's only one "crack" in the back indicates it was nice and dry from the start.