Old French Bass full Restoration

[Kim]

You're not ignorant, just observant! I was wondering when someone would ask ...

I found that the edges of the bone have a variety of different curves in them. So I use it a bit like a "french curve" to help me lay out and scribe the line of the purfling. I did tidy the edges of the bone a bit with a file in places. And first, of course, I had to cook and eat the osso bucco.

I'm surprised no-one asked about photo #3 in my last post ...

Well there ya go, I had assumed the bone was probably used as a sanding caul and thought no more of it. Tis good to watch and learn though, thanks Matthew.

Cheers

Kim

[matthew]

Very small update to complete the picture - here's another shot of the original block with the grain lines highlighted. You can clearly see how it cracked, and why choice of the right wood for even the humble internal blocks is important for the longevity of a bass!

[DarwinStrings]

Wow, that surprised me, is that the way you normally orient the grain in that part of a bass. Looks like they grabbed a faggot from the wood shed.

Jim

[matthew]

No it's not normal and yes they probably DID grab a faggot from the woodshed. And not dry enough by the look of it!

[charangohabsburg]

Seems that this bass grew right on the tree. The neck block was the apple's stem.

[matthew]

Here we go again.

Remember the scroll badly glued with lashings of PVA?



Well I had to break the "repair" open. Very carefully.



Its very hot and humid here in Sydney and not a good time to be gluing neck blocks so I'm going to clean out all the PVA.

Here's my workshop for the afternoon:



The equipment



The PVA mess







VERY fiddly job. Steam, vinegar, stiff brush, pick pick pick with sharp knife and tweezers and a LOT of patience. More like dentistry than luthiery. All done with a 10x magnifying visor, too.



Scroll side cleaned up



In this very odd photo of my leg and thumb, on the back of the scroll you can see a fracture where the pegbox is almost breaking through.



More rubbery goo.



Before and after.



Much better.

A bit daunting to think that this all has to glue back together and be strong enough for a neck graft later.

You wouldn't think it, but probably an hour and a half's work all up

The only mishap was when I took a swig of old vinegar instead of my glass of ouzo and ice.



In all this closeup work I've had a good look at this head. VERY long, nicely cut, blackened chamfers, and I think it's beech, not the usual maple.

[charangohabsburg]

Great job Matthew! One and a half hour doesn't seem much to me for this cleanup.

How much vinegar and how much steam did you apply, and which when? Could you tell us a little bit more about that process?

No questions about the use of ouzo.

Thank you indeed for this phantastic thread, and sorry for asking even for more...

Btw: very nice afternoon's workshop, enjoy!

[Lillian]

Ouzo? Nasty stuff. The smell forever burned into my brain. I was two and a half months pregnant, holding a subordinate's hair back as she go rid of the 5 - 6 glasses of ouzo she had down in less then 2 hours, trying desperately not to puke on her. I can't even take a whiff of it now, some 22 years later.

[duh Padma]

Well Matthew,
me is impressed. Thank you for posting this restoration. Very enjoyable read.
Me gotta admire dudes like you who have the patience to deal with stuff like this. If that were my bass, it would have been painted white and rented out as window dressing.


blessings

[Nick]

The patience of a saint & the constitution of a goat Nothing like a good mouthful of vinegar! I thought that glass in your 'equipment' photo was too small for the brown lubricant.
I'm just sitting back loving the ride Matthew, thanks for the guided tour. I note the lashings of PVA seems to be the only thing that was holding the headstock together before, will you be adding any reinforcement (e.g. pins) when you reglue or just relying on making a better job of the gluing?

[matthew]

Glue alone will not hold this together I fear, It's going to need quite extensive work with a grafted neck right up into the pegbox and maybe external work on the cheeks as well.. You'll see. But you'll have to wait ...

[Puff]

"You'll see. But you'll have to wait ..."
You starting to sound like Padma

[kiwigeo]

I think of Matthew everytime I watch "Bionic Vet" on the ABC. Dedicated luthier extraordinaire taking on cases nobody else would touch with a barge pole.

[Puff]

Yep - and that crack about the cheeks... reckon he's trying to cross reference threads here

[rocket]

That guy is definitely "old school"

[matthew]

Old School? Old Fart more like. Now I need TWO pairs of specs for this sort of work



remember this? The cracked block needs to be replaced.







some twit used nails in the top edge of the ribs.



more ironwork for the collection!



A lot of steam, water, heatgun, leverage and cursing later, the block came away with the ribs unscathed.





remember what it used to be like in there?



YUK! All that black crap had to be wetted, heated and scraped off.





here is the new block being glued in with temporary cauls.

[Allen]

What's the new block made from Matthew? Looks like it might be Douglas Fir.

[matthew]

this one is made from western red cedar, as dense as I could find, built up from three pieces

[Clancy]

Yay, my favourite thread continues.

[matthew]

you can see how the upper edge has been damaged by those pesky nails.



The block is oversized and will need some trimming. I'll also have to trim those rib edges off neatly. I'll lose about a cm of original rib, but it is no big consequence.

[Lillian]

That neck block looks a lot like hemlock to me. They can be similar in appearance, but hemlock lacks the hamster cage smell and it doesn't dent as easily.

[matthew]

It's been a while.

Some progress here.

[needsmorecowbel]

Thanks Matthew is looking really great!

[Kamusur]

Excellent work young fella

Steve

[kiwigeo]

Thanks for the update Matthew...