Double Bass Top caving in

[Jordan Logue]

I am Trustee of a non-profit foundation that has a large collection of instruments that we loan to students. They have been stored unused in a warehouse since 2019. Climate controlled and all precautions, but stored on racks, unplayed. I can only assume that the strings were lowered in tension when they were put away, but assumptions are dangerous. The situation is that the tops cave in when the strings are brought up to pitch. I have examined one with an endoscope and can detect a crack in the bass bar, but there may be more that I cannot see. They are all Kays, student models. It seems the repair would be more expensive than the instruments are worth. They have many other issues as well, such as delaminations, unidentified buzzes and rattles, and phone numbers scratched into the finish. Anyone have a suggestion as to how to even do a cost/benefit analysis on the repairs? Thanks.

 

[Don Hergert]

If you're anywhere near Asheville NC, our own @james condino is the Kay specialized luthier to talk to about Kays ( kaybassrepair.com ); given the potential scope of your project, I'd suggest talking with him first.

Additonally we have a number of other excellent DB luthiers and collectors of Kays and other DBs here that hopefully you'll also hear from.

>> It might be worth additionally noting, when a DB's strings are slack, it's very common for the sound post to fall. If the sound post has fallen, the DB in question should not be brought up to pitch until the sound post has been re-positioned appropriately by a specialist -- a fallen sound post by itself could cause the top under normal string tension to collapse and the bass bar to crack. <<

 

[LouisF]

Bravo on what you and your foundation are doing. Thank you!

As noted above, depending where you are, there TB affiliated luthiers who could help.

The other prospect might be to determine how many basses you need for your program (and depending how many basses you have) sell of the Kays and buy a few newer/better ones. There would be a market for them, I think.

 

[dperrott]

Bass bars coming off on a plywood is a common problem. It depends where you are about the prices. I repair them with out taking off the top, via opened seams and the f hole. It often returns the top to its proper shape

 

[jmpiwonka]

>> It might be worth additionally noting, when a DB's strings are slack, it's very common for the sound post to fall. If the sound post has fallen, the DB in question should not be brought up to pitch until the sound post has been re-positioned appropriately by a specialist -- a fallen sound post by itself could cause the top under normal string tension to collapse and the bass bar to crack. <<

This seems more likely than a top crack given laminated tops are not known to crack frequently.

 

[james condino]

This seems more likely than a top crack given laminated tops are known to crack frequently.

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[jmpiwonka]

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lol, simple typo. Posting from phone