Andyjr1515 Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 (edited) Just a short one this time - both the thread and the bass A couple of weeks ago @tauzero contacted me to see if I was up for taking on a small job on his beautiful Sei headless: He explained the problem: "Six years ago, I dropped it in a gig bag and it landed on the lower edge of the bottom bout. Because the core is quite thin, there's not a lot of meat around the jack socket area, and the impact cracked the centre core and sheared it away from the front and back laminates" At the time @jayDee did the fix and - wow - FANTASTIC job! It was an invisible mend and, honestly, I STILL can't see the join! But in recent times a second problem has shown itself - a bit like @TheGreek 's Alembic-esque of a few years ago - the top wood had started cupping and had pulled itself away to form an impressive gap! : The lines on the core, by the way are just lacquer cracks - probably from the original impact. The failed glue joint of the top was probably weakened, although not visibly split, at that same time. Two of the challenges were: The cupping is strong. I could only JUST close the gap with both hands pressing as hard as I could. Again - a bit like @TheGreek 's The joint area - the control chamber goes very close to the edge - is very narrow round that curve. We are talking 10mm max - in fact before the curve levels off at the top The glue joint that had failed is actually the bottom of a 2mm wenge demarcation strip which further round you can see the crack has also split the wenge So the challenge, apart from working on such a beautiful and valuable bass, was how to find a glue that was going to be strong enough to hold the continuing considerable force of the top wood trying to pull itself away. And how to try to fill and level any rough and damaged bits of the crack edge. I gave it some thought and also bounced off my ideas on a pro-luthier friend, Rob Hodgson, who gave them the thumbs up. The glue? Old fashioned leave-it-all-night-to-harden Araldite original. This is much stronger than the Rapid version or other shorter set epoxies like ZPoxy, etc.. Filling and smoothing? Wenge sanding dust mixed in with the epoxy Application? Syringe for the main gap, encouraged in with some very thin cellophane, and then re-syringed This was a test mix before I added the wenge dust. I did LOADS of trials of shapes of cauls. The top and back cantilever over the control chamber so you have to be VERY careful not to apply pressure to the edges. There was already a hairline crack at the back, maybe from the original bump. So the back clamping caul needed to be as big as possible to spread the load: The clamping would be on the very edges, with a middle clamp to act as the fulcrum. As such, I could leave the electrics in place: Masked right up to the gap line and epoxy syringed in. I also wicked a couple of drops of CA into the disappearing gap at either side of the main crack to prevent future spread of the glue fail Then clamped, 3 clamps at medium pressure - until the gap closed but not much tighter than that - with the load balancing clamp nearer to the body centre: I removed the bulk of the squeeze-out and then left it the rest of the day and overnight to fully cure. Next morning, I gingerly loosened the clamps - and it had held! To smooth off the joint lines, I just used a single-edged razor as a mini scraper. Quick wipe of the scraped joint with Osmo-dampened cloth, and we have the fix: The top is the repaired one I'm well chuffed (and moderately to majorly relieved) Edited April 28, 2019 by Andyjr1515 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songofthewind Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 Lovely work! You’re a craftsman. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 It's a fantastic repair - picking it up on Wednesday (hopefully). I did the original damage about 7 years ago - gig bag slipped out of my hand as I transferred it from one hand to the other, and it landed smack on that corner below the control cavity. I think moisture may have wicked in from my sweaty mitts to cause the top to bend a little. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 Excellent as always Andy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 That is quality work; so impressive 👏👏👏 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 @tauzero you'll be happy to know that there is no sign of any gap or unglueing on my Silk bass. You should be confident that the work Andy has done will last for the foreseeable future. I would say "forever" but that is a long time...certainly longer than you'll have the bass. 😉😉 Good work, again, Andy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTool Posted April 29, 2019 Share Posted April 29, 2019 He's done it again! 😎 Great fix and pics 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 On 29/04/2019 at 14:14, BassTool said: Great fix and pics 👍 Considered a career as a Poet?? 😉😉 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 Beautiful work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 @tauzero picked it up this evening Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 Explains why we haven't heard from him... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 On 01/05/2019 at 21:12, TheGreek said: Considered a career as a Poet?? 😉😉 Career and Poet. Words you do not hear together very often! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTool Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 On 01/05/2019 at 21:12, TheGreek said: Considered a career as a Poet?? 😉😉 You've got me sussed Mick 👍 My rhyming's quite slick 😧 But Andy's so quick.......at making wood stick 😎 I thang yowwww.... 😝 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 I’ll get your coat... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted May 4, 2019 Author Share Posted May 4, 2019 9 hours ago, BassTool said: You've got me sussed Mick 👍 My rhyming's quite slick 😧 But Andy's so quick.......at making wood stick 😎 I thang yowwww.... 😝 @tauzero - save us all! The devil makes work for idle hands - and I think they've got hold of the keys to the asylum!!!! Hope this week has gone well ( @tauzero has had a very busy week ). At some stage if you get a second, let them know what you think and maybe that will spare us from any more poetry or, god forbid, a song! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 Or one of my decreasingly rare thread diversions... This morning I have mostly been searching for images for "Sei". Here are three of them: None of these is a bass. Out of these three however I like the 'bike best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 Sorry, was busy the last few days. Currently sitting in A&E with Mrs Zero who has a kidney infection, so I have a few NHS minutes to fill. Lovely repair by @Andyjr1515 which has secured the top and sealed the edge of the joint. Has the poetry stopped yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted May 6, 2019 Author Share Posted May 6, 2019 26 minutes ago, tauzero said: Sorry, was busy the last few days. Currently sitting in A&E with Mrs Zero who has a kidney infection, so I have a few NHS minutes to fill. Lovely repair by @Andyjr1515 which has secured the top and sealed the edge of the joint. Has the poetry stopped yet? Hope Mrs Zero gets well soon! All the best to both. And yes - I think the poetry's stopped... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 Get well soon Mrs T! Best wishes to you both Tauzero. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 On 05/05/2019 at 16:56, SpondonBassed said: Or one of my decreasingly rare thread diversions... This morning I have mostly been searching for images for "Sei". Here are three of them: None of these is a bass. Out of these three however I like the 'bike best. Ah yes, the Sei 750 by that fine Welsh bike factory, Benelli. They did a 900 too. As for the middle image, I'm not sure how you get Sei from GG. I'd have gone for some sort of horse. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 9 hours ago, tauzero said: As for the middle image, I'm not sure how you get Sei from GG. I'd have gone for some sort of horse. Ah the wonders of the search engine... not that I'm complaining all that much, you understand. I used to long for some of those Italian multis. I was always put off by their rep for poor electrics in our climate. Speaking of your own Sei, it's a great save on Andy's part. I bet your pleased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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