For a change of pace, let’s start off with the finished pictures!
This old bass has been restored, badly, numerous times before…with the most recent restoration utilizing a lot of epoxy and wood filler! The bass was brought in because it was feeling too tight, and the owner wanted to look at setup items needed to reduce the feeling of tension. Once on the bench…we started pointing out structurally deficient areas, most notably the damage and “repairs” around the end block. So, what started off as just some setup tweaks turned into a top off, new end block and trim in the lower ribs to restore edge margin as the ribs were hanging off the plates at the lower bouts.
Once the top was off, we kind of regretted taking it off, as it was a rabbit hole that seemed to have no bottom. Consulting with the owner and setting some guidelines for what was needed, we began a long process of rebuilding the bass, redoing past sins and making sure the bass would be healthy enough for another 100 years of service. Here’s a video we did to better show the owner what we were looking at:
Keep checking back as we upload more working pictures!