Repairing EB-0 headstock crack

[Dave W]

Very reasonable price.

Not all polyurethane glues are created equal., that's for sure. I've never used Probond, but an acoustic guitar builder who's active on several online forums has used it for years and apparently still swears by it.

[Pilgrim]

I found a couple of different materials called Probond when I searched.  One is a polyurethane, but the others look more like a yellow glue.  one of them is designated "interior", and another is designated "stainable".  I suspect he uses this product:

http://www.amazon.com/Elmers-Interior-12-Ounce-Container-P9702/dp/B0000DD49J

I found a review of the stainable here:

http://miniatures.about.com/od/materialsforminiatures/fr/elmerstainable.htm

And the polyurethane is this stuff:

http://www.oldhouseweb.com/product-showcase/adhesives-probond-polyurethane-glue.shtml

So now I'm not sure what he's using, but I'd suspect the Interior stuff. 

[Lightyear]

I looked around too.  I went to the Elmers site and wound up looking at MSDS on Probond Interior/Exterior and it basically looked very benign.  However, their Ultimate Glue states that it is poly and the MSDS reads like mad scientist stew   My thought is that Probond is Elmers answer to Titebond II & III - their website is sparse on details.

[Dave W]

The luthier I mentioned uses the polyurethane type Probond. But only for certain applications.

[drbassman]

For wood to wood applications, I only use Titebond.

[Dave W]

For wood to wood applications, I only use Titebond.

Original Titebond for me, not II or III.

[Pilgrim]

Well, I just got the call that the bass is ready with the headstock crack repaired....and instead of charging me $80, because I already had the tuners off and strings removed, he reduced the charge to $40!

There ARE still some honest people left in the world.  I'm off to get it........

[Lightyear]

Nice to find an honest soul in this day and time!

Just think, now you have an extra $40 for parts!

[drbassman]

Can't wait to see it!

[Dr. Aquafresh]

Yeah, no doubt, lets see that bad boy.

[Pilgrim]

OK, you galoots.....

Here it is, strung and ready to rock & roll...it plays well with nice action!  I found that the toggle switch changes the Dimarzio pickup setting - must be a split coil setup...one direction of the switch is louder and more rough than the other.  Not bad at all....and the action is nice.  The Intonation is even pretty darn close!




The headstock - from one angle the flash makes the repair lines MUCH more visible than they actually are - from a different angle they're much harder to see, which is more like how it actually looks to the eye:









So here it is - playable and with a new set of Labella Deep Talkin' flats installed, sporting the original bar bridge:



And as soon as the mudbucker pickup comes in, I'll have two pickups and I'll need to figure out a wiring scheme.

[Hornisse]

That is a sweet looking bass!  I'm glad you were able to rescue it.

[Dave W]

Looks like he was able to do a good solid repair job on that crack.

[drbassman]

Did you ask him how he went about doing it?

[Pilgrim]

Did you ask him how he went about doing it?

I didn't see him - spoke with him briefly over the phone, and picked up the bass later.  He did tell me what kind of glue he used earlier.

I'm rather impressed with the Dimarzio pickup...it has a real growl and wooliness itself, especially on one of the two switch settings.  Pairing it with a mudbucker is surely going to create a distinctive sound!

And I'm pretty pleased with the bar bridge.  Evidently when it came off it was reasonably well intonated, and the adjustment is still there...so when I re-mounted it and strung it, the intonation is close.  I'll wait a bit for the neck to settle in before attempting to tweak it.  With that bridge, I'm pretty sure that "close enough" is as good as it will ever get.

What a nice, light, well-balanced bass it is.  A pleasure to play...and the neck is fast.