Bass Repair Help Needed

[blueman335]

Re: Bass Repair Help Needed

Well, remove the bushing from the bass, keeping it on the bolt/screw. Do a line of glue around the circumference of the bushing near the bottom, so it gets pushed up the rest of the bushing. If you put too much glue on, you're going to ruin the finish around it, if you don't put enough on, well, back to square one. Also, if one of the studs has let go, there's a good chance the others are about to go as well.
(Maybe leave a gap if there's is a ground wire on that bushing so that makes a solid connection still) and put it in the bass while the glue is still wet. Also, have a mallet/wood/nylon hammer nearby in case you need a little extra force to get the bushing back in, you've only got seconds to work with. All of that hinges on the bushing already being a good fit, however.

Well, not so much incorrect bridge height, just trying to adjust it without detuning the bass first. And making sure that you don't just crank down on one of the bolts, you have to adjust all of them, or the bridge kind of "locks up" on you. If you take the strings off, the bridge should be able to move around freely and fall off, without being stuck by the 3 screws. Should have a slight back angle; the front should be a little higher than the back of the bridge. Usually this problem occurs when someone is trying to lower bridge, essentially turning the bolt, and it just pulls up the bushing instead of going down in to the bushing.

Excellent. Thanks!

 

[Warheart]

Re: Bass Repair Help Needed

Any luck on this the repair after?

 

[blueman335]

Re: Bass Repair Help Needed

Any luck on this the repair after?

As you said, I checked the bushing on the other side, and it was loose too, although it hadn't lifted out on it's own (yet). I used wood glue on both bushings and let the bass sit for a few days with loose strings so the glue could dry. I just tuned it up and the bushings stayed in place. Easy fix. Thanks!

I can now see where lowering the action without loosening the strings could pull the bushings up. Probably how it happened in the first place with the original owner. Now I know what not to do. Thanks for the tip. I'm a guitarist, so I'm having to learn to do some things differently with basses.

 

[ginormous]

Re: Bass Repair Help Needed

I can now see where lowering the action without loosening the strings could pull the bushings up. Probably how it happened in the first place with the original owner. Now I know what not to do. Thanks for the tip. I'm a guitarist, so I'm having to learn to do some things differently with basses.

Here's a hint on some of the differences.

For example, we've been discussing Gibbys, but I was able to grab some figures for the standard Fender scale length, 34 inches (from nut to bridge).
The D'addario website has a string tension chart PDF, with figures for their various products.
Adding up all the total string tension for a pack of EXL 160's (nickel wound medium rounds), I get 189.33 pounds pulling on the bridge in open GDAE tuning.

Keeping in mind also that the string gauges are as much as 10 times thicker than a standard guitar, and you've got a whole lot of work on your hands to keep moving that bottom...
or those bottoms.

It's no wonder that your Gibby started giving up... your diagnosis of adjusting the bridge while under full tension sounds like a likely cause.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Bass Repair Help Needed

Adding up all the total string tension for a pack of EXL 160's (nickel wound medium rounds), I get 189.33 pounds pulling on the bridge in open GDAE tuning.

Keeping in mind also that the string gauges are as much as 10 times thicker than a standard guitar, and you've got a whole lot of work on your hands to keep moving that bottom...
or those bottoms.

189 lbs, that's a lot of force pulling on the bridge. No wonder Warheart said he's done a number of those repairs. I use 9 gauge strings on my guitars, so to me, bass strings seem like wires on telephone poles.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Bass Repair Help Needed

Wood shrinkage around the splined inserts would be enough to explain the loss of grip.