In this episode, we finally close the William Booth double bass up. After many months of work on each individual part of the double bass, we combine them all together, and the instrument comes alive again. The interesting part is, although you can see some sympathetic repair on the inside. Once we are finished, by looking at the outside of the double bass, you would not know that any of this work had been done.
When removing the front of a double bass, as the glueing surface is quite large, it can be tricky, especially if it is freshly glued. To help with any future need to remove the front, we line the rib and liner in the glue joint with a thin paper coating. The paper we use is similar to the kind you would wrap a parcel and is held in place with a very thin layer of hide glue.
Although we usually get all the internal measurements and thicknesses right with no need for adjustment, being able to easily remove the front allows us to take the instrument apart again if needed to fine-tune anything, such as the bass bar thickness.
The double bass is then clamped into place using special glueing clamps. These are then removed a few at a time so hide glue can be put into the joint between the ribs and the front using a small spatular.
The glue is melted in a specially made glue pot and has hot water added to it until it is of the desired constancy. When you are using hide glue like this, it is crucial to keep the room you are doing the glueing in as hot as possible to give you more time for the glue to bond. The final stage is to scrape any excess glue off and then clean the area with hot water. Cleaning the area immediately saves anyone from having to come back and clean hard-set glue off the instrument.
Music: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston - www.gardnermuseum.org
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22 авг 2024
