1 Making a Double Bass by René Zaal & Roger Graham Hargrave Compiled and written by Roger Graham Hargrave Edited by Chris Ruffo This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License - NonCommercial - - NoDerivatives - 4.0 International License. (for details see page 183) www.roger-hargrave.de Schwanewede © 2014 Roger Graham Hargrave 2 PART I - CONSTRUCTING THE BASS CONTENTS Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................4 The Scroll .............................................................................................................................................................8 Drawings and Templates ................................................................................................................................14 Establishing the side profile ..........................................................................................................................17 Establishing the scroll widths and cutting away the sides of the peg-box .............................................19 Finishing the turns of the scroll ....................................................................................................................24 Chamfering and fluting ...................................................................................................................................25 Hollowing the peg-box ....................................................................................................................................27 Cleaning up the scroll ......................................................................................................................................29 Preparing the fingerboard ..............................................................................................................................31 Shaping the neck ..............................................................................................................................................34 The body and mould outlines ........................................................................................................................38 Making the mould and constructing the rib garland ................................................................................39 The Back and Belly ...........................................................................................................................................51 Establishing the outline .................................................................................................................................52 Establishing the back angle ............................................................................................................................54 Fitting the cross braces ...................................................................................................................................58 Applying wings to back and belly plates ......................................................................................................59 Arching and edgework sequencing ...............................................................................................................60 A brief reconstruction of the Cremonese method of assembling the body and finishing the edgework ............................................................................................................................60 Rough arching the bass belly .........................................................................................................................70 Method for making purfling ..........................................................................................................................71 Recipe for dying the blacks strips of purfling .............................................................................................72 Purfling the bass ...............................................................................................................................................74 Removing the ribs from the mould ...............................................................................................................78 Attaching the back to the ribs and finalizing the outline .........................................................................80 Finishing the belly edge ..................................................................................................................................84 Thicknessing the belly ....................................................................................................................................86 Cutting the sound holes ..................................................................................................................................89 Fitting the bass bar ..........................................................................................................................................95 Closing the body ...............................................................................................................................................96 Finishing the neck root and fitting the neck ...............................................................................................97 Gluing the neck and finishing the button ....................................................................................................99 3 PART II - VARNISHING AND SETTING UP THE BASS CONTENTS Varnishing Preamble .....................................................................................................................................103 Surface preparation .......................................................................................................................................104 Colouring the wood .......................................................................................................................................104 Historical methods for treating wood ........................................................................................................105 Alternative methods for colouring wood ...................................................................................................106 Building the UV shed .....................................................................................................................................107 Preparing and applying the pore-filling ground ......................................................................................111 Method for preparing a ‘Plaster of Paris’ filler .........................................................................................111 Filler application process explained ...........................................................................................................112 Method of applying the Plaster of Paris filler ...........................................................................................112 Applying the Plaster of Paris filler directly onto the instrument with the varnish ...........................118 Influence of fillers on sound ........................................................................................................................119 A short uninformed diatribe about historical varnishes .........................................................................120 Recreating historical varnishes ...................................................................................................................121 Varnish preparation ......................................................................................................................................122 Colophony varnish recipe .............................................................................................................................122 Preparing linseed the oil ...............................................................................................................................122 Cooking the linseed oil and colophony together ......................................................................................123 Colouring varnish ..........................................................................................................................................123 Preparing colophony and notes on safety .................................................................................................124 Thoughts on the historical significance of colours ..................................................................................125 Use of colouring agents .................................................................................................................................126 Madder and other lake pigments ...............................................................................................................127 Applying the varnish to the ground ..........................................................................................................129 Varnishing the Bass – First coat ..................................................................................................................133 Second coat of varnish on the Bass .............................................................................................................136 The antiquing process - Applying alcohol .................................................................................................138 Scratching denting and removing layers ...................................................................................................142