Repair - Not for the faint of heart

[Wayne McLemore (wayne)]

Here is a photo of the first step in the repairing of The Dark and the Light.
 

[Chris R. Gedney (76ac070)]

OUCH!!  That's worse than the stripped naked photo of Baby  (76AC070)
 
8>)
 
Chris

[mica]

DAL has been rubbed out. Last chance for "in progress" photos:  

 

  Should be ready to ship next week, but I'll wait until you send me your road case for return shipping.

[mica]

Time warp! Here's a snapshot of the new peghead without finish and before the final fitting:

[Rami Sourour (rami)]

Hi Wayne,
 
I'm interested in knowing how your bass got damaged.  The idea of something like that ever happening to one of my Alembics scares the heck out of me.  Especially since my basses have to travel very far to get to me.
 
Thanks,  
Rami

[mica]

Hi Rami,
 
I think Wayne is on vacation this week, so I'll tell you what happened. UPS damaged the bass very badly and cracked the peghead joint in a manner that the only repair option to restore it to new condition was to replace the neck (no small job with bookmatched to center top and back).  
 
The bass was damaged outside the shipping container, as evidenced by the retaping of the box with red tape, something that we don't use here. I'm not sure if the box was damaged on a conveyor belt and subsequently opened, or if some curious UPS employee is also a closet musician, but once the bass arrived in Texas, the damage was sadly undisputable, and UPS paid the damage claim.
 
Splicing on a new peghead is an acceptable repair, but it makes the $12,000 bass slightly less valuable to have a major repair so early in its life. Even though the repiar is done very well, it's still a repair.
 
The good news is that we ship practically everything by UPS and very little in the way of damage ever occurs. Mary packs the instruments extremely well (in fact we just received an improved carton on Thursday of last week that's even stronger), and we don't even have one bass a year damaged in shipping.

[Rami Sourour (rami)]

Thanks for the info Mica. But I'll be biting my nails and pacing back and forth the whole time they're in transit.
Was Wayne's bass shipped in a standard case or a road case?

[mica]

Standard hardshell (though he's having us return it in a road case). However, we believe the damage happend outside of the shipping carton in his case.

[Rami Sourour (rami)]

Hi Mica,
Looking at my basses, I noticed that the back of the peghead is very close (almost touching) the bottom of the case.  I can imagine that simply falling over from an upright position would transmit the entire energy of the fall to the back of the peghead. I'm thinking about road cases for both of my Basses - Unless somehow in packing them, they can have extra support in that area.

[Wayne McLemore (wayne)]

Hi Rami.  I'm back from a trip to Santa Fe with the Unicorn.  I strongly recommend a road case.  The Unicorn came out of the baggage claim area still in tune!
 
My recommendation for anyone: if the instrument is important to you, invest in a road case.  If the instrument is worth over $4,000, you're only talking about 10% (or less) of the cost to virtually insure that no damage would occur.
 
Since your instruments are twins, you might consider purchasing only one road case.  That's what I've done.  I've got one road case, one hardshell, and one gig bag.  Each of which will hold any one of my three Alembics.  I never need to travel with more than one, so there was no need to invest in multiple road cases.
 
C-Ya..............wayne

[Wayne McLemore (wayne)]

A final update:  The DAL is home safe and sound.
 
Unfortunately I can't say the same for the road case.  Somehow, UPS took a 1/4 by 1/8 bite out of one of the aluminum edges (and the case was in a box!!).  They also must have dropped the case off the back of a truck because the point of the body shifted enough to crack the wood and fiberglass exterior of the case.  Unbelievable.  At least they dropped it on the strong end of the bass this time.  Mica and I have a pact now that the DAL will NEVER be handled by UPS again.
 
The repair is virtually flawless. I don't notice a significant difference in tone and you can't feel the joint at all.
 
It's wonderful to finally have the whole family together.  All's well that ends well.  Gotta go play now......
 
C-Ya..............wayne

[Rami Sourour (rami)]

Hi Wayne,
 
I'm just as sickened and outraged as you are by the way UPS treated your Bass.  Mine arrived safely - thankfully, but I was nervous as hell while waiting.  You should make a claim to those bastards for damaging your case - and even the slightest scratch to your Bass.
 
In your case, UPS displayed a total lack of regard and even deliberate carelessness for a package clearly marked FRAGILE - very unprofessional. At least the Bass finally made it.
She's a real beauty.  
 
Wishing you many years of happiness with it.
 
Sincerely,
 
Rami

[dan scott (danscott)]

i'm curious..how expensive was this project? i own a 76 series I, with a headstock repair previously mentioned in a thread here somewhere, that's not real pretty, but seemingly stable. splicing a new standard shaped headstock is very interesting to me. i've owned a few alembics, and this one, is the one

[mica]

Splicing a new peghead on typically runs about $450 including spot refinshing. You'll see a difference in color where the 1976 paint and the 2002 paint meet unless you add another $750 for a complete refinish.