Author Topic: Leaking sidedots? (Read 295 times)

trekster · « **on:** May 09, 2006, 09:11:25 AM »

Have any of you had an experience with your sidedots leaking adhesive? It's not a big nusicance (just one wipe and the rubbery substance is gone), but just struck me as unusual!

--T

David Houck · « **Reply #1 on:** May 09, 2006, 04:35:17 PM »

I haven't heard that one before. This is on your Essence?

David Houck · « **Reply #2 on:** May 09, 2006, 04:45:41 PM »

Until you hear something from Mica, you should keep an eye on the sidedots and make sure none fall out. Maybe because of a humidity change, the wood is expanding and squeezing the hole in which the aluminum is set. It's still a fairly new bass, so maybe the wood is still a little restless. It's not sitting in direct sunlight is it?

mica · « **Reply #3 on:** May 09, 2006, 04:58:33 PM »

I'm not sure if you have bronze or aluminum sidedots, or of the age of your instrument. Bronze dots do oxidize kind of a dark greenish color, and clean up with a light sanding or scotch brite. There's no finish on the edge of the board, so it's an easy bit to perform. Aluminum oxidizes a blackish color that can be usually be wiped away with your fingers.

The sidedots are glued in place with cyanoacrylate, which cures hard. They are in deep, about a quarter of an inch, so there's a good surface area for the glue to hold in place. I've never heard of one falling out, or of adhesive leaking.

The only rubbery thing I can think of is perhaps buffing compound, which would wipe off as you described. What color was the rubbery substance?

David Houck · « **Reply #4 on:** May 09, 2006, 06:45:43 PM »

Mica; Jeff's bass is a 2004, and in the picture of the neck, the dots look like the aluminum.

trekster · « **Reply #5 on:** May 10, 2006, 04:56:48 AM »

Hey folks:

Dave got it right..04 Essence with Aluminum dots. The stuff I'm getting is almost like excess rubber cement in feel.. kinda clear to milky. It comes off with no realy effort, but reappears about a week to two weeks later. I haven't oiled the fingerboard and don't use lubricants for the strings either. Oh, and she (yes, I think of my basses as female) sits in her case when not being played..I have multiple cats at home and don't want my Essence to become a scratching post.

--T

dela217 · « **Reply #6 on:** May 10, 2006, 06:09:39 AM »

Hmmm... leaking side dots? It must be frequency grease.

fmm · « **Reply #7 on:** May 10, 2006, 06:35:35 AM »

Impedance matching fluid.

lbpesq · « **Reply #8 on:** May 10, 2006, 06:57:48 AM »

Oh, and she (yes, I think of my basses as female)...

Does the bass leak all the time, or maybe one week out of each month?
(sorry, couldn't resist).

Bill, tgo

(Message edited by lbpesq on May 10, 2006)

mica · « **Reply #9 on:** May 10, 2006, 01:15:04 PM »

I'm at a loss, Jeff. Like I mentioned, I haven't heard of it happening before, and the adhesive we use cures fully hard. Maybe a good oiling is in order to clean the fingerboard well. At least then we'd know there wasn't any sort of treatment left by the previous owner that could be causing this behavior now.

trekster · « **Reply #10 on:** June 05, 2006, 09:03:44 AM »

Well, I did a good cleaning/oiling of the fingerboard (the cloth turned black when wiping off the excess oil), and have played it out a couple times since..no more residue has shown so far. Since I am pretty sure the bass was not used too much before I got it, I am thinking that it may very well have been the buffing residue that was as Mica said --buffing compound that was just wearing off as the bass was played.

Thanks for all those concerned. This bass is 9x awesome! The enxt time I find myself with $$ galore (heh), I'll get my customized Alembic (I was a bass with the astrological symbols of the planets for fret markers!).

Cheers,

--J