swelling hide glue

[bassman]

I finished building my first self designed/homemade bass several weeks ago it, it is pretty killer and will post pics of it soon, or send them to Brian for review.... Anyways I have noticed that the hide glue I used is has swollen a bit in a couple of places. You can now feel the glue line in many places between the 1/4" 5A quilted maple top and the mohagony underneath it. This problem has not shown itself between the mohagony body and the "bottom" of the body wings, which is about 1/4" bubinga. This problem has also not shown up in the seven piece bubinga/purpleheart neck or rosewood finger board. I finished the bass with a special mixture of boiled linseed, tung oil and poly that are all mixed together an applied with a rag, I used 4 coats. This mixture is used (conceived) by Sam Maloof who is one of the worlds top furniture makers, he uses only the best of woods, almost all of his work I have seen has beautifully 3D figured wood. Anyways, what might I do about this swelling problem? I am considering just sanding down the glue lines and then refinishing the bass with twice as many coats as I previously used.... Any suggestions? I know that hide glue is not to fond of water- but the poly should be sealing it and protecting it from moisture.

Peace and thanks for the help,

Ryan Rice

I am quite excited that I will be using my first self made/designed instrument to open up for The Wailers in a bout a week- "Famly Man" (Wailers Bassist) made his first bass out of a bucket and a two by four around 1960, hopefully I could use our connection to meet this reggae bass legend.

[Brian]

:o About the only thing I can think of is the sanding and refinishing even though it is a hassle to do it.