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View Full Version : a new find !


Adrian Levi
02-20-2010, 01:18 PM
I have stumbled across this bass that I am pretty intrigued about !

To my eyes it is a VERY well made instrument and in very good condition for a bass that I think is pretty old. Very few visible repairs.
I am not able to provide pics at present but the outstanding feature of the instrument is the headstock which is rather bulky(pregnant like) and not traditional but does end in the standard carved scroll.

The body is a3/4 gamba/flatback and the plates are totally flush with the ribs / ie no overlap .The tuners are the German type with the wooden caps and could be original but I'm not sure ....

If anyone can decipher my description and possibly send pics of the scroll then perhaps it could be 'identified'.

Ken Smith
02-20-2010, 01:59 PM
I have stumbled across this bass that I am pretty intrigued about !

To my eyes it is a VERY well made instrument and in very good condition for a bass that I think is pretty old. Very few visible repairs.
I am not able to provide pics at present but the outstanding feature of the instrument is the headstock which is rather bulky(pregnant like) and not traditional but does end in the standard carved scroll.

The body is a3/4 gamba/flatback and the plates are totally flush with the ribs / ie no overlap .The tuners are the German type with the wooden caps and could be original but I'm not sure ....

If anyone can decipher my description and possibly send pics of the scroll then perhaps it could be 'identified'.

Your find! You post the pics..

Adrian Levi
02-20-2010, 02:50 PM
Your find! You post the pics..

Ill get pics within a couple of weeks . The current owner who only uses the bass for display purposes is going to need some major persuasion to part with his 'artwork' :cool:
If I run in camera blazing I think it may reduce my chance of getting the bass !

Adrian Levi
02-20-2010, 03:01 PM
http://www.kensmithbasses.com/doublebasses/viennnese/

Ok Ken... check the above link on your site
This is the scroll !! But without plates and with separate gear holders for each machine head .

What is the history behind this style of scroll ?

Ken Smith
02-20-2010, 05:18 PM
http://www.kensmithbasses.com/doublebasses/viennnese/

Ok Ken... check the above link on your site
This is the scroll !! But without plates and with separate gear holders for each machine head .

What is the history behind this style of scroll ?

Viennese, Prague, Pest/Budapest Hungary, Italian and Spanish as far as the rounded pegbox bottom/back. The biggest I think overall are the Viennese as they made 4 and 5 string basses early on. The Czech/Prague school and some Hungarians are long and thin, some long and big! The Italian and Spanish are shorter usually. Mainly from the 3-string but like the earlier Brescians from Maggini and d'Salo when they were 6 string violones they were longer and with pointed cheeks. Many many variations of the rounded bottom pegboxes, with and without pointed cheeks.

That bass you link too is a bit of a mystery in itself. The Scroll looks Viennese but the FFs more Tirol. It could be a bass from the Austrian Tirol. The Back and Ribs are early 20th century and the Top and Scroll from the century before. The Top of that Bass was cut all around and the Back and Ribs made to fit it.

So, show the Bass. There is no one answer for you. Sorry.