need some advice on this,1880 Dbass?

[Pedro Rico]

hi,
i looking to buy an old Db.
recently found this one.the seller says thats a 1880 german model.
can you guys give me some advice on this?the mesures are 190cm with 106cm string leight.
worth 4500$?
thanks,
Pedro

[Pedro Rico]

more pics.

[Ken Smith]

The neck looks like it was broken at one point and repaired. The proper repair is a neck graft which is expensive. Also, looks like the bass was re-finished as well.

Cheaper repairs and re-finished old basses are far too common. Most people don't want to spend the money to do things right or have the experience to do it either. The result is what you have there. Compromise. The neck can get repaired again properly but the original varnish is gone forever. Even a shop bass deserves respect in this case.

value wise, the re-varnish is not a huge problem for a bass of this level. the neck is still an issue. It is beechwood and they see a fair share of damage. Also, this class of bass often gets heavily used as student or low coat basses as compared to finer hand made models.

In dollars, maybe the price is ok. In Euros, I think it's high. You can spend just as much fixing a bass like this to get it right. I can't measure all the other parts or play it for playability on-line and determine what's needed in the set-up but I doubt that bass is ready to go as-is by my standards.

Also, measuring the scroll to fingerboard angle on screen from the last picture, the head of the bass is pitched way forward of the fingerboard/neck glue joint. That is a bad repair period and to be fixed the right way, it needs a new neck graft as mentioned.

[Pedro Rico]

The neck looks like it was broken at one point and repaired. The proper repair is a neck graft which is expensive. Also, looks like the bass was re-finished as well.

Cheaper repairs and re-finished old basses are far too common. Most people don't want to spend the money to do things right or have the experience to do it either. The result is what you have there. Compromise. The neck can get repaired again properly but the original varnish is gone forever. Even a shop bass deserves respect in this case.

value wise, the re-varnish is not a huge problem for a bass of this level. the neck is still an issue. It is beechwood and they see a fair share of damage. Also, this class of bass often gets heavily used as student or low coat basses as compared to finer hand made models.

In dollars, maybe the price is ok. In Euros, I think it's high. You can spend just as much fixing a bass like this to get it right. I can't measure all the other parts or play it for playability on-line and determine what's needed in the set-up but I doubt that bass is ready to go as-is by my standards.

Also, measuring the scroll to fingerboard angle on screen from the last picture, the head of the bass is pitched way forward of the fingerboard/neck glue joint. That is a bad repair period and to be fixed the right way, it needs a new neck graft as mentioned.

The price its in Dolars.
My concern now its what i read on your reply.
The possible broken neck and also the refinish.
I havent play it yet,i do not want to spend more money then 4500us
The seller says its ready to play but i dont know what to do.
Do you think its a German?

[Ken Smith]

The price its in Dolars.
My concern now its what i read on your reply.
The possible broken neck and also the refinish.
I havent play it yet,i do not want to spend more money then 4500us
The seller says its ready to play but i dont know what to do.
Do you think its a German?

German or German/Czech border area. Typical shop bass from the turn of the century or so.