Thoughts on this Czech Stradt?

[Jim Lattimore]

Newbie here. First post.

I've had this double bass for a while but am thinking it's time to go to a new owner since it never gets played. Supposedly, this bass belonged to Viktor Krauss and was his practice bass. He traded this one for a Jusek like his performance model.

it has a brand new ebony fingerboard. The neck was cracked at some point and repaired with epoxy.

Thing sounds amazing. A real cannon.

Any thoughts on provenance or value would be appreciated.

- Jim

[Ken Smith]

No pics of the Back or Ribs?

Provenance? The German/Bohemia(Czech) border area or even Austria somewhere as the basses are all very similar. Made on either side of WWII.

There is no such thing as a Strad bass but all the factories would put that for selling. It is just a Gamba flat back student grade bass from back then.

Show some more pics of the back and sides as well as the neck crack and its repair. Usually a good bass would be repaired with a neck graft into the old scroll to keep it all original as neck crack repairs cut the value off by at least the repair cost of about $3-4k. Neck neck graft, fingerboard and bridge as the old one might not be re-usable height wise in the end. I have sold basses like this for $3-4k in the past so buying this might be risky at any price knowing that it needs a neck for 3-4k.

[Jim Lattimore]

I understand that there's no such thing as a Strad bass. I was just referring the the label. I have other pics of back etc. I will post as soon as I get to my laptop. Thanks for your response. - J

[Ken Smith]

I understand that there's no such thing as a Strad bass. I was just referring the the label. I have other pics of back etc. I will post as soon as I get to my laptop. Thanks for your response. - J

No offense intended on the Strad comment but I wanted to make that a small point of interest. Also, the 'made in Czech..." writing on the label in English no doubt. This is a clear sign of an instrument made for Export.

Whether made for export of their own regional domestic market, the quality, sound and materials used is individual for each bass. Also, how they fared over time and how they were maintained till now is I think more important than the 'Export' factor.

I myself am currently playing on a German bass from Berlin that was made in 1910. The language on the label is mixed with English, Latin and Italian as far as I can tell. Engraved on the back of the pegbox among other things is Stradivarius as this was Lowendall's Strad Grand Concert model. Over the years, these descriptions varied as did the models. Similar things were used on Violins and Cellos as well.

Many of the basses like yours today are without their original labels. I think the labels and all other markings or inscriptions adds a lot of 'color' to the bass and helps with their mysteries.