Can anyone tell me the age of my Juzek bass?

[Nelson Cascais]

Hi

I would like to know more about my Juzek bass.
It´s a small bass, maybe 5/8, i´m not sure...

Measurements are:
upper bout; 18.5"
center bout; 13.5"
lower bout; 24.5"
depth of Ribs: 7.5 "
length of body: 41"
String Length: 40.1"

It´s very healthy. There´s only some well repaired cracks in the ribs.
The tuning gears were replaced but I still have the original ones.
The label says:
"John Juzek, Violin Maker, Formerly in Prague, Made in Germany"
The person who sold it to me told me that it is a pre-war Juzek, from the 30´s.
Is it correct? What could be the estimated value for this instrument?

Thanks a lot
Nelson

[Ken Smith]

Pre VietNam war maybe..

That label sounds like the ones used AFTER WWII.

Heres the reason; There is and never was such a thing as a Bass made by John Juzek, never! They were all contracted by shops and factories mostly by the German/Czech border area Violin making section until War broke out in Europe. The Juzek Company was formed in NY by the brothers Robert Juzek and another (don't know the name) but Robert ran the business. John helped contract shops to make the string instruments. Most Basses were made by various generations of the Wilfer family and some by Lang. Others possibly as well. After the war, most of these makers moved over to north Bavaria in Bubenreuth Germany to avoid Communist rule. Robert made direct contracts with these people and John was out of the picture entirely. I doubt that a single Bass was ever made in Prague, ever. Maybe because that's where they were from the city of Prague was used for marketing purposes.

On your Bass, the finish looks fairly new. Maybe 1960s or so and as labeled, made in Germany. I don't recall them having a 5/8ths size in the catalog. This was most likely what they called a 1/2 sized bass. Maybe by today's numbers it's considered a 5/8ths but we also call them small 3/4s as well.

Have you read my Juzek Thread (http://www.smithbassforums.com/showthread.php?t=13) in the Shop Bass section (http://www.smithbassforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=17)? I will move this thread over there where it belongs..

[Nelson Cascais]

Hi Ken

Thanks for your reply.
I would like to have an opinion about its value. Do you have any idea?
I bought it from a british bassist who was selling it as a Pre WW2 Juzek. It´s the first bass labeled as Juzek I have seen in europe, actually.
This bass has a nice punchy pizz sound and a considerable sustain. But not too much volume and it´s a litle bit stiff.
I believe that it could sound much better with a good set up. Unfortunaly that is something not possible to get here in Portugal. Neither in Spain.
There is just a few luthiers working here and they don´t know anything about the double bass. And even less about setting it up for pizz playing.
They don´t know and they don´t want to learn.
The first bass luthier who, one day, decides to come to live and work here will get rich because he will be the only one with that knowledge in the whole Iberian peninsula. And there´s a lot of bassist around here.

Thanks again
All the best
Nelson

[Ken Smith]

This is a smaller Bass you have. Smaller Basses may be as loud as similar basses that are slightly bigger as far as the presence of sound but a smaller 'box' will not be as deep, all things created equal.

The Juzek Basses, all of them were produced mostly in German shops/factories to be imported for sale to the NY City School system and other schools as well. They also did general distribution in USA of other string instruments and accessories.

Juzek Basses were not high end handmade Basses for professionals. They were made mainly as student instruments. Now that they have aged and circulated in other circles they are used in other commercial venues as well. Using a Juzek or other similar type Bass with a Pick-up and an Amp is not how they were intended to be used. They have however found their way into the hands of many jazz players. A Bass with a thinner sound is easier to amplify with a pickup than a fat sounding orchestral Italian Bass. They have their use in todays music. Some of these Basses are used in Orchestras as well but not in the bigger professional Symphonies.

Price wise I know they started at $200. for a 3/4 sized Bass back in the 1960s. I have seen these same Basses sell from $2,000-$8000 or so regardless of condition. I do not agree with all of the prices because often the repairs if done correctly could cost more than the value of the total package when all is said and done. A smaller 3/4?, 5/8 or 1/2 sized Juzek would sell for considerably less than a regular 3/4 or one of the few 7/8 or 4/4? models I have seen.

Look around for awhile and see here in the USA what the '5/8' models are selling for when they come up. The asking price in an ad is not always the final selling price but does give an idea where they are starting.

[David McKinney]

I sold a very banged-up 5/8 Juzek for $2000 about 3 years ago.

It had several major neck repairs, lots of major top cracks, and was pretty ugly.

It was well set-up though, and it sounded good and loud, like yours.

[Ken Smith]

I sold a very banged-up 5/8 Juzek for $2000 about 3 years ago.

It had several major neck repairs, lots of major top cracks, and was pretty ugly.

It was well set-up though, and it sounded good and loud, like yours.

Well, you got the better end of that sale by far. Fixed right, it needs a neck graft, new fingerboard and Bridge in the least, $4-5k maybe. Re-repairing the Top will be a few thousand as well. All in all, in my world this bass in the condition you sold it in was worth negative zero. For me to sell a Bass it has to cost less to repair than it is worth. This clearly would cost $6-8k minimum to restore from what you described.

[Anselm Hauke]

Unfortunaly that is something not possible to get here in Portugal. Neither in Spain.


hi nelson,

what about this:
http://contrabaixoshop.blogspot.com/

http://www.seccioncontrabajo.com/

edit: well, ok, i´ve just seen this:
nelson: Last Activity: 12-09-2009 09:44 PM