italian ?
 

I found this bass today with a 'label' from an Italian contemporary violin maker .
No info at all on this luthier ever making a bass / but some where on the net it states that he sometimes mis-labled instruments whatever that means...
Anyway,here are some pics for interest sake.There are quite a few tool marks visible inside the bass. The top and back seem surprisingly thin.

Apologies - my post should have been under a different heading !

moved..
 

Ok, I moved it here to modern handmade basses.

On the maker making basses, who knows who has made a bass and wasn't listed as such. Many of them. Many!

On the bass and label being a match? Maybe. The design in the back might be from the maker or not. Special orders happen often with small volume makers. He is also listed as being a good repair man as well.

I have a modern Italian bass (labeled) as well here in my shop with from 1959 by Enricus Averna in Panormus, Sicily. The book says Palermo, the Italian name for the same city named by the ancient Greeks. The bass I have looks more Italian than Eastern Europe. Remember, that by the mid 20th century, the Eastern Europeans had learned already the desirable shape and sized of a Double Bass that the Italians probably perfected. I also have one bass and have seen 2 others of the same maker from Hungary, Mihaly Remenyi and they look like NOTHING Italian. These basses from over 100 years ago look more Viennese style than anything Italian. News traveled slow in the old days as did progress.

Yip I guess when it comes to making an instrument a good maker can approximate any other makers instruments if need be!! Must make your job interesting with all the detective work .Ken with all the knowledge you've accumulated over the years you should perhaps consider publishing it .

One more observation about looking inside this bass ..... The neck and tail blocks are quite rough / the shape is correct but no one bothered to smothe them off well . The inside back of the instrument is also not 'finished off ' properly , there are chisel scoop marks around the lower bout edges . The top appears well made in all aspects . Any ideas on this apart from a maker trying to rush a shop bass ?