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-   -   ID my beloved bass? (http://www.smithbassforums.com//showthread.php?t=1892)

Dennis McNutt 04-30-2011 01:51 AM

ID my beloved bass?
 
2 Attachment(s)
Dear Friends,

For the past two years I have been trying to identify this wonderful bass I acquired.

I hope the forum members can help me.

In my amateur efforts to identify the bass I have perused many books, and have compared my bass with many hundreds of photos, and can find nothing that seems to match. To my eyes the F-holes are unusual in shape. Note also the knots on both the front and back.

For F-hole detail see: http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/5761/fholelft.jpg

The bass originally had three strings. Three tuning gears are identical, and one is slightly different. Interestingly the tuner worm gears are located above the round gears. Therefore tuning is done in a reverse direction compared all the other tuning machines I have seen.

Here are some measurements:
Lower Bout 59cm
Center Bout 37 cm
Upper Bout 51.1cm
String Length 105cm

High-resolution photos of the bass can be viewed at the following link:

http://profile.imageshack.us/user/dmcnutt/

After you click on a thumbnail, you can click on that image and find an option to enlarge the image considerably more, showing details.

Thanks for any assistance.

Ken Smith 04-30-2011 05:30 AM

Ok, your pictures are not the best but if I could see more I would like 4 angles of the head, all sized straight on and better shots of the top and back. Also, some rib shots. Pics that I can see the wood and its wear/experience.

This bass was either sanded down recently and refinished or it is not an old bass from what I can see. The bass is made on the crude side, not an old maker of any professional skills so looking thru books will not help. The Back looks new and frankly, from what I see it looks like a recently made bass made to look old. That is from the pics you show.

Recently I was shown a bass that was for sale from some shop (cannot say who) and was selling as an uncertified old Italian. I looked at the bass and asked what name maker was selling as and wrote the name on a piece of paper. I was right and I have seen that same work from a modern Hungarian guy, some antiqued and some not. It was a total fake, new bass. I have seen many of them now. Made various ways and made to look old, antiqued inside and out.

I need to see more and better pics. If I can have the bass here and check with UV light, I can see the varnish much better. It doesn't look like an old bass to me. Just an old 'style' bass.

Dennis McNutt 04-30-2011 11:56 PM

Thanks, Ken

Will try to post additional high res photos tomorrow.

Ken Smith 05-01-2011 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dennis McNutt (Post 22538)
Thanks, Ken

Will try to post additional high res photos tomorrow.

Looking at more pics on that Link (and not so easy to work with I might add), I can't see how anyone with decent eyesight would consider this an old Bass. The Back, Ribs and Scroll are like brand new. The Top which is a softer wood is easier to antique, crack and re-glue. That label is new as well. My Simandl book from the mid 1960's shows more fade in the paper than that label dating from well over 200 years ago, perfect ink and paper. Not possible in your wildest wet dream! It looks like this bass has never had any use with a bow either other than maybe recent delicate playing.

The actual playing wear, wear and tear and life experience an old bass gets is just not shown here in any of the pictures.

I hope you didn't pay too much for this. If you want to talk about who sold you this and for how much and as what kind of bass, email me.

In the last few months alone, one player I know got a full refund arranged for an expensive Italian bass and another if he was smart, gave the faked bass back after the trial or bought it for much much less if the dealer didn't take it back to wait for another poor uninformed soul.

Also;
Quote:

Here are some measurements:
Lower Bout 59cm
Center Bout 37 cm
Upper Bout 51.1cm
String Length 105cm
What's with the metric?.. lol.. In USA NO ONE knows metric without a calculator. I use only inches to list my basses as it's universally accepted and no one ever complains. Give out CM's and it's right o the calculator.. lol

Save us the trouble and use inches unless you are living in Europe. CMs are even new over there. When the old basses and violins were made, Inches were used from what I have read in old English books.

Dennis McNutt 05-01-2011 01:32 PM

I have added the additional images.

Please note that the darker and more brownish photos of the full bass show the color accurately. The more reddish and translucent ones don't, but they do show details. (The reddish photos were taken with a cell phone camera, while the others were taken on film and color calibrated via Kodak gray card by a professional lab.)

Here is the link to the high resolution photos:

http://profile.imageshack.us/user/dmcnutt/

After clicking on the thumbnail, a larger photo will appear. Clicking on it will bring up a much larger photo with considerable detail.

Thanks for any observations.

Ken Smith 05-01-2011 03:19 PM

yes,
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Dennis McNutt (Post 22542)
I have added the additional images.

Please note that the darker and more brownish photos of the full bass show the color accurately. The more reddish and translucent ones don't, but they do show details. (The reddish photos were taken with a cell phone camera, while the others were taken on film and color calibrated via Kodak gray card by a professional lab.)

Here is the link to the high resolution photos:

http://profile.imageshack.us/user/dmcnutt/

After clicking on the thumbnail, a larger photo will appear. Clicking on it will bring up a much larger photo with considerable detail.

Thanks for any observations.

These were posted last night before my reply. I saw them. I made my comments after looking at all 4 pages of these pics, navigating thru each one back and forth. Where can I send my bill?

Ken Smith 05-01-2011 03:34 PM

Label..
 
Besides the Label being a total fake and new, the period for Dini was about 50 years earlier and the town would be in Italian, not Latin. Many fakes made in eastern Europe show up with Latinized Label writing to look possibly fancy or indisputable as the 'old' language. Makers in those time were often not the most literate people and spelling by themselves of their own names varied on occasion.

Forget about that Label being anything in name related to the bass. The only relation it has is in the attempt to defraud the buyer.

Dennis McNutt 05-01-2011 06:44 PM

Ken,

Thanks for your observations.

Steve Alcott 05-09-2011 02:24 AM

How does it sound?

Dennis McNutt 05-12-2011 11:43 PM

Sound?
 
I know of no way to evaluate the sound objectively. I love the sound.

Steve Alcott 05-13-2011 12:26 AM

If it makes a sound you like, then it's a good bass for you.

Ken Smith 05-13-2011 01:40 AM

well..
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Alcott (Post 22610)
If it makes a sound you like, then it's a good bass for you.

But at what cost? Can the bass bring the same money paid from a pro shop that knows what it is and what it isn't?

In the value of a bass, the sound is not the top of the list.

Steve Alcott 05-13-2011 02:05 AM

I don't know what the OP paid; all I can go by is the fact that he "loves the sound".

Ken Smith 05-13-2011 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Alcott (Post 22612)
I don't know what the OP paid; all I can go by is the fact that he "loves the sound".

Loves the sound, compared to what? At what price? I think I know where this bass came from. If what I heard is correct, then he needs to make sure he paid what this bass is worth and no more. Just my advice.


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