nice German bass
 

Hi Guys. I have a bass here that I thought I would share. It's an instrument that was used with the Milwaukee symphony for years and then fell into disrepair. Last year we did some restoration type work and it's turned into a very good sounding instrument. I didn't manage to take down any dimensions before I sent it out again but it's large just about everywhere. I remember that the string length is 42 3/8. Any thoughts?

more pics
 

More pics.

varnish?
 

What happened to the original varnish of that bass? The Head has the original IF it belongs to that bass but the bass looks like it was just varnished. I like the crackled look on the head/scroll area. You can't buy that look!

The guy who previously owned this bass did some work on it himself and I think he was in the process of refinishing. It now has just a clear coat of varnish. The varnish on the scroll was once a nice red/brown color.

Anybody see that type of neck heel repair before? I've seen it a few times, kind of a sweeping knife cut. Seems to hold up.

hold up?
 

It wont hold up by itself. It needs to be laminated to a larger piece of wood inside the back glued to the block. That Ebony outside is just a decoration in my eyes.

Oh, and the Scroll looks red now. You mean that was changed too? Isn't that red crackle burnt look all original on the scroll area?

repair
 

I wasn't talking about the repair to the button. The wood fitted to the side of the neck heel is what I was pointing out.

oh..
 

Ok, sorry. I have seen necks repaired in various ways. If done well on the fit then it should hold.

That is an interesting repair to the heel - I'm curious why that would be done, on any level. Seems like more work than need-be. hmmm.

The block of wood from which the neck was made was too narrow in the back, by the button. The maker widened it there with a glued-on piece. Unfortunately, the grain match was crappy. I've seen a lot of these, and done a couple myself. When matched up nicely, you can hardly see it.