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-   -   Suggestions about age of old german wreck? (http://www.smithbassforums.com//showthread.php?t=2775)

Sebastian Nordstrom 11-04-2018 04:26 PM

Suggestions about age of old german wreck?
 
6 Attachment(s)
Hello

I was given a "wreck".
The previous owner had it for 35+ years and thought about fixing it himself but never got around to it. So he asked if I wanted it and of course I did.

Previous owner thought that the bass was a saxon bass.
From another forum, I was told that is was tyrolean "blockless wonder".
I googled "blockless wonder" and I think it looks pretty similar to those basses. It would be interesting to hear if somebody has the same opinion or another opinion. Also, is it possible to estimate when the bass was made just be looking at the images? I realise this is difficult but maybe somebody has run into a very similar bass at some point.

It's in horrible shape. Especially the top which has caved in...a lot. Very thin in some areas and bass bar is incredibly small or at least incredibly thin. Maybe half the thickness of the bass bar in my main instrument. There's a ton of really crappy "repairs". Worst one (and there are many bad ones) must be a rectangular patch in the middle of the top that somone seemed to think would stabilize it.

I sent a message to a double bass luthier who responded and said that the bass was probably made by an amateur and I should "Let the poor bass rest in peace". So I will probably not pay to have anything done to it.

But I'm still curious if anybody recognizes the shape/style or something like that. I'll try to attach some images

/Sebastian

Ken Smith 11-05-2018 05:53 PM

2 Attachment(s)
Humm, where to start..



The Top is in terrible shape and would be Expensive to fix. The level of work I usually request would run 8-12k for the Top alone and the damage would still be visible.


The Neck is broken in at least 2 places so that is a 3-5K repair for a Graft and Fingerboard.


The back has fairly nice wood but the purfling, not done so nice IF it is original.



The Neck Block or Blockless is a question. Usually a Blockless Neck 'hump' squares off at the heel and the ribs touch or slide into a mortise in the neck. I don't see that here. Having a neck block area that is 'humped' is not necessarily a guarantee it was blockless so I will show the typical Hump on a bass of mine that WAS Blockless when I got it and one that was blockless at birth but 'corrected' later. Two other basses that I can remember I had the same style but blocked when I got them.



Not every Bass 'called' Tyrolean is from the Tyrol. Some are just German or Czech or Bohemian or Austrian or even American basses and far as blockless-looking basses and some that are not!



The Bassbar may not be original by now or if so, could have been altered and trimmed down. If integral, left in as carved from the top, then that would be original.



Age? 100-130 years old as a basic range.



FYI, The blockless construction is basically a Guitar[Lute method of building. some of which is still done today like flush ribbed basses from Vienna and Prague as well as other Austro-Hungarian regions and bordering areas. Nothing with basses has EVER been standardized 100%.

Sebastian Nordstrom 11-07-2018 06:42 PM

Thank you very much for taking time to answer, Ken

I see what you mean, about the bass being "blockless" or not.
Time will tell. The bass will probably be taken apart at some point.

I've never heard this bass but the player who had it before me says it had a nice sound. It was never his main instrument since the condition has been quite bad for a very long time, but he used to have in his practice room when he went to school. I think the dimensions are nice - it's quite small. And I like the shape of the f-holes. I wouldn't go as far as to say they are beatiful but I think they have some crude charm.

I had the idea that this should be a super slow repair made by myself, as a way to learn how to do repairs. Perhaps it's too difficult. We will see, I'm trying to read and find as much info as I can about all of the repairs that will be necessary (which is basically every repair one could think of...).

/ Sebastian

Ken Smith 11-07-2018 10:40 PM

Difficult?
 
The guy repairing MY Blockless is sorry he took the job and he is an experienced Bass Professional. NOT a job for a beginner.

On your bass, you know they made basses in Sweden too so this could be a local made bass as well. Not impossible.


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