Before I got this Bass shown above from my friend, he was thinking of fixing it himself due to the huge expense it would run at a shop which was then quoted at 10k. I tried talking him out of it knowing that the job was just too difficult judging the overall condition and the lack of experience he had on his own. I myself would not even attempt this even though I am not new to repairing basses. It's been decades since but still, I am not interested in this work. This Bass needs beyond what I have personally done in the past.
Now that I have that explained and out of the way, I told him before hand, just keep the bass as-is and when you do a show, use 'this' bass for the Pit. This way, in case something falls on it like a chair or person
, it's covered by the insurance!
Well, the bass has been mine for some time now and I just did a few minor things to make it playable. I have a pit job this week doing a show at a school so what better bass do I have for the occasion? I first brought the Mougenot and the conductor kept saying the orchestra was too loud. Almost 30 of us in the pit and the show is all acoustic, no mic's at all, even the stage singers. So on the first break at rehearsal I asked, 'do you mind if I bring a slightly smaller bass, smaller sound since volume is a problem'? He replied, 'the smaller the better'. So.. here we are.. Blockless in the Pit.. Don't fall.. please.. The Show is 'South Pacific' in case you were wondering.