Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Larouche
Once again thanks a lot Mr. Smith for all your very good advice.
I know that the best thing to do would be to have better pics including some of the scroll. For the moment those are the only one that the seller have. If sometime next week I borrow the bass, the first thing that I will do will be to send you better pictures!
Concerning the tuner I am no way an expert on this, I educate myself on this forum, talkbass, reputable luthier site and some violin book that I borrow from the library! All that I can say is that they are french looking.
Also I am well aware that the label is probably a fake or a misplaced one. Strings instruments are very tough to identify even for good luthier, so I'm sure of nothing.The bass seems to be old (the owner have the original facture of his father dating from 1952 in a philadelphia shop and at the time his father was buying an already old bass) and in good shape. A trip to a good luthier will confirm that.
At first the owner wanted to bargain a bit but when I tried it he had a couple more answer for his ads and he wanted to see if other were interested. I will wait a couple of days (that is difficult!) and contact him to see if it is sold.
One thing is sure, it is that the sound arco and pizz beat any bass that i have tried (new or old) in this price range.
Sorry for the long post and I feel very lucky to have someone of your stature Mr, Smith to answer my humble questions and to give me some advices. It is not so easy to shop for a first real double bass, there is a lot of variables tu juggle with.
Francis
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This bass was bought in Philly? I can't tell you how easy it was then to get wrong information as well as now on origins of instruments. I think from the pics the bass is old but 20th century. Maybe better pics will tell a different story. Many of the basses I have seen that were sold as French are actually German basses so that's another problem. I rarely see the opposite where it is called German and is really French. In the market place where millions of cheaper German instruments where made for export in the last 100 years, basses of French origin have a higher perceived value. That word
perceived can be very deceiving. Very often we see better made German basses made to look French so as possibly by the maker or shop not to fall into the low $ bracket in sales of cheaper factory instruments. Some of these are very good basses, factory/shop made aside. Many many French basses are also factory/shop made as well. Some of these are better than comparative German work and some not as good, especially in sound. The pedigree names being worth more than the factory names regardless. A Mathias Neuner would probably sell for more than a Neuner-Hornsteiner even if made by the same person, the exact same bass if labeled as an individual rather than a shop.
Show the pics.. It's a learning curve with no end ever in sight.