The Neck Block area was cut to reduce the string length and also the new neck is a regular size as opposed to the longer Eb length from before.
The old button cap is not original. The neck before this one had a different button and THAT was not original either. It had a purfled design in it still on the old broken neck but does not match the purfling of the bass.
The center strip is vertical grain maple with outer ebony strips. This is actually an inlay in the back and does not go all the way thru. Inside the back under the center strips we were able to see the clean jointed original back center. Only after the bass was taken apart did we find out that the center strip was inlaid 'into' and over the center joint of the back.
Arnold did a fantastic job modifying the bass and cleaning it all up to look at original and cosmetically pleasing to the naked eye.
The sound is still there. I took off the set of Original Flat chromes that were on as a test and switched it to Belcantos (both sets used). With the Bel's, the bass sounds amazing just like before but mush easier to play.
After consideration and knowledge learned about the bass, I am re-naming it 'back' to its 45 year attribution of Storioni.