Thread: Opinion
View Single Post
  #2  
Old 11-17-2012, 11:44 PM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,852
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Exclamation ??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck Laranjeira View Post
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f144/g...-gamba-760641/

Hi,
Can you help ID the age and value of the bass in the above link?
The pictures are not good enough to judge the condition. I would need the bass on my bench to examine it. If it needs a lot of work, the repairs could exceed it's value. The bass looks quite plain to me. Just a factory bass from the second half of the 20th century, in there somewhere.

I see a questionable neck repair and a soundpost area crack repaired (I think) under the muddy varnish. He has been trying to sell this for 1 1/2 years and looks like a carved bass. For $4k, something must be wrong that the pictures do not show. A neck graft, top repair and related work would run $6-8k minimum in the shops I go to. Maybe that is why it's still for sale. The shorter string length suggests a smaller 3/4 bass but not uncommon from that region. The other measurements look normal for a commercial sized modern 3/4.

If that back is laminated then it's a hybrid. In that case, with all that work done or needed and considering it's a hybrid bass, I would not give it a second look. Sorry, but you asked.

Also, read this from post #12, "It's a nice bass but I want to clarify that the one shown with my user ID is a different instrument, not the one for sale."

That is more than 10x the price those basses sold for when I was younger. But, that is NOT the bass he has for sale so the ad is misleading then from what I read.
Reply With Quote