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Old 10-25-2011, 04:25 AM
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Default Rudolf Oberlander 1978

Interesting bass came in last week.

Rudolf Oberlander of Prague, 1978.

Very neatly and nicely made bass, signed inside. Some top cracks to repair.





neat, quite elegant scroll



Beautifully worked inside, sealed with a yellowish ground - haven't identified what it is yet.



Dovetailed neck joint into very tidy blocks



Original raised saddle. Screwed in place with felt cushioning to both faces.



Anyone seen one of these?

Oberlander Rudolf
born: 02 Nov 1932 Kopisty, Czechoslovakia
died: 05 Dec 1984 Senohraby, bei Prague, Czechoslovakia (Senohraby is a small town 30km from Prague)

From 1947-1950 he trained with the large "Cremona" instrument factory in Luby. After the apprenticeship he worked for Cremona in the production of double basses. In 1955, after completion of basic military service, took a place with a musical instrument repairman in Modrany near Prague. After the abolition of this workshop he became a musical instrument repairman for the Czech Philharmonic. In 1967 management of Cremona had offered to hold a championship for independently built basses, so he began to build a competition double bass. Oberlander moved to Senohraby, and became an independent luthier with his own workshop and tools, producing for Cremona. In 1977 he joined the Prague luthier's guild, The Circle of Violin Artisans . He built basses in three sizes and several models.

Reference: Pilar, Vladimir - Sramek, Francis: The Art of Violin Makers (Prague 1986, p. 140).

From another Czech work (translated for me badly by Google), it seems he was one of several makers to produce instruments sold by the famous bassist František Pošta; Rudolf Oberlander, Joseph Budil, Francis Zákopčanik, Jaroslav and Miroslav Lavicka Pikárt.

(http://is.muni.cz/th/215304/ff_b/DIP...CHAEL_MASA.txt)

After the Cremona factory's demise in 1989 it was taken over and privatised as the Strunal company.

couple of links online:

Double Bass (Contrabass) - 3/4 Czech Double Bass, Rudolf Oberlander, 1977, sold in NYC $5500 firm + shipping (netinstruments.com)

http://www.paganini.cz/en/double-bas...lf-oberlander/

Last edited by Matthew Tucker; 10-27-2011 at 09:24 AM.
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