humm
Interesting stuff here. All of the English dealers after looking at pics of my big bass said it was English. The first time I saw the bass and examined it in my office I was getting brain flashes in my head.. German.. no, English.. no.. German.. no, English.. over and over again as I looked it over.
I too have seen some other Basses 'on-line' that have sold as English but looked a bit German as well. What are they really? Well, let's look at a few things here first..
Oh, and before I begin on the E.Withers comment, I was told by one English player at the ISB that he too has seen basses like mine. Two of them and they are labeled and or attributed to R. or W. Davis! The successor to the Davis shop was none other than Edward Withers I.
Ok, here is a list of features on these basses that could be considered German;
..a black center string running the full length of the back.
..the top purfled but the back unpurfled.
..the back bending gradually from the upper corner block to the neck block.
..the fine grain top wood and fine even flamed back wood
Features that would also be on these German basses would be;
..a full 3/4, 4/4 or 5/4 size often with lower rounded corners aka busseto.
..a scroll made to fit 4-strings as 3 was rare but sometimes used with the lower 3 only for support.
..a varnish that is usually spirit based and the wear on it 'chippy' rather than 'rub-type' fading wear.
..the inner linings led 'into' the corner blocks rather than just flush fit.
On the English Basses, here are some similar features with some differences we find on them;
..the black center back strip if present can be original or added as a later repair. If original it could have been a contracted bass 'in the white' from Mittenwald, maybe?
..The Top purfled and the back not purfled BUT black lines painted in its place (visual on my bass).
..the bend up at the neck area quite steep and not gradual as mine has but does start at the corner block and bends drastically the last 1/3rd of the way.
..wood grade can be domestic or imported as England did trade with Germany so species of wood is no guarantee of origin of bass (in my opinion).
.. a full 3/4, 4/4 or even 5/4 in size. Tops ranging from 44" to 46" to 48".
.. a shorter scroll made to fit only 3-strings with no vision or extra space to fit 4 tuners. The reason why the 4 tuners on many old English Basses are so close together.
.. a varnish that seems stronger than others of the same era that is often oil based but after 2 centuries of repairs we see a lot of spirit added over it often showing the layers.
..inner linings are up to the block and not inlet into the corners with the exception of some English basses where the linings are let in only within the c-bout on the inside of the block and not from outer edge to the bouts.
I know this is a lot of reading but work is work. Did I mention cross bars on the back? The Germans would typically have 4. One center, one lower and two upper. This Bass of mine had twin lower bars but thin like a cello bass bar at maybe 1/2" wide an inch apart like an old Gamba might have. A center and one upper look original on the scars as well but the secondary scars look to maybe have 4 bars. Currently it has a 3-pc X-brace that looks over 100 years old.
My Scroll was a 3-string and the TP was as well but doesn't look to be the original TP. Maybe was put on when the X-brace was. My Bassbar is thin, shallow and short. Looks to be made to support only 3 gut strings. The Top however is strong with no sinkage ever in its past, a healthy arch and some extremely fine grain spruce as well. It currently has a 170mm wide bridge as the Bar is inset a bit. The upper inner F-Eye measurement is about 190mm. This is a BIG bass.
Jeff, did we personally meet at the Show? Did I see your Bass? I don't recall either.
Anyway, on this mystery hunt one theory may be that some of the English Basses that look German may be a bit of both. Made in Mittenwald and finished in England or made in England and repaired or modified in Germany.
My Big bass has been cut and not just up at the Block like recently done. It looks like the outer bouts were cut-trimmed in a bit and maybe even shortened a bit at the lower block around the Bouts as well. The Re-curve is gone in all of these areas and only in the upper bout near the block and the Corners somewhat.
The outline that we see now on it was actually more squat looking and less roundish at the upper and lower bouts as the purfling is not there on these suspected cut areas of the bouts but is there at the bottom and corners but not so complete. The original edges may have been re-used in areas as well. The upper portion of the bass near the neck looks original for the most part. This Bass had been worked on by many people in the past. I would say that the last was about 80-100 years ago or so when converted to 4-string not including the most recent restoration. This Bass even had a C-extension at one time as well but was out of repair for most on the 20th century.
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