Quote:
Originally Posted by Oystein Djupvik
Hi, are you familiar with Bohuslav Lantner basses? I have a 1883 flatback bass labeled Bohuslav Lantner Prague. It is a converted 3 stringer and the neck has a wedge in it. I like it very much. Smallish 3/4 gamba size with a distinct sound which projects good. Here is a picture, not very good though.
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First off, I am over 2 years late responding to this. Why? I don't know. Although it's not directly on-topic with this thread other than the Prague Label I still want to talk briefly about this bass.
I recently spoke with a Luthier/dealer in Germany and while discussing these basses with the raised shoulders at the neck block which are usually made
Blockless, I asked if these were from the Tirol or Mittenwald as we always call these basses Tyrolean. He responded 'Bohemia', Czech. Another Luthier in the USA also said he believes these to be Czech/Bohemian as well and not German/Tirol as previously believed. So, from the Blockless construction often with slanted FFs, I have two people at least that disagree with the Tirol theory.
I have seen some old basses labelled from the Tirol and many from Mittenwald but none of them ever look similar in design or construction as do these Blockless basses that are all over the world now. So, maybe we need to look a bit to the north and west of the Tirol into Bohemia as a place of origin. I did have a bass many years ago with a Label of
Sebastian Klotz, Mittenwald 1791 that had a neck block in that raised rib/neck area but I can't say for if it was a Bohemian with a fake label or it was Bavarian with similar construction. It was an old bass that I bought in 1975. Still, of all the confirmed Mittenwald/Tirol basses I have seen, none of them looked like a
'Blockless Wonder'.