Speaking of Restorations...

[Ken Smith]

What I would like to see is some detailed restorations of old Basses with 'before', 'during' and 'after' pics. To kick it off, I will show you a beautiful old English Bass I have that many of you have already seen but many have not. Please excuse all the copy as this is straight from my website.

The Bass featured is a rare English Bass from the great Samuel Gilkes who's legacy as a Violin/Cello maker spawned out of the 18th century and helped shape the 19th century thru his pupils. I know this sounds a bit far fetched but if if I could draw a family tree it would amaze just about any reader. In brief, he trained and worked first with Charles Harris Sr. and then worked with William Forster III. His co-workers and apprentices include Chas. Harris II, W. Forster IV, Simon Andrew Forster, John Thomas Hart, James Gibbs and his son William Gilkes. W.E. Hill later apprenticed for a short while with Harris II who worked with J.Hart a few years after the sudden death of Samuel Gilkes (1787-1827).

Ok, here are the web pages of the Before (w/restoration pics) and After pics and description including as much history I could gather. Feel free to re-post any of the pics here for discussion using the [img]url[/img] format before and after the url. If you need any help, just ask.

Questions, comments and discussions are welcomed and encouraged. Please, if you have a similar story/saga to 'show and tell', by all means please do! It doesn't have to be a 200 year old Classic. Any restoration at all will be welcomed as long as it shows some details from start to finish for study and discussion purposes.

[Ken Smith]

Ok, here is one more Bass I had for about a Year. I bought it and then waited 6 months for the Restoration to be completed. Then I played it only a few months before selling it. This was a Bass in need of an expensive restoration as it had been sitting in storage for decades falling apart literally.

Once again here are the Before (w/restoration pics) and After pics linked to my web pages.

Some of us have discussed this on another forum in my Yankee thread but I just added the restoration pics recently. Now we can take another *crack at it here! (*pun intended)

[Paul Warburton]

Hey Kenny Boy.....Do I get to do my old 'To the Bathroom' stuff on this site?
To those who are not aware, on other sites, I take the most beautiful DBs to my Hall of Fame WC and do 'things'

[Ken Smith]

Paul, I wouldn't have it any other way and you know that. Take off your shoes (holding my nose) kick back and let r rip...(still holding my nose..tighter actually..lol)

I want your Avatar and the whole nine yards. Don't think I invited you here just to sit back and watch me do all the work. I'll meet you in the parking lot after dinner if you have any problem with that...

Now, scoot on over to the Jazz Corner and make a splash.

[Mike Pecanic]

Who did the restoration? Those cleats kill! I love resto. pics, the more the better for me as I am finally finishing up a bass I started over 6 years ago and have an old Czech 3/4 in pieces too! Also, is the sound post patch a 'tapered' plug?

Mike

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Mike Pecanic

Who did the restoration? Those cleats kill! I love resto. pics, the more the better for me as I am finally finishing up a bass I started over 6 years ago and have an old Czech 3/4 in pieces too! Also, is the sound post patch a 'tapered' plug?

Mike

Both the Prescott and Gilkes were carefully restored by Arnold. Many a conversation was had about details involving originality of these two classics as is going on currently with the Hart/Fendt Bass as it's been under the knife for months now. Those blocks you see in the Back are only temp. cauls spot glued to hold the Back seam straight as the center graft settles in. Maybe Arnold can come up and explain some of his methods. I hope when Jeff does my Loveri, he takes and posts pics for us to enjoy.

[Arnold Schnitzer]

Originally Posted by Mike Pecanic

Who did the restoration? Those cleats kill! I love resto. pics, the more the better for me as I am finally finishing up a bass I started over 6 years ago and have an old Czech 3/4 in pieces too! Also, is the sound post patch a 'tapered' plug?

Mike

Hi Mike. Glad you like our cleats. The post patch is the standard inlayed type. It goes about half way through the plate and is rounded in all dimensions.