Tyrol/Tirol bassics..(Blockless style)

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Alex Smith

Oh, my bass also originally had an integrated bass bar. Not sure if that's an indication of something-or-other.

I have seen many Germanic style basses (from the Tirol to Bohemia) with integrated bass bars and even one Italian bass as well. I would say that is usually a sign of factory production/machine made tops but can also be made by hand as well, done to save time and money.

If you have an integrated bass bar, it needs to be fixed and modified to a normal type bar, chalk fitted and installed without any spring at all. Springing a bass bar is the root cause of many a collapsed top.