Bass id ??

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Adrian Levi

Ok here goes / my first post on this forum and one with a never ending theme ie 'anyone know what this bass is' !?!

I got this thrown in with another bass that I purchased and was wondering what it was and if it is worth restoring ? It has already had a butcher head-graph(note the solder). Strangely enough the back and sides are 'ok-ish' condition.

It is a 3/4 flat back .

Well, after a 15k restoration, it might be worth half of that if they don't mind the fact that the original varnish was stripped away. The bass will sound possibly (no guarantee) better than its value or pedigree.

Those cross bars in the back look like it was done by a Junior High School Shop Class. Maybe 2 or 3 kids as a team did one bar each as no two of them look alike.

This is think is a Czech/German factory bass from before WWII from the Shoenbach/Luby area. I think if from Markneukirchen it would look a bit neater inside. It is a shame that the varnish is gone. Most people that strip basses like this do so without knowing much about values of old vs. new. Touch-up and re-coating is always the better way than stripping and Home-Depot'ing the poor bass.

From the looks of the inside up bu the Neck Block, it looks like the Luthier was a bit cross-eyed. lol

Other than that, the bass looks like it might have some potential..