I.D. help with a recent purchase

[Eduardo Barbosa]

Wow! Congrats!
I need to start looking at the yard sales around here.
I hope you got a good deal.

[Nathaniel Meyer]

Haha- thanks!
I think I got a pretty sweet deal- I talked the guy down to $140.
Now I just gotta get it playable...

[Eduardo Barbosa]

Originally Posted by Nathaniel Meyer

Haha- thanks!
I think I got a pretty sweet deal- I talked the guy down to $140.
Now I just gotta get it playable...

Right on!
I can't get strings for $140!

[Ken Smith]

Still looking for ID?

Made in Germany is all you will find unless you get lucky and find the importer that brought these in, when and who they bought them from.

This is a factory made bass and not made by an individual so don't get too worked up on looking for a specific maker.

If I was you, I would be most concerned about that broken neck. It can be repaired with Bolts and Epoxy or, a neck graft which is way more than the bass itself in cost. The repair joint if done well should look smooth and even, not lumpy.

Then, play and enjoy it.

[Nathaniel Meyer]

Yeah- still looking. I've found out some real interesting stuff about German factory basses. I've been looking at all the basses I can for ones that look the same.
It's more to satisfy my sense of curiosity than trying to figure out a value. But yeah, I'm psyched to get the neck and endpin fixed and start playin' this beautiful beast!
Thanks for your help.

[Eric Swanson]

The sunburst finish, "Strad" label, tuners, body shape, and scroll are all identical to those on a Framus hybrid I got as a teenager. Mine was a 7/8 size with a 44" string length.

Hope the repairs work out.

[Andy Gross]

Nathaniel:

I was so excited to see your post. I have the exact same bass. I bought it 56 years ago from a pawn shop in the NYC area. I had it worked on by a violin maker in Southern Illinois about 40 years ago. He told me that the grain of the sound post was wrong and that some of the wood supports inside the bass were made of inferior wood. My memory is that he corrected those problems. I have always had a normal wood bridge on the bass. The bass sounds great. I had some trouble getting the depth I like out of the low G (on the E string), but about two years ago--for some completely unknown reason--those low notes began to sound magnificent.

People are always blown away when they find out that it's a plywood bass.

Enjoy it!

Andy Gross