Little Bass ID

[Chris DeMarco]

More pictures yet to come...

[Chris DeMarco]

Thanks again guys, these are all I have for now.

[Ken Smith]

Well, it is a mess and yes, don't bother fixing this for monetary reasons. For learning, it's a good piece to play with. It would be rewarding I am sure to see a cellist play this in an orchestra once fixed and slightly modified.

One thing of importance here is that the Ribs went into a slot cut around the inner edges of both the top and back. This is how Prescott made some if not all of his basses. I would assume some as I haven't seen but a few and who knows what experiments he made over time. This is a furniture-style joint like a drawer divider in a desk. It is the Yankee self taught method of basses of both sizes from the 19th century.

Who made it where or when?

I would say American, 19th century, maybe in the northeast. That's as close as I would venture to say.

[Chris DeMarco]

I didn't know Precott made basses like that. When I get it I will check for markings, if it's close enough to cello measurments it might be an interresting project, cutting it down shouldn't be a challenge since it's missing the ribs anyways. Of course I'm not a luthier but maybe I could donate it to somebody who can fix it, or who knows? I've always wanted to try a restoration project but I think this will be far to big of a job for me.
Thanks

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Chris DeMarco

I didn't know Precott made basses like that. When I get it I will check for markings, if it's close enough to cello measurments it might be an interresting project, cutting it down shouldn't be a challenge since it's missing the ribs anyways. Of course I'm not a luthier but maybe I could donate it to somebody who can fix it, or who knows? I've always wanted to try a restoration project but I think this will be far to big of a job for me.
Thanks

I have also seen pictures of one or two of these made in Pa. as well. That's why I said N.E. USA and not just New England.

[Chris DeMarco]

Cool, thanks for the info. I'll update with any markings I find once the bass is in my posession.

[Chris DeMarco]

Well, the verdict is in...

I picked up the "bass" yesterday and to my suprise it is pretty small. It's actually smaller then most cello's I've seen but It's pretty cool so I'm not complaining.

I took some pictures...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/5808953...57629458891181

When I got the bass it wa sbeing held together by a rubber band, which you can see in those pictures but when the rubber band snapped the bass top fell into two pieces and came off. The scroll is really cool, it's a three piece scroll that is very interresting on one side bt non existent on the other. The fretboard has what I thought were tape marks but what are actually grooves in it. Like there were frets? There was also an interresting patch on the upper end of the front which looks OK from the front but is terrible from the back.

Here are the dimensions:
Upper Bout: 9"
Lower Bout: 11.5"
Mid: 7"
Body Length: 22"
Rib Depth: 3"
String Length (guesstimate): 20"

(As you can see quite a bit smaller then what the seller origonally gave me)

Origonally I was planning on hanging it on a wall but now that I have it, I'm thinking about trying some repairs on it over the summer. I don't intend on getting it in working order but maybe atleast in one piece! I was also thinking with the discovery of the "fret grooves" and size which is actually smaller than a cello maybe it's not a church bass at all, maybe it's a old cello or viol da gamba? Just a thought.

[Ken Smith]

Sounds more like a little or 3/4-1/2 sized cello. A bass of anykind in the modern sense would never be that small. But, in the old days, Cellos were also called basses and OUR basses were called Double Basses formally to make the distinction. In that sense, it is a bass of sort but NOT a small DOUBLE Bass. You have a baby Cello, not a Baby Double Bass.. I think!

[Chris DeMarco]

A baby cello with frets?