Squared corners (Dodd)

[Jim Mortimore]

one of my basses has corners like this...
i'm still unsure of the maker of my bass tho... any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Jim Mortimore

one of my basses has corners like this...
i'm still unsure of the maker of my bass tho... any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Those ebony 'wrap arounds'(?) look like they were added after. The Dodd and Forster basses I have seen with square corners finish flush with the plate corners, not overlapped. Also, they are rounded and not square not to mention ebony. Ebony was quite rare back then. I don't know what the fingerboards were but the tailpieces were stained black over maple or boxwood. So, ebony corners seem doubtful.

What do the shops over there think your bass is? can I see the scroll, all angles? If it's old enough, it could be from the Dodd shop or one of his out-workers.

I had one that was attributed to Dodd that looks vaguely similar to your bass. Tony Houska thinks it resembles a Craske her recently had. I think some English basses were similar back then but not uniform in size and details from bass to bass, even from the same maker. I have seen a few Fendts that varied in size and string length made on the same exact d'Salo model. You would expect them to measure up close to each other but they didn't.

Nice bass you have there regardless.

[Jim Mortimore]

Thanks Ken, thats very interesting to hear.

it has ugly machines.. not original. i want to get them changed. are their any you can recommend that might be vaguely like the originals it may have previously had?

the previous owner who had the bass since the 50's thought it might be a Hawkes.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Jim Mortimore

Thanks Ken, thats very interesting to hear.

it has ugly machines.. not original. i want to get them changed. are their any you can recommend that might be vaguely like the originals it may have previously had?

the previous owner who had the bass since the 50's thought it might be a Hawkes.

Ok, not a Hawkes. The Flatbacks I have seen were all German made and had outside linings regardless of what shop made them for Hawkes and then sent from Germany. The C bouts are too long as well.

The Scroll is later 19th century French and not to this bass. Some Hawkes basses were French before the Panormo model made by the Jacquet family. I have never seen a French model with an angled bent back.

It looks like a French head on an English body. Go see Martyn Bailey. He might know more seeing it first hand and also has nice English Gears for your French head.. lol .. Hopefully, War will not break out between the head and the gears..

[Chris Shaw]

I'm with Ken on the ebony strips Jim. They look very much like later additions. I'm also with Ken on it not being a Hawkes of any type. I think I'm right in saying that all the Hawkes flat backs (the Professor models) have angled backs. The Concert and the Panormo are both swell backs. Other possible guys to try over here for information are Tom Martin, Martin Lawrence, Roger Dawson or maybe Adrian Warrick. Depends where you are?

[Arnold Schnitzer]

Wow that neck looks crooked!

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Arnold Schnitzer

Wow that neck looks crooked!

Yes.. Perhaps the restorer put the ebony corners on to distract attention from the mis-aligned neck set.. Maybe?