Does this look Yankee?

[Ken Smith]

He's a cabinet maker? That might help explain the crude work, lack of Purfling (maybe) and the incorrect Scroll setting to the plane of the neck/Fingerboard. That Scroll will need to be cut and grafter to a better neck. A block possibly added if it's blockless and that's just for starters. I would be surprised if any professional Bass luthier could repair this for under $10k to a professional working bass.

Remember, 3-strings were still in use around the world in spots well into the 1920s. French and English shops were still offering them regardless of the fact that most had switched over to mainly 4-string.

Your reference to the links of basses at WOB makes no sense to me at all. My Batchelder has a slabish cut top and yet I make no claim of Italianism there. Just the available wood at the time. Crude does not always equal Italian. Crude = crude, period. It's not a school of making. It's a lack of schooling in the making!

[Elijah Copeland]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

He's a cabinet maker? That might help explain the crude work, lack of Purfling (maybe) and the incorrect Scroll setting to the plane of the neck/Fingerboard. That Scroll will need to be cut and grafter to a better neck. A block possibly added if it's blockless and that's just for starters. I would be surprised if any professional Bass luthier could repair this for under $10k to a professional working bass.

Remember, 3-strings were still in use around the world in spots well into the 1920s. French and English shops were still offering them regardless of the fact that most had switched over to mainly 4-string.

Your reference to the links of basses at WOB makes no sense to me at all. My Batchelder has a slabish cut top and yet I make no claim of Italianism there. Just the available wood at the time. Crude does not always equal Italian. Crude = crude, period. It's not a school of making. It's a lack of schooling in the making!

Ok, the cabinetmaker statement was opened with " From my limited vantage point" which is speculative to say the least.
It does look as though it is blockless and yes, the bill on this bass will far exceed the purchase price. That doesn't discourage me.
I agree that my attempt to relay the shape of the neck was a bit jumbled. I was at a loss for the proper descriptive terminology and strayed into left field a bit, sorry.
On the school of making, that was not very nice.
I don't claim to be an expert on double bass history, but I read just about everything I can get my hands on.
When I began this investigation, I led with Yankee based off the scroll and the attached FFs. After thoroughly examining the photographs, I am not convinced that the FFs are attached. I am also not convinced that the scroll is Yankee in style. I think that this bass reflects more European characteristics.
Crude does not mean Italian.
Look at the FFs closely, they are nearly 1/3 the lenght of the top plate. Then look at the C-bouts, very distinctive in shape and very long and kind of square in the bends. The bass in the picture below is very similar.
The FFs are placed in a very similar position, very upright and almost equadistant from the C-bouts(which are very similar as well).
I am not claiming this bass to be Italian by any means, but I have been hard pressed to find a set of FFs that match better.

[Ken Smith]

What can I say. You asked I think for some advice. I gave it to you. Your show pics of basses that have in my opinion 'zero' relationship to the bass you posed and seem to just be grabbing at straws here.

If the bass you have is in any way even a copy of something you showed in comparison, your bass is a crude effort to duplicate at best. Your Bass is probably not a professionally made bass (which many are) and that's about that. Age and origin to be determined. Blockless bass from Germany and Bohemia in that period were made quite a bit neater. I have seen many of them in person and have owned them in original and modified states, with or without the neck block.

I am not making guesses here, just sharing experience. If you think I am being mean, then try taking it for a professional appraisal somewhere and maybe you can buy your way into something better than it is if you pick the right shop that will tell you want you want to hear.

I am being nice by the way. Can't you tell?

The more basses you see, the better one might get at telling the differences and similarities. Maybe, as that's no guarantee. It's a gift that some people have or develop. The more you learn, the more you realize you don't know!

I am sure the repairs are greater then the purchase price. You would be in trouble if it wasn't. The problem is that basses like these, condition and model wise often cost more to repair that they will be worth. It's best to know this before going forward with such a venture.

I have an old German Blockless bass myself now. I knew this bass years before the Top sunk in and yet still I bought it. Why? I like the bass, like the sound and I can play it as-is. IF I ever get it restored, I will have it done to the degree that the bass is worth the price of the repairs. This means that no corners will be cut and the bass kept as original as possible with only the necessary modifications.

My Batchelder as well was more than likely made Blockless and has a grafted neck (original?). If the bass was not in good repair when I first saw it, I probably would not have bought it. I must thank blindly the owners and repairers of the past who have maintained and modified the bass to its current state.

[Martin Sheridan]

Crude workmanship. I think it's a bass made in Pennslyvania. Somewhere in the foggy foggy reaches of my mind I remember seeing an article on some guys who came from Saxony and made basses in Pennsylvania that looked a lot like this with the attached Fs. The Fs have a very Germanic turn on the bottom.
It even looks a little tiny bit like some of the old Mexican tololoches.

It's not Yankee in my opinion. There workmanship was to a much higher standard.

It also looks small.