"circa 1880 Czech bass"

[Rob Thompson]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

Please pay attention. I have a fairly good eye, not the best but better than most. This bass looks like it has wood stain on it more than violin varnish. This bass WAS re-finished or re-stained or something to that affect. Again, only a personal inspection would get me to put money on it but I am leaning that way.

Don't worry, I'm paying attention. I think its refinished too. Maybe even with wood stain! But, as you can hopefully verify from the photos I posted, no repaired bassbar or soundpost cracks or irregularities in the (albeit not so good) varnish in those areas that I can see.

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

I have no idea who is out your way qualified to do this level of work to the degree I am used to getting. Neck-to-block fit, neck pitch and neck stand as well as all square. Not a job for just anyone. If done wrong, it will need to be corrected.

This Bass may not be worth all that it needs to be made right. Often when basses are sold, the previous owner knows all or some of this. Do you ever get rid of a perfectly good working Car? Be careful with this or any bass you step into. Good repairs are not cheap. Look for a bass with less mystery involved as far as condition and restoration costs go. If this were a much nicer bass worth over $20k, I would say go for it. In my opinion, this bass on its best day would not fetch half of that in its best condition.

Well, I appreciate the encouragement. If things turn out the worst possible way, then perhaps I will have learned a hard lesson!

Also, there's some good luthiers out here. Maybe not as famous as some on the east coast, but Minnesotans are humble folk. If I go through with it, I'll let you know how the neck reset turns out, so you can either 1. say "I told you so" or 2. find out about a luthier who does good work out here.

Actually, once I did get rid of a perfectly good working car! I gave it to my ex-girlfriend so she'd quit bugging me about it.

Thanks again!

[Rob Thompson]

Thought I'd update. The bass was given a very nice restoration by luthier Scott Jensen here in Minneapolis. This included a neck reset, new fingerboard, various crack repairs, repair of the old neck break damage. He did a wonderful job.

I've been using it for orchestra and chamber music for a couple months now and I couldn't be happier. The bass sounds fantastic; great projection and depth and very easy to play. So, I guess I got lucky!

Doing Beethoven 7 in about a week, so I suppose it could use an extension, but I'll make due as is for a while.

[Adam Linz]

Hey Rob, can you post some pictures of the bass now that it's done. Scott is my guy as well and I saw your bass on the bench several times. Aaron brought it by for a lesson when he first got it and I thought it sounded really great even though it had the funky finish. So I would love to see how it turned out. Thanks, Adam Linz. St Paul, MN

[Rob Thompson]

Hi Adam, I'll post some better pics later; for now you can see a few decent new pics of the neck/FB work in message 35 of this thread. My camera is really finicky.

I'm bringing it in to Scott on July 31 to get some setup adjustments, you are welcome to stop in there and give her a spin.

BTW, I saw Dave King Trucking Company recently and loved it! Great music making. I'll say hi next time I'm at one of your shows.