Some questions about a bass

[Fernando González]

Sorry!
The wood is almost plain excluding the back.

[Ken Smith]

Close up of the body/front FFs and all angles of the Scroll, 4 sides please..

[Fernando González]

No problem!!!

[Fernando González]

And now I must go to sleep.....It´s a very serious advise of my wife....
Tomorrow I´ll read your replies.

Regards,
Fernando.

[Ken Smith]

Well.. Lausanne huh? That's in Switzerland near France and slightly north west of Turin, Italy.

Do you know for sure if the Varnish on the body is original or has the Bass been refinished or over varnished?

If I had to guess I would say the Varnish looks French but the Bass could be Swiss. The Bass looks more German than French to me. Maybe there was a shop in Switzerland making these or, it may have come in the white from Germany.

The wood of the Scroll looks to be Beechwood. That usually spells German but it's no guarantee.

Play safe and call it a Swiss Shop-Bass. Can't go wrong with that.

Cavalli by the way is an Italian name and Jean is of French origin. Mixed parents or a made up trade name? Your guess is as good as mine. I can't find anything with that name listed, sorry.

[Fernando González]

The neck has the holes of previous tyrolean machines and the wood is quite different of the rest of the instrumets. As it has a clearly important reparation may be the neck isn´t the original.

How do you know about the varnish source? This is very interesting.
Is there any book, source, etc, about the bass making schools over the time and his caracteristics?

Thank you very much!!!

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Fernando González

The neck has the holes of previous tyrolean machines and the wood is quite different of the rest of the instrumets. As it has a clearly important reparation may be the neck isn´t the original.

How do you know about the varnish source? This is very interesting.
Is there any book, source, etc, about the bass making schools over the time and his caracteristics?

Thank you very much!!!

Well, from looking at many many Basses over the years you get to see the pattern of the schools and periods of making. After awhile, just like driving a car, you know a STOP sign from a YIELD sign.

This is the same with shapes and woods, FFs and Scrolls. It's all memory recording.

On your Bass the Varnish does not look like it was applied all that well so either it's over-varnished or re-varnished. I don't think a Bass from a shop would have brush streaks like that. Also, the period and style of the Bass looks way older than the condition of the varnish as far as normal wear and tear goes.

I see some filled holes from gear plates but Gears can be changed a week after the Bass was made or a hundred years later. My Tyrolean Bass had Plates before with the Hatpeg Gears. About 20 years ago (for the former owner) a Luthier put on some nice 19th century French Gears on it. Those gears might be as old as the Bass or older. If not (it really doesn't matter), the fact remains that the age of the Gears does not say when they were put on the Bass or the age of the Bass either. I can put 100 year old gears on a new Bass tomorrow and the Bass will still be new. Gears are just parts so don't get too hung up on Gears vs. aging. They don't always go together.

Looking at the Back of your Bass, I see it could be Czech as well if not German. Many shops and dealers bought Basses from German and Czech factories and attached their own labels. There must be thousands of Basses here in USA like that. Labels like Juzek, Morelli, G.A. Pfretzschner and any other Label written in English is an Import (or Export from the country of origin).

When the Bass is not a confirmed Pedigree or brand (Shop or handmade), then the ID process is sometimes difficult. Especially when the Bass has some age to it along with a few alterations. That makes it even harder but not always.

[Fernando González]

Thanks Ken!!!

What is about shorten the string lengt one or two cm? Probably moving the bridge could be enough.

Here in Spain you can´t see a lot of good basses. I mean REALLY good basses, so I´ll to learn to identify then by photos or books. I´m very interested on it.
Sometime I read in double bassist that a good orquestra brought good basses for the players. In Spain most orquestras have new instruments, Poellmann, Nogaro, Gruenert and so, but never you can see an old italian bass.

Regards,

Fernando.