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  #1  
Old 10-03-2011, 05:25 PM
Nelson Cascais Nelson Cascais is offline
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Default old french bass

Hi

I´m thinking on buying an old french bass 1860. The seller says "it is just coming from the luthier for a complete restoration and it has had a fresh coat of red brown spirit varnish matching the original. This is just to protect it and is in line with keeping it as original as possible."

My question is: is it a normal procedure?
Does it afects the tone?
Does it have an impact on the value of the instrument?

Hope someone can help me with this questions...

Thanks
Greetings
Nelson
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Old 10-03-2011, 06:38 PM
Arnold Schnitzer Arnold Schnitzer is offline
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Nelson, if this work was done to protect the bass and restore the original varnish, and it looks right, that's not a bad thing IMHO. But if the bass was stripped of its original varnish, that's not so good. However, sometimes the original varnish has been destroyed and there's nothing to be done other than putting on some new "paint".

Do you have any pics to share?
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Old 10-03-2011, 09:05 PM
Nelson Cascais Nelson Cascais is offline
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Hi Arnold
Thank you for your reply.
I´ll post some pics soon.
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Old 10-04-2011, 12:11 PM
Nelson Cascais Nelson Cascais is offline
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Here´s some photos of the french bass:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68258026@N07/
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Old 10-04-2011, 12:37 PM
Arnold Schnitzer Arnold Schnitzer is offline
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Wow that's one crazy back! The varnish looks pretty good to my eye. Has the seller named the supposed maker?
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Old 10-04-2011, 01:38 PM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
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Question pics

Can we see the Scroll please, all angles and the Ribs as well. Thanks.
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Old 10-04-2011, 01:40 PM
Nelson Cascais Nelson Cascais is offline
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It´s a one piece maple back...

The supposedmaker is J. Thibouville-Lamy
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Old 10-04-2011, 02:32 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nelson Cascais View Post
It´s a one piece maple back...

The supposed maker is J. Thibouville-Lamy
That was one of my guesses but they copied most previous makers styles and made many many basses in all grades in their factory. Factory OF J. Thibouville-Lamy is the supposed maker, not Lamy himself.
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Old 10-04-2011, 07:15 PM
Nelson Cascais Nelson Cascais is offline
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What about the one piece maple flat back? Is it a good thing? I know it´s not very common...
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Old 10-04-2011, 10:29 PM
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Question good?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nelson Cascais View Post
What about the one piece maple flat back? Is it a good thing? I know it´s not very common...
The grain and figure is a bit wild and the bass has a lot of cracks. I don't see that as good, just what it is. A 2 pc back might have been more stable than one big piece twisting around and splitting. Maybe.
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Old 10-06-2011, 10:23 AM
Nelson Cascais Nelson Cascais is offline
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Thank you, guys!
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