What have we got?

[Thomas Barnwell]

Well, we bought a old solid wood bass from a small music shop a couple of days ago. It had belonged to a local music teacher who had had it "from the 1940s" -- his daughter had sold all of his instruments as a group.

We know very little about solid wood basses and neither did the shop. My wife is the bass player and we live pretty much exclusively in the land of plywood Kays (bluegrass). She has 5 Kays (39 S-51, 40 S-51, 61 S-51 plus a 48 3/4 and 46 1/4) -- she is a well equipped queen of the bluegrass parking lot and stage. She does also have a cheap newish Eastern European solid 1/2 flatback, but it is nothing to write home about. I know that makes us visitors from the dark side here.

In any case, here are some pictures of our new bass.







It has no label. From the internet, I am guessing it is a Czech factory base of some sort. I have seen a number on-line decorated exactly and similarly to this one. Most of the ones I have found have either a year or an approximate year attributed to them, but I have no idea how that being done. This is quite different from our other vintage instruments (guitars, banjo, mandolins, and basses) where we usually have quite a lot of information.

So what is it? Who made it? When was it made? Where does it lie in the universe of orchestral basses. Any information and opinions in this area would be greatly appreciated!

Best,

-Tom

PS
This has all got us thinking about the broader world of basses and the rather odd corner -- bluegrass -- where with usually reside. Bluegrass is weird with regard to basses. We were out jamming last night at Everett's Music Barn -- a well known long running roots bluegrass operation. One of the guys there -- a bass player for a well known touring band and bass luthier/trader of some repute -- came and jammed with us for awhile (not on bass). During the evening, the session was visited by at least two old Herringbones and three 37 D-18s, a Lloyd Loar F5, and two old flatheads (including an original 5-string Granada) -- all owned basically by hillbillies of various sorts who play them. So I ask him what he could tell me about our new bass (it was not there -- my wife was playing her Kay). The answer was basically "nothing." Old Kays were all that were on his radar, but he could certainly tell us about them. So isn't that weird? I have not added it up, but there was north of $1M of old instruments -- guitars, banjos, and mandolins -- and the bass was the old Kay. AND, it was thought to be perfect because it was old, a Kay and special because it is a 5-string. I think this S-51 is a bass that is basically considered to be a waste of wood by "serious" bass players. I love stuff like this!

Thanks again.