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  #1  
Old 08-21-2012, 05:40 PM
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Wink Simba meets Mufasa (The Bohemian Lion)

Coming soon, a father Lion 'Mufasa' (old Bohemian) to sit beside young 'Simba' (Bollbach).
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  #2  
Old 08-23-2012, 12:20 AM
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Cool more previews..

I will probably have a bit of set-up work to do as usual once this bass comes in. It's inflight from Europe and scheduled to arrive early next week. Then the fun begins!
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  #3  
Old 09-02-2012, 10:08 PM
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Question Similar Lions?

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Old 09-14-2012, 10:39 PM
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Thumbs up Mufasa is coming, finally..

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Smith View Post
I will probably have a bit of set-up work to do as usual once this bass comes in. It's inflight from Europe and scheduled to arrive early next week. Then the fun begins!
Due to concerns of this possibly being a national treasure, the Customs officials 'rejected' the shipment in lieu of better paperwork and some fees if the Papers were to fly. I was informed earlier this week that the Bass was re-packed and ready for flight once again.

I have the Airway-bill now and plan on picking it up early next week from customs.

Studying this Lion-head a bit further, I realize it is most likely the Lion-head of the Bohemian coat-of-arms. There have been various coat's of arms for the Bohemian region but up until the early 20th century, it was fairly the same for about 8-9 centuries, 1198–1918 from a Wiki page I found. Perhaps it was this specific Lion carving that raised their eyebrows. The slightly forked tongue sliding out between the teeth is quite detailed as compared to other lion-head carvings I have seen. This is the 3rd Lion-head I have owned now. The 1st was early 20th century, 2nd is early 21st century and this 3rd one probably from the 19th century but once here, we will examine it closely and make sure it's not older. So, I have now owned Lions-heads from 3 different centuries.

The Bass itself looks a bit more Germanic than Czech but the German Bohemians or rather Bohemian Germans are probably responsible for this instrument. I estimate it to be from the Saxon region that neighbors the most western part of Bohemia where those two cultures have been merging since the string instrument got its bow and before.
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Old 09-17-2012, 11:02 PM
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Thumbs up Mufasa is home.. New home..

I just packed the bass after setting it up. It usually takes me within an hour to put the post in and bridge on that were previously fit. The Post went in fine but, that bridge was up in the sky. 16mm on the E and 11mm on the G with some solid core steel strings. The E measured. .116". As thick as my Jargar E/C but that's a relatively soft feeling string. These things were so stiff, I could barely coil them as I was taking them off.

So, the bridge was a Belgium style with that tall arch and the top was cut down close to the heart. It was only 6 5/8" high in the center so I didn't have any room to cut from the top so, I drilled it for adjusters and cut out 1/2" of wood from the tall legs and set it up with some old old adjuster wheels I had lying around.

The bass needs a new bridge, endpin unit (maybe) and tailwire as well as a fingerboard dressing. The tailpiece is this creamy brown colored wood and it's quite heavy. I think it is European boxwood. It is heavier than maple and weighs an ounce more than a similar size maple TP I have on the shelf so I think I'll keep it on the bass.

I will try to get pics up if I can by tomorrow. If not, later in the week. I got so involved mentally working on this bass that a few minutes after 10pm I realized that I had missed an Orchestra Board meeting that I wanted to attend. Well, it was worth it. The bass is covered and in my rack. It has that black/grey kevlar type rope tailwire. It kept slipping so I took all the stings off before it ran out of rope to pop and then tied it all in a knot in front of the other knot and I think it will hold. If not, keeping the bass packed up might prevent more damage if it does go in the night and stay contained in its case.
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Old 09-18-2012, 03:11 PM
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Cool Bohemian Lion..

Ok, the Page is up!

Enjoy the Pics. I'm gonna play this Bass till I get Bit!
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  #7  
Old 09-19-2012, 06:52 AM
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Lovely bass! What strings did you put on, for this trial? For now, how is the low-end response under the bow? Upper register access? What are your first playing impressions?
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Old 09-19-2012, 10:47 AM
Eric Hochberg Eric Hochberg is offline
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Wow, love it!
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  #9  
Old 09-19-2012, 12:44 PM
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Cool

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric Swanson View Post
Lovely bass! What strings did you put on, for this trial? For now, how is the low-end response under the bow? Upper register access? What are your first playing impressions?
Passione G,D,A, and Stark E Passione.

The E is louder than the A. The bass has a powerful deep sound. The upper register as well as the low register is smooth and silky. Close your eyes and you will swear it's a 200 year old Italian. Someone yesterday told me the F-holes remind him of Testore but I highly doubt this bass is anything Italian.

The FFs are not evenly cut from one to another. Not the nicks, the holes, the curve, the placement or the fluting at the bottom. This is a one-off hand made original. The shoulders are not symmetrical either being that the treble shoulder is slightly more curved for playing then the other side. The C bouts are not even as well. Like my Gilkes was, the upper corners are opened up for bow clearance with the lowers being squared across.

This bass was made for comfort. It was about a 43" string length before but after restoration, it's just under 42".

Speaking today with a former owner who spoke with the former owner HE got it from was told that HE, the 90+ year old German player bought it from another old player in the 1950's and that HE was told that the Shoulders were Cut down from even a larger bass. Just how and where the bass was cut I can't say and don't know but this was bigger when it was made.

So, I have some basic knowledge of the past 3 owners spanning a century or so. The bass was probably 100 years or so old before it was cut. That being said, the last previous owner who is also a dealer and player thinks the bass is much older than it's shape and model leads us to speculate at first look.
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  #10  
Old 09-20-2012, 11:38 AM
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Cool USA Debut

I played it last night for the first time at an orchestra rehearsal. While sitting there and playing, I realized that this is the first time in it's estimated 200 years that it was played in USA or possibly outside of the German/Bohemian region. I have information now that for the last 100+ years or so it was used in German orchestras by just two owners, both having the bass for several decades each and only selling it when they reached retirement age or beyond. The last owner in his 90s. To them, it was a 'keeper' and I can see why while playing it last night. I didn't say a word to the other 5 guys in the section about having a new/old bass or an old Lionhead but one glance and their eyes were stuck on the bass. Each player nudging the other to look at it. It was a good feeling.
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Old 09-20-2012, 02:01 PM
Gerry Grable Gerry Grable is offline
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Wow! Neat, Ken. If only that lion could talk?
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  #12  
Old 09-20-2012, 09:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerry Grable View Post
Wow! Neat, Ken. If only that lion could talk?
Yes, very neat. Today I saw pictures of a similar bass with an angled Flat Back and a different Lion but, the FFs were very similar as were the outer linings flush with the top and back. The shoulders were different but mine have been cut.
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  #13  
Old 11-16-2012, 12:59 AM
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Thumbs up ok..

I have since used the bass for a few rehearsals so far including tonight and last night. As of now, I plan on using it for my next few concerts over the next few weeks. I can get around not having the C-extension for the most part. I will be tuning down to Eb for Adagio for Strings by Barber that I am doing this week with my main orchestra.

The bass was just restored in Europe and is already starting to show signs of breaking in. It sounded good the first day I strung it up but it's getting smoother and deeper the more I play it. I still think I will make some modifications to the bass if I keep it long enough.

As far as the shoulders being cut as mentioned above, the lower bout as I see now was cut as well. The Purfling in the C-bouts look different than the upper and lower bouts. That tells me that they cut all but the C-bout areas, most likely at the same time. This is just about one of the nicest sounding German school basses I have ever heard. I would love to know who made it.

The bass is very comfortable to hold and play, sitting or standing, bowing or plucking as well as orchestra pizz with bow in hand. This is one of the great sounding German roundback basses made that is also not a big or cumbersome instrument. Many of the Mittenwald basses I have seen are quite large in comparison.

Currently, it is strung with 3 year old Belcantos that were also recently on and off a few basses before I put them on this old Lion.
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Old 11-16-2012, 01:16 AM
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Cool also..

The Gears are something for discussion. First off, the brass shafts have a wooden sleeve over them the entire length thru both cheeks (I don't have a close-up of it at the moment, sorry.) These are very old, the wood, almost as if they were there before the brass gears were put on the bass. Old basses before brass or iron gears had large cello-like pegs. I think these could be from those pegs, possibly for a few reasons. One mainly, there are no other screw holes in the scroll cheeks from other than these gears that I was able to see when I was shown pictures during the restoration.

Now, look closely at he gear-worm brackets that attach them to the plates. On one side they are rounded and the other, more square like. Also, the side with the square type are each different. The screw mounting in the center of the gears are just slightly different on each side as well. Also, each handle shaft is also a bit different in one way or another. One of the teeth on the upper bass gear (E on top) was repaired as it was broken off. I requested they fuse a piece of brass in and re-cut the teeth. It's working fine now. Have a look;
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Old 02-13-2013, 02:12 PM
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Thumbs up Mufasa gets a Face Lift..

Note: C-Extension in progress.

There were no holes drilled in the Lion at all. His 12 teeth and long tongue remain intact and unaltered. This is the first Extension like this I've had with a double wheel where the string feeds back under the Ebony which holds the Extension in place by pressure and a single steel connecting Pin set into the top of the Fingerboard. The Pin is used in all the Extensions that Arnold has made for me. Now, I can use this in Orchestra and not switch basses because of the lower notes written on some pieces.
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  #16  
Old 03-09-2013, 09:34 PM
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Thumbs up It's home

Just brought back the Lion with Extension and full set-up. Now it needs to played. I will post pics in a few days.
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Old 03-30-2013, 10:32 PM
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Thumbs up ok..

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Smith View Post
Just brought back the Lion with Extension and full set-up. Now it needs to played. I will post pics in a few days.
Yesterday we updated the page with all new pics of the Bass showing the Extension that was just added.

I will probably play this Bass all next week instead of the Hart. The week after that I have a Pit job (West Side Story) at a High School so I will most likely play the Kreutzer with a pickup on it and keep the old Lion and Hart in the rack side by side where they will be safe.

I played the old Lion last night at an Orchestra rehearsal with 5 basses and the player to my right commented how much sound it put out. He has seen me there with several different basses in the past and this was the first time he said anything about my bass.
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Old 03-31-2013, 08:43 AM
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Looks great Ken! Nice work on the extension, Arnold!
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Old 04-02-2013, 08:02 AM
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Lovely work!
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Old 04-02-2013, 10:48 PM
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Cool Origin..

At first I thought the Bass was German from the Saxon-Bohemian region. Then I was led to believe a possible connection with the Tirol with Stainer/Klotz influence in the making. Then, I emailed someone with knowledge of period instruments from the Austro-German Tirol region and was told this in part;

"The bass you have, however, has no resemblance whatsoever with either Stainer or Kloz or their schools".

Another dealer that I have known for decades thought originally that this was from the Dresden area of Germany which is the capitol of Saxony. So, after looking at many basses including one that was remotely similar to mine, I have re-attributed the bass back to the Saxon/Bohemian school.
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