German Shop bass circo 1900?

[John Romey]

Hello:

I have another old German bass I'm currently getting restored and plan on using it as a period instrument. It was advertised as a 19th century German bass but I don't think that is the case. I was also told it was probably 1900's or maybe 1910's era. In any case it sounds great minus the cracks and I'm hoping it ends up being a fantastic instrument. It has two repair tags inside from Chicago - one in the 30's and one in the 70's. I should have it back post restoration in a few weeks but for now I can't take any extra photos than what I have. It was purchased 20 years ago from a university professor in Chicago. It has been sitting unplayed in Philly for the last 20 years!

I'd appreciate any thoughts though in regards to age of the instrument.

Unfortunately I have been trying to upload photos to the site for some time now and can't get it to work. Not really sure why, so I"ll post links below to some images......

Thanks in advance!

http://www.evoscillatedesignstudio.c...s/IMG_2304.JPG
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http://www.evoscillatedesignstudio.c...s/IMG_2309.JPG
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http://www.evoscillatedesignstudio.c...s/IMG_2311.JPG
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[Ken Smith]

It probably is German or Bohemian but Germanic regardless. Age in the 100 year range I think. Depends on the varnish if all original or not. The bass is kind of dark, very dark.

On the pics loading problem, those are HUGE and when you click on them +, they become REALLY HUGE..

Maybe it's a size problem. My son Mike has a post on this. Read it and then try again to edit and post the pics a big smaller, please.

[Adam Linz]

Wow, nice bass. Good score. Please remove that thing holding the pick up jack to the tail piece. It's making me too uncomfortable. It looks really old as well, but needs to go. Thanks and good luck with the bass. Adam

[John Romey]

Hi Ken:

I'm out of town so I'll try to do the photos again later in the week when I get back. I tried messaging your son but he never wrote back. I looked at the size requirement and it said it would fit in physical size but maybe the dimensions were too big. I'll try again later

As for the pickup - it won't be on - it's just what came on the bass when I bought it and took it straight to get it restored

thanks

[John Romey]

oh and Yes the bass is dark - but It looks like the original varnish actually.. is that unheard of?

Thanks

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by John Romey

oh and Yes the bass is dark - but It looks like the original varnish actually.. is that unheard of?

Thanks

Just that dark looks like it might be over varnished. These basses usually have spirit varnish on them. Making a new bass that dark is usually rare and not so appealing. It is more common in repair that a bass is over-varnished or re-finished with the thought it is helping the bass. Using a dark color helps to hide old repairs and is common in that respect. Making it that dark new is not usually done.

The c-bout ribs are crackless but the upper and lower on both sides show old repairs. The Bass as well shows some and with flatbacks it is more common than not. The top is hard to see all of what's happened in the past but I do see several repaired cracks there as well. The outer linings make the bass stiffer in the rib area and basses like this are often thick all around. They last longer than if thin but the sound the extra wood mutes is par for the course.

[John Romey]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

Just that dark looks like it might be over varnished. These basses usually have spirit varnish on them. Making a new bass that dark is usually rare and not so appealing. It is more common in repair that a bass is over-varnished or re-finished with the thought it is helping the bass. Using a dark color helps to hide old repairs and is common in that respect. Making it that dark new is not usually done.

The c-bout ribs are crackless but the upper and lower on both sides show old repairs. The Bass as well shows some and with flatbacks it is more common than not. The top is hard to see all of what's happened in the past but I do see several repaired cracks there as well. The outer linings make the bass stiffer in the rib area and basses like this are often thick all around. They last longer than if thin but the sound the extra wood mutes is par for the course.

Hmm - well in any case I like the darkness. I have inspected thoroughly and there some old repairs (two old repair/restoration tags). Barrie Kolstein took the top off and is almost done with all the restoration work. He undid a lot of the old repairs for me because my thought was since the top was off fix it all. He said some of them were not done properly so he was going to fix them all and restore the bass to full health.

[John Romey]

Here are the photos of the bass .. fully restored and then setup with a classical bridge, frets, gut tail piece, and wooden endpin. The endpin was stained to match the beautiful rosewood fingerboard. I had the tailpiece, which is also rosewood, roughed out so the beautiful reds would come out. Really happy with the way it is feeling playing and sounding...

[John Romey]

a few more photos

[Ken Smith]

All the pics are sideways?

The bass has frets!

Is this the restored bass?

[John Romey]

Yes this is the first one. I bought two this summer and one is still being restored.

Yup - Viennese Contra bass or Violone had frets - comes from the hybrid gamba/violin origins! A lot of fun!

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by John Romey

Yes this is the first one. I bought two this summer and one is still being restored.

Yup - Viennese Contra bass or Violone had frets - comes from the hybrid gamba/violin origins! A lot of fun!

That bass thing is out of tune. Look at the spacings.

[John Romey]

you mean the frets? If so yeh they are movable... I move them every time I tune - and when I put the bass on the stand the frets often get moved...

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by John Romey

you mean the frets? If so yeh they are movable... I move them every time I tune - and when I put the bass on the stand the frets often get moved...

And then the frets were removed and the Simandl method moved in..

[John Romey]

almost - bow changed a bit and the tuning too obviously