Pre-1900 or no?

[Elisabeth Steves]

Consignment customer calls this an "Austrian bass, ca. 1890". My guess is Tyrolean, pre-WWII, but I can't say whether or not it could be pre-1900. It would be in extraordinarily good condition to be as old as it's said to be. Exterior linings, genuine (if smallish) bass bar, real purfling, bass has been revarnished from original dark brown with the purplish-black hue seen on Viennese instruments. Oak neck. Overall a bit more nicely made than the average Tyrolean I see. Plates are not overly thin nor is the top excessively arched. No notable deformation of the top though it could possibly have been re-arched some time ago. Big, lush sound, as you'd kinda expect. We had a similar bass through the shop that was reliably dated ca. 1920. Do you see anything that would indicate this bass is older than that? Thanks in advance for any notes!

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Elisabeth Steves

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Consignment customer calls this an "Austrian bass, ca. 1890". My guess is Tyrolean, pre-WWII, but I can't say whether or not it could be pre-1900. It would be in extraordinarily good condition to be as old as it's said to be. Exterior linings, genuine (if smallish) bass bar, real purfling, bass has been revarnished from original dark brown with the purplish-black hue seen on Viennese instruments. Oak neck. Overall a bit more nicely made than the average Tyrolean I see. Plates are not overly thin nor is the top excessively arched. No notable deformation of the top though it could possibly have been re-arched some time ago. Big, lush sound, as you'd kinda expect. We had a similar bass through the shop that was reliably dated ca. 1920. Do you see anything that would indicate this bass is older than that? Thanks in advance for any notes!

This doesn't look Tyrol at all. It looks German/Czech c.1930s or so. The Tuners and plates are 20th century. I would like to see a full profile of all angles or the front, back, sides, and 4 shots of the Scroll/pegbox including the button area, all shot straight on like a mug shot.

Then, I can confirm what I think from these few pics already shown.

[Elisabeth Steves]

Thanks, Ken. Here are some more pics - what would you say the neck is? I don't think maple, and I've heard oak was common for this. But I don't now remember where I heard that.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Elisabeth Steves

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Thanks, Ken. Here are some more pics - what would you say the neck is? I don't think maple, and I've heard oak was common for this. But I don't now remember where I heard that.

The Neck from the small amound of non-varnished wood looks like Beechwood which was the other common neck wood on less expensive basses in that region, not Oak. The rounded bevel of the outer linings on the Ribs look more Czech than German and, more modern as well. The Neck Button also looks more Czech to me than German. When a bass is re-finished, it often looks even older as you have some of the old Varnish under the grain popping thru the new finish. I would need to look inside in person to get closer to the origin and age but I think the Czech/German border area and between the wars is my estimated opinion from the pictures.

[Elisabeth Steves]

Thanks, Ken! I knew it looked a little different in several ways than the average Tyrolean, but I was not sure where to go with it. I'm still surprised how homogeneous instruments from different workshops, but within the same region, can be.