9-1-1, 9-1-1, 9-1-1, Luthier on the loose..

[Dave Martin]

I understand that there never was a Juzek shop; when I bought it in the mid/late 1980's, the guys at the Bass Viol Shop offered a manufacturing date of probably the 1960's as an admittedly rough guess. I doesn't matter to me, though; the bass functions as intended.

The label doesn't look printed; it looks like it a copy (made in the days before plain paper copiers). The folks at Williams Violins pointed out the label and said it didn't look typical to them the first time I took it to their shop. I'll look at it tomorrow and see if I can get a picture.

[Arnold Schnitzer]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

The Labels were probably on a sheet that they cut out one by one. I don't recall a single Juzek with a date inside them.

Not to contradict you Maestro, but the "Master Art Copy" Juzeks I've seen have a year written on the label. They look to have been penned by hand.

[Eric Rene Roy]

Originally Posted by Dave Martin

The label doesn't look printed; it looks like it a copy (made in the days before plain paper copiers).

My old stand mate from high school brought his bass to me recently to make a few repairs on. Although the bass looked nothing like any "Juzek" I have ever seen...it had a photocopied "Juzek" label in it. I told my friend it was not a typical "Juzek", but a decent German Factory flat-back (and honestly better than most of the Juzek's you see), and the label was most likely a fake dropped in to make the bass more appealing.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Arnold Schnitzer

Not to contradict you Maestro, but the "Master Art Copy" Juzeks I've seen have a year written on the label. They look to have been penned by hand.

I don't disagree. I just never seen one. My Bass was a Master Art model but had the WBW label from Wilfer. Juzek Didn't put their label in that bass. I myself 'penned' in the date. There were other basses up there sitting for years unsold and unseen by the public. It would have been a 'hunt' to find out when they were made or when they came in.

I think the Master Art Basses for the most part could have been made before the War and left in stock as the one I got there was old. Bobby Juzek said they can't get these anymore so I assume that it was from after the war by its looks. I first saw that bass in 1966 or so. That's the date I put in it but bought it in late '71.

Those basses called 'Master Art' were made by Wilfer, Wenzel or the elder Anton. I have owned one of each. I have an old catalog page with the same basses advertised and it's not by Juzek. This shows that Wilfer sold them to more than one company here in the states. Juzek sold most of their basses to the Public School system. I assume now that they couldn't buy all the higher end basses that Wilfer could produce so they found someone else to buy their production as well. The maple figuring on the Master Art basses is about the best that's ever grown on the planet.

[Eric Hochberg]

Here's the MasterArt Label from my bass. Has the hand written date that Arnold describes. My bass does not look like the Juzeks I've seen...

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Eric Hochberg

Here's the MasterArt Label from my bass. Has the hand written date that Arnold describes. My bass does not look like the Juzeks I've seen...

Ok, I can't evaluate the paper from here and I don't recall seeing the bass if I have but in 1956, the Wilfer family, suppliers of the Juzek basses had already moved from Shonbach, Czech. near the German border to Bubenreuth in north Bavaria, Germany. This was done at the end of the War in the mid-late 1940s to avoid communist rule.

The date alone is a red flag. Anyone can get a hold of some old labels unused but the dates must mast the location.

Hey, show us the bass!

[Eric Rene Roy]

interesting what that label shows though Eric...there was a label that was removed and the Juzek label is over it slightly...wonder what that label read?

[Eric Hochberg]

You think the rough area above the label was left over from another label? Never thought of that...

There are a few pics of the bass (post #11) and some discussion here:

http://www.smithbassforums.com/showthread.php?t=487

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Eric Hochberg

You think the rough area above the label was left over from another label? Never thought of that...

There are a few pics of the bass here:

http://www.smithbassforums.com/showthread.php?t=487

(post #11)

Post #1, is a Violin shaped bass by Wenzel Wilfer, Germany. That is my guess. Your bass may or may not be Wilfer but a similar style in a Gamba. The Master Art basses however were highly figured Violin cornered basses, not Gambas.

So, '1956 Czech' is the first smoking gun and then the Gamba shape labeled as 'Master Art' is another. I have a 1965 page from Vitale Imports showing a Master Art bass. The flame is a grade or two above the bass in post 1 of your link. Juzek was an importer. So was Vitale who sold to shops. Maybe his business competed with Juzek as well. It is obvious to me from the advertisement that they bought from the same source.

Your Bass looks nice but nothing like any Wilfer/Juzek I have seen. There were other shops making nice basses over there as well. If Juzek was in the business of buying mainly 3/4 plain-Jane gamba basses for the NYC Schools then maybe they were the lower end carved basses produced in Germany then.

I think the aim of Juzek was student grade instruments. I first heard of them in Jr High school from my teacher in Miami Beach, 1965. He was from Miami and a retired pro bassist. He showed me the old Juzek catalog at 50% off list prices and told me what to buy there when I went to NY for the remainder of the Summer. I ended up moving back to NY and stayed there. The Juzek basses and Violins, etc. were promoted to the Schools.

Having a Bass that is NOT a Juzek is no indication of having something less. In many cases or possibly most cases, you have something better than what they offered unless it was an upper line model made by Wilfer, Juzek or other brand name.

On the Flatback Juzek subject I have read that they did import some lower end basses in Flatback but that must have been before the War. I think the troubles that Flatbacks produce may have ended that model with Juzek fairly quickly if it ever even happened. Labels have a way of finding their way into basses where they don't belong! The catalog I saw in '65 had only roundbacks.

[Ken Smith]

Guys, by 911 I mean the phone number you call for Police or Emergency and NOT the tragic 9/11 terrorist attack. I just want to make that clear. I was up at Arnold's yesterday and he referred to this thread as 9/11 and not 9-1-1. I am sorry for not being clear on that. I just realized that non Americans around the world would not know about the phone number 9-1-1 used for 'help' in an emergency, not having lived here in the USA.