Hi everyone! Bass Identification!!!!

[Bill Markus]

Just had this bass restored, I have no info on it, just my not so great pics, would love input! Great site here!

[Ken Smith]

This bass here in your Profile?

http://www.smithbassforums.com/album.php?albumid=21

These angles are no good at all to ID a bass. STRAIGHT Up and Down shots only please. All sides of the Scroll/Pegbox. Nothing in the way of artistic as far as angles goes unless you are hiding something.

Pretty wood and varnish with lots of repaired cracks. That's all I can see from what you have there, sorry. Measurements? Look at my DB pages and use shots and angles (or lack of) like I do. Then maybe I can take a guess of the country and period of the bass, maybe.

[Bill Markus]

Sorry about my terrible pics!! hopefully my wife did better job, as for measurements, upper bout reads 20.5 in lower 25.5 in from top to bottom, about 70 but, ive never done that before either! Anyway, thank you so much for your time! I will now attempt to load new pics

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Bill Markus

Sorry about my terrible pics!! hopefully my wife did better job, as for measurements, upper bout reads 20.5 in lower 25.5 in from top to bottom, about 70 but, ive never done that before either! Anyway, thank you so much for your time! I will now attempt to load new pics

Not the best pics there but better than before. It takes time to develop the eye for the shots like I took on my web pages but this will do for now. Making IDs on basses thru the internet is never a sure thing. Neither is in-person a 100% method or close but some idea is better than none.

The wood on that bass is rare. I have seen a few basses with wood like that. One was German 19th century. One claimed to be Italian 18th century but I think the appraisal was off by 100 years as well kicking it back to the 19th. The other was an American bass made by a German named August L.M. Gemunder, Snr. of which I happen to own and is now in restoration.

The Scroll looks Mittenwald to me. The wood looks either American or Yugoslavian which could be found then being bought and used in Europe.

At this point I can say the Tuning Gears are German but without close personal examination I can't say if they are original to that head. Also, I can't say if the head is original to the bass. So many basses today are with replaced Scrolls. Back in the day (until the last 40 years or so) it was not considered important (on a bass) to save the scroll so they would put a new or different one rather than repair the old one. Even today, some shops will tell you that it needs to be replaced. I have seen this twice in the last few years personally. One was on a bass of my own that needs a neck graft and scroll repair. A Luthier told me it's cheaper to just buy a whole new neck. Another Luthier said he would be glad to restore the bass as close to original as possible. That's a 360 degree difference in opinion right there.

In any case, this is a 3/4 bass from the late 19th century or early 20th century. Possibly German I would say. If the head is a match to the bass then it is not American. I think!

The internal work tells a story of its own as well. That's why only one on one inspections have a chance to make an ID unless it's a common bass that we've seen many of and easy to match up.

[Bill Markus]

Sorry again! forgot to mention scroll is original, neck is not! My restorer thinks neck was replaced around turn of century, ill try to get a pic of the graft, anyway thanks again!!!!

[Jason Mendelson]

Welcome Bill!

The bass is beautiful just as you described... Glad you got around to getting the pix!

The neck looks really slim compared to the other bass of yours that I have played... Looks like it would play pretty nice! I dig it... Great find and best of luck with it!

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Bill Markus

Sorry again! forgot to mention scroll is original, neck is not! My restorer thinks neck was replaced around turn of century, ill try to get a pic of the graft, anyway thanks again!!!!

The Neck is not important as far as a graft goes. Most all old basses have grafts by now. The Scroll/head/pegbox is my concern.

Was the Varnish checked with a UV light on the back and ribs against the Scroll? Is the varnish excluding repairs all original? These are things I would look at if I had the bass to examine.

It is not uncommon to get conflicting opinions. The more opinions the better. You can usually go with the greater number unless something is being missed.

We were not there when it was made so it's all a guessing game. Do your best to examine and then make your opinions. Past experience and other examples of similar models help. Obvious repairs, internal work and varnish matches are more evident and less guess-like type of ID work. What is, is.

[Bill Markus]

Thanks Jason, neck is actually bigger than my mittnwald, anyway ill be @ jam on wed , hope to see you there

[Jason Mendelson]

Originally Posted by Bill Markus

Thanks Jason, neck is actually bigger than my mittnwald, anyway ill be @ jam on wed , hope to see you there

hard to tell from pix anyway...

Yeah I should see you Wednesday Night! Oy, what a disaster it was when I left last time!

Id lug out my bass but I don't think we will have room!

[Jason Mendelson]

Maybe its made by Heinz?



chuckle... thats my humor for the day

[Bill Markus]

Ken, any idea what the 57 is????? other than heinz, lol

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Bill Markus

Ken, any idea what the 57 is????? other than heinz, lol

Well, can I see better scroll pics like the 'entire' back to get a look at the form? Is there another number on the other side? Like I said in the beginning, use my DB site for ideas on 'what' angles to shoot.

57? An inventory number from a school, store, shop?