This little 1/2 size db

[Pino Cazzaniga]

Here is a little bass I finish to repair 2 weeks ago.
I have no clue about the "who or when or where" of it.
Did somebody see something similar?
The front is 6 pieces spruce, the back, sides and scroll plain maple.
The linings are beech.
The flat back was carved inside between the bars and outside to make a channel. The purfle is strangely 7 sheets made.
The string length is cm 95,5.
It was originally 3 strings.
Thank you for any idea !

[Calvin Marks]

What a beautiful little instrument! I like the open peg box but I must admit I really don't like the tuners on that instrument. It makes it look very cheap. You may want to consider putting on nicer plate-less gears at a later stage.

[Pino Cazzaniga]

I agree. The same for the tailpiece. I still hope to find a 3 gut strings player, but they are not so many... we'll see

[Matthew Tucker]

a LOVELY little bass. Does it sound nice?

Please can you post some more measurements?

body length
saddle-to-bridge
bridge height
rib depths
bout widths

[Pino Cazzaniga]

Here are some measuraments in cm.

Body length 100
upper width 49,3
middle width 32,5
lower width 64,2
rib height at lower block 16,2
rib height at middle 17,6
rib height at neck 15,5
note the arching of the flat back on the back-ribs joint
upper edge of front to bridge 52,5
saddle to bridge 47,5
Bridge height 15,4 ( clearance of g string mm 4,5 , E string mm 7,5)
Neck, upper edge of front to nut 38,5
Neck height over upper edge of front 2,7

I'm satisfied with the sound, it's warm and ready, but the first string is twangly at the lower register, and the third has a wolfe tone in the high position between bb and b.

[Ken Smith]

Is this a new bass or has it been re-varnished recently?

[Pino Cazzaniga]

Ken,
I must apologize for the lack of informations about the varnish and the work I made.
So this is the history
The instrument has been in my workshop for some years before I decided to work on it.
It came from an amateur maker, without bridge, tuning gears, tailpiece, soundpost, back bars.
He opened it and begun to repair the ribs with plywood and epoxide resin, and the neck with epoxide resin.
Luckily he quit the work and gave me the pieces.
I removed the plywood and the resin, made the repair of the ribs, which were heavily demaged with woodworms, changing two sectors of them near the lower block (too many woodworm tunnels) and the upper block, g side ( there was a plywood patch outside).
I used walnut wood for them to show the repair.
On the back I repaired the cracks and made the bars.
On the front I repaired the cracks and the joints and replaced the bass bar.
I made the neck graft.
There was a thick black coat of something over the varnish. It did not move with turpentine, alcool, trielin, aceton.
I cleaned it with waterproof paper, 600 grit, wet with linseed oil.
Under it I found what I think is the original varnish, a very poor one, made with a spirit varnish ( shellac? ) and pigments. It was very demaged and incomplete.
I made a similar one, shellac and colophon, and found (more or less) the same colour mixing burnt sienna and alizarin carmine. I touched , covered with clear shellac, retouched, recovered, and so on, until the varnish you can see on the instrument now.
I think I may say I revarnished the bass, even if I' m not proud of it...

[Jake de Villiers]

That's an adorable little bass Pino! How does it sound?

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Pino Cazzaniga

Ken,
I must apologize for the lack of informations about the varnish and the work I made.
So this is the history
The instrument has been in my workshop for some years before I decided to work on it.
It came from an amateur maker, without bridge, tuning gears, tailpiece, soundpost, back bars.
He opened it and begun to repair the ribs with plywood and epoxide resin, and the neck with epoxide resin.
Luckily he quit the work and gave me the pieces.
I removed the plywood and the resin, made the repair of the ribs, which were heavily demaged with woodworms, changing two sectors of them near the lower block (too many woodworm tunnels) and the upper block, g side ( there was a plywood patch outside).
I used walnut wood for them to show the repair.
On the back I repaired the cracks and made the bars.
On the front I repaired the cracks and the joints and replaced the bass bar.
I made the neck graft.
There was a thick black coat of something over the varnish. It did not move with turpentine, alcool, trielin, aceton.
I cleaned it with waterproof paper, 600 grit, wet with linseed oil.
Under it I found what I think is the original varnish, a very poor one, made with a spirit varnish ( shellac? ) and pigments. It was very demaged and incomplete.
I made a similar one, shellac and colophon, and found (more or less) the same colour mixing burnt sienna and alizarin carmine. I touched , covered with clear shellac, retouched, recovered, and so on, until the varnish you can see on the instrument now.
I think I may say I revarnished the bass, even if I' m not proud of it...

Now that I see and hear all you have done I will make some guesses. The usually choices are Czech, Bohemian, German, Italian, French and English. I don't think this is either on them. Maybe Swedish, Dutch or Spanish is my wild blind loose guess. The Neck Block fit and mortise as well as the Pegbox is quite unusual to my eye. It can be either those, the first list of something else. It is not distinct to anything I have seen. I have seen basses in that body shape both claiming to be Italian and English as well as Bohemian and German. The purfling looks to be double violin with a spaces between the sets and not 7 layers made up. More like 3-1-3 from what I see.

[Calvin Marks]

Originally Posted by Pino Cazzaniga

I agree. The same for the tailpiece. I still hope to find a 3 gut strings player, but they are not so many... we'll see

I'm a period player myself, so I'd love to have a string bass for the works of Dragonetti and Bottesini but that instrument is far too small for my liking. It seems like it should suit a child or very small person quite nicely!

[Pino Cazzaniga]

Ken,
Thanks for your guess, it matches my feeling... somewhere, sometime, not for the first nor for the last time.
Thanks for the forum too, wide knowledge and friendly atmosphere.

Jake,
I like the sound, it's deep and ready, but I have to work on twangly notes of the g string, lower positions.
It'now strung with Spirocore.
As Al Smith ask in my intro thread I looked at the French? German? DB.
I didn't post there cause I can't say more, other than it look very nice, of course.

Calvin,
Gut strings Bottesini is only for the braves, it deserve bigger (and greater) instruments.
My think was European old folk music, 3 naked gut strings, G d g or A d g tuning.