Italian or fake (hungarian)

[Gunter Grass]

need help for idendification of a bass: italian or fake (hungarian) dear folks,

i am not sure how to post a new thread, so i am trying to find some answers here! there are a lot of fake basses around and i need some opinions from some pro´s like ken.... here are some pics of the bass which is presented as an old italian bass. there are some characteristics that it could be italian but very hard to really be sure. i would be very thankfull for infos what kind of bass this could be. thanx in advance.

[Gunter Grass]

some more pics from inside.......

thank you in advance!!!

[Gunter Grass]

thank you ken for opening this thread for me. that´s great.
i would be very happy for any information about age, origin, specific woods used or purffling...i can get.

thank you,

gunter

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Gunter Grass

thank you ken for opening this thread for me. that´s great.
i would be very happy for any information about age, origin, specific woods used or purffling...i can get.

thank you,

gunter

I can't tell exactly the woods from those pictures but the bass seems fairly new. Old Hungarian basses look Hungarian. Old Italian basses look Italian. This looks like a recent fake.

[Gunter Grass]

well, thats a clear message. not even an old fake.
it´s discusting how many fakes of old basses are floating around.
i had hope that it could be a simply build old bass, but i was wrong.
thank you very much for sharing your experience.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Gunter Grass

well, thats a clear message. not even an old fake.
it´s discusting how many fakes of old basses are floating around.
i had hope that it could be a simply build old bass, but i was wrong.
thank you very much for sharing your experience.

I have seen here in USA fakes selling for $25,000, $50,000 and even heard of one that was $160,000 where the customer though they bought a real famous made old bass. I think if you cross the street with a red light against you, the punishment is more than selling a fake bass. No one I know has gone to Jail yet but I know some of the dealers that sell these fakes. I have had them myself and sold them as new-made basses, antiqued to look old and at a reasonable price for the bass what it was. They can sound good but we had to restore and repair them here first before selling.

[Ken Smith]

The wood looks to be acid treated inside to make it look old. Take the bass apart and scrape the top down and re-graduate it slightly and smell the fresh Pine wood.

The Scroll is Hungarian style, something you will not usually see on an old Italian.

When you remove the Top, you might learn how poorly the blocks and braces were fitted. That is common with some of these fakes and copies. Also, in time, things will move and come apart. Maybe not so much in a more humid place like Germany or Italy but in NE USA, this would come apart in a year going thru the seasons.