Bass ID

[Valere Speranza]

Hi,

I bought this bass last week. Sounds great but I've got no info about it. No labels or writing of any kind.

I was told by a previous owner (celebrated bassist Yuri Goboulev) that he bought it in Cremona in Italy and that he believed it to be of Eastern Europe origin, probably made in the 90s. Not sure if it was luthier made or factory made.

Any thoughts as to what this instrument might be?

Thanks in advance,

Valere

[Ken Smith]

I think it can be from there, Romania or Hungary or that region. The screws on the tuner plates are typical of what you see from Hungary when they put old Tuners on a new bass rather then the traditional regular non-Philips head screws. Small things like this are one of the red flags you see. Also, it is common there that they stain the insides with coffee or something to make the wood look older on the inside. Many things are done to antique the bass. Natural playing wear, natural looking wear is often not there like nicks from the bow tip or frog on the edges. If the bass looks like it hasn't been played much or at all, then it was probably recently made. They even sell new basses with cracks to seem old.



I have had many of these so called older 'looking' basses that were faked and antiqued and have seen others as well. The Hungarians even buy new Romanian instruments and then antique them to pass them as older. I think this is the culture there. But, there are real basses from Hungary as well that can be new or old and sold as such without false claims. Often, the inside work is bad. Blocks in the corners that are not fit, bass bars with gaps, graduations too thick and thin, tops and backs carved or made with grinders and all sorts of other Carpenter type work as opposed to a real violin luther doing good honest work. Even some of the trained luthiers turn out fast cheap work. Re-building these basses gets expensive as standards for me at least are high, no excuses.

[Valere Speranza]

Thanks that's really useful.

The bass has been artificially aged, no doubt about it. It sounds great though and seem to have been reliable (I know the 2 previous owners).

It plays very well. Fingerboard is straight, bridge and nut seem to be cut well. Definitely an improvement on my old bass (Korean, factory made carved bass, "Universal 300").

I've got no idea what it may be worth, but I didn't pay very much for it.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Valere Speranza

Thanks that's really useful.

The bass has been artificially aged, no doubt about it. It sounds great though and seem to have been reliable (I know the 2 previous owners).

It plays very well. Fingerboard is straight, bridge and nut seem to be cut well. Definitely an improvement on my old bass (Korean, factory made carved bass, "Universal 300").

I've got no idea what it may be worth, but I didn't pay very much for it.

Ok, all is good then.. Enjoy..