Wanting info on old bass

[Marianne Drabek]

I'm considering purchasing this bass. The current owner has bee told it's German and about 100 yrs old. It's carved, 40" string length, 7 1/2" depth, upper bout 19 1/4", lower bout 24 1/2. Folks have told me to list it on Ken's foram because he could tell me more about it than anyone. I looking forward to his opinion.

[Marianne Drabek]

I'm having to load the pics one at a time. Here's the back

[Marianne Drabek]

I'm patricularly interested in the scroll. Could these tuners be original to the bass? All the tuners I've see before have been black. I could probably get more pictues if needed. Thanks.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Marianne Drabek

I'm patricularly interested in the scroll. Could these tuners be original to the bass? All the tuners I've see before have been black. I could probably get more pictues if needed. Thanks.

Hi, can you show me all sides of that head/scroll and the rear button. Those purple pegs are not old. The bass looks fairly old and from the German/Czech/Bohemian school. I can see screws in the gears holding the pegs. The gears are old with replaced pegs. Usually they are pinned with a single nail or steel pin, with or without a head but crimped at the end or bent.

That's about as close as I can get. The finish might not be original either. The repairs around the edges where it looks like putty is suspect as well.

You can private me if you like to keep the sale details private like the seller or the price. This is a small 3/4 bass. If the bass needs to be re-repaired without all the suspect looking work in the end, it could cost quite a bit to correct. The original varnish, whatever it was is long gone. IF that is the original varnish, then the bass is more likely from the 20th century, just before or after the 2nd war.

The shape is nice and the corners and edges better looking than the average factory bass.

[Marianne Drabek]

Thank you. I hope to be sending you more pictures tomorrow.

[Marianne Drabek]

Here are some more pictures of the old bass. I have learned the the previous owner was also a woodworker and turned the hat pegs to replace the ones that were there. At least I'm believing the bass originally had hat peg tuners and the new ones are replacements and not additions.