Czech/Bohemain carved bass. Flatback. Approx 100 yrs old (according to extremely unofficial quick look at Hammond-Ashley).

It belonged to a recently deceased orchestral bass player in Seattle for many years.

Sold by Hammond-Ashley to student in Bellevue, WA. Then swooped up by me in a yard sale (no joke, it was a big yard).

Inside in pencil, it is written "Repaired 1935 by Joe Epler, Seattle, WA. 5016 51 SW." That's right near me, funny enough.

It has metal somewhere in the neck joint where it was repaired, and all the usual cracks, but expert repairs throughout.

I have no recordings of this bass available (listen for it on Barton Carroll's new CD out soon). It rarely left my practice room, but it had the benefit of daily arco playing and practicing.

Come to Seattle and play it. I can drive it to selected PacNW destinations. If shipped, seller pays shipping, and I ship through Hammond Ashley.

$6500.

Please email me at mattiejw(at)earthlink(dot)net if interested.

I meant to say:

I will bring the bass to Hammond-Ashley, the bass shop in Issaquah, WA, and they will ship the bass for me. I can't be sure, but it usually costs just under $300.

Sorry for the confusion.

String length?

42", maybe just shy of that, depending on which string I measure, and where I place the tape measure.

I'd like to come by and see it next week when I'm in town, if it's still available.

More pics would be helpful.

Bass bar or soundpost cracks?

Aside from the usual fender benders, there's a crack down the bass bar, but the Hammond-Ashley folks were not the least bit disturbed by it when I brought the bass in to them before I bought it, which was summer 2007.

Kittyboy, you have a PM.

$6000.

Still for sale.

pm'd

I am here in Bellingham. Do you still have the bass. I could come down this weekend to check it out.

The bass is still here. Come on down and play it.

I PM'd you.

Could you please provide more details of the health of the bass? Thanks.

I hope this helps:

This is an old bass with all the usual old bass things. None of the things I'm going to list has happened in the 2 years I've owned this bass, and since I know that the bass probably didn't leave the house of the previous owner (because they would have taken the bass to Hammond-Ashley for repairs) it probably didn't happen in the 3 years before that.

The neck fell off or at least was busted loose at one point. A magnet reveals that there is some kind of metal in the base of the neck holding it together. You can see the crack in the base of the neck where it happened.

THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL OPINION OF HAMMOND ASHLEY, JUST WHAT I REMEMBER THEM TELLING ME: but they looked it over when I took the bass to them before I bought it and said that the neck repair looked fine.

There is a "crackish" looking line running along the bass bar. Again, THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL OPINION OF HAMMOND ASHLEY, JUST WHAT I REMEMBER THEM TELLING ME, but they looked at that and looked at the bass bar from inside and said it was just fine.

On the sides there are a few places where the bass was rammed into something during transit, Again THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL OPINION OF HAMMOND ASHLEY, JUST WHAT I REMEMBER THEM TELLING ME, they said big deal, what old bass doesn't have those.

Occasionally, when the weather changes, there are the usual buzzes and stuff, like an old bass would have.

It is missing one ebony bumper. When I brought the bass in I asked about putting a matching bumper on, but they told me to wait to see if I liked the bass. I never got around to having them make the bumper. Funny, the bass still sounds great.

You can see from the photo that the tailpiece is a little, oh, rugged looking. I mentioned this to the H-A guys and they said (YES, INSERT DISCLAIMER HERE) that if I liked the way the bass sounded, maybe I should leave the tailpiece, a new fancy one wouldn't necessarily improve it. I did that.

In general, the guys at Hammond-Ashley said, UNOFFICIALLY, that the bass was in perfectly good condition for its age and type and probably hadn't been played much since someone bought it from them a few years back. I was trying to give them some business, and they just sent me home and said "play that thing."

The only reason for the disclaimers on the Hammond Ashley opinions is because they did not do an official appraisal on the bass, so I don't want to hold them responsible for those things I remember them saying. Just trying to be fair. But, they did say those things.

As with any bass, you should come play it. Its beautiful to look at and beautiful to play and hear, and I fell in love the moment I played it. Please spend some time at my place with this old buddy, you will fall in love as well. This is not a project, its a players bass, and its ready to play.

And, I'll make you an espresso.

Still for sale.

Still for sale. Any offers?

Still for sale.

dood, norwood here. the neck on my bass just snapped! so I'm looking through my tears at basses for sale....
:crying:
I don't know about buying it, but I might rent it for a while. I'll give you a call

Jeff Norwood! (A great Seattle bass player)

That is bad news. What a great bass. You must be devastated. You know how to contact me...