Any info on this bass...

[douglas81]

Hello,

I used to post on this board a lot a few years ago, but my user name no longer works...?

Anyway, first post with this user name and and it's a bass identification one.



There are a load more (hi res) pictures here - http://www.douglaswhates.com/bassimages - which will hopefully be useful. Would very much appreciate any info on this - possible country of origin, age, what you think of the condition and restoration work, value (I'm in the UK).

String length: 41"
Upper bout: 21.5"
C: 16"
Lower bout: 28"
Length of back: 45"

I can tell you about the sound - it has a beautiful sound on the top two strings - really special, nice and velvety and dark. Possibly the best G & D I've heard on an instrument below £14,000. The lower two are also nice, though a little quiet. It's not exactly a loud instrument, but is very sweet sounding. I plan on using it for pizz work and have it on trial for a few days. The place I'm buying it from has very little information on the instrument.

Any help and info is much appreciated.

Cheers,

Douglas.

[Tritonis]

No idea what it is, but it's beautiful.

[bassist14]

hi douglas,
wow, beautiful bass, especially ribs and back.
imho maybe ca 100 years old, german or bohemian (?)
nice to see a "real old" bass instead of the artificial aged hungarians in some recent threads.
what exactly is "below 14.000"?
i think the quiter e and a strings could develop if it is played frequently. or with a different soundpost position.
or maybe you could try some different strings.
will you buy it?

[ispider6]

I agree with bassist14. Looks Bohemian, about 100 years old (possibly a little older). Looks like a nice bass!

[Anon2962]

Originally Posted by KSB - Ken Smith

This is a nice quality Bass from the mid 19th century made in either Bohemia or Hungary and not so German like but could be. This would be from the Austro-Hungarian region from about 150 years ago...

Sorry to be going slightly off topic, but, Ken, I was hoping you could tell us what are the characteristics of a 'German' bass from this time, compared to an 'Austro-Hungarian' instrument. I know that it takes ALOT of work to be able to tell, but any pointers would be great. I have been told that my bass is either German or French...and i have no idea why..

Thanks!

[douglas81]

Thanks very much for the replies.

The asking price is £7000 ($13500), which seems fairly reasonable for a good quality mid-19thC Austro-Hungarian/Bohemian bass, right?

Anyway, I'm kind of torn because, while it does have a great sound, it is a little quiet. In saying that, of all the basses I've tried over the past few weeks, it's the only one in that price range which I've had a good feeling about. However, over the few days I tried it, it developed a bit of a buzz (one of the cracks in the back) - I hope that wouldn't be a sign of things to come with this particular bass - any thoughts?

I had a look around most of the London shops and there was very little of interest in my price range. The Contrabass Shoppe had a lot of *very* desirable basses (and they were immaculately set up) but the ones I took a shine to were a little over my budget (£10K plus).

I also had a chance to try out a Paul Bryant Lott copy which was nice and even. He's making me a Gofriller copy which will be finished in Novemeber - I'm looking forward to trying it out, but I'm yet to find a new bass which has the sound I'm after. His basses do seem to have a nice, big, even sound though and at £5250 it's great value for money.

What do you all think?

Cheers,

Douglas.

[BMason]

I'd like to know what kind of camera was used to take these great pictures.

[douglas81]

Originally Posted by KSB - Ken Smith

When it's all said and done, nothing matters as much as the sound, period! As far as this Bass goes, I can't give you a yes or no. That is up to you. You already told us that it is on the quiet side and one of the cracks has opened up. I assume you know the cost of repairs today. Perhaps one of Tony's (Contrabass Shoppe) Basses at 10k is actually cheaper and better in the long run with 'sound and condition' than 7k without 'sound and condition'.

After all, I think 'sound and condition' is more important by far than looks and age.

Yes, sound is the number one priority. Unfortunately, 7K really is at the absolute top end of my budget, otherwise I'd go for one of Tony's basses in a flash. I think if this buzz hadn't developed so quickly (within a couple of days playing) I would have bought the bass, but I worry it is a sign of things to come. Do you think I'd have less problems with the Bryant? I've heard that there can be a lot of problems with new basses - takes a while for the wood to settle...?

Douglas.

P.S. the pictures were taken with a Nikon D70s and 50mm/f1.4 nikkor. I'd only really consider them snaps, but thanks for the comments anyway!

[sibass89]

Originally Posted by douglas81

Thanks very much for the replies.

The asking price is £7000 ($13500), which seems fairly reasonable for a good quality mid-19thC Austro-Hungarian/Bohemian bass, right?

Anyway, I'm kind of torn because, while it does have a great sound, it is a little quiet. In saying that, of all the basses I've tried over the past few weeks, it's the only one in that price range which I've had a good feeling about. However, over the few days I tried it, it developed a bit of a buzz (one of the cracks in the back) - I hope that wouldn't be a sign of things to come with this particular bass - any thoughts?

I had a look around most of the London shops and there was very little of interest in my price range. The Contrabass Shoppe had a lot of *very* desirable basses (and they were immaculately set up) but the ones I took a shine to were a little over my budget (£10K plus).

I also had a chance to try out a Paul Bryant Lott copy which was nice and even. He's making me a Gofriller copy which will be finished in Novemeber - I'm looking forward to trying it out, but I'm yet to find a new bass which has the sound I'm after. His basses do seem to have a nice, big, even sound though and at £5250 it's great value for money.

What do you all think?

Cheers,

Douglas.

Don't let quiet under your ears fool you. Sometimes basses have this great cushion and sound production that how it sounds under your ear is the way the bass sounds 200 ft away. The way an instrument sounds under your ear is not the way it sounds in the audience. Keep that in mind. If you have to bass on trial, try to play it in a large room with other musicians sitting as far away from you as they can. That will be a good judge on the sound.

[JoeyNaeger]

Originally Posted by sibass89

Don't let quiet under your ears fool you. Sometimes basses have this great cushion and sound production that how it sounds under your ear is the way the bass sounds 200 ft away. The way an instrument sounds under your ear is not the way it sounds in the audience. Keep that in mind. If you have to bass on trial, try to play it in a large room with other musicians sitting as far away from you as they can. That will be a good judge on the sound.

+1
The first time I heard someone play my bass from a distance, I was very suprised at how loud at seemed from a distance. It just happens that it's really quiet in the drivers seat.

[douglas81]

Thanks for all the input, guys.

In the end, I've decided to give it a miss. Ken's mention of "sound and condition" being important hammered it home to me. The fact is, if I bought this bass, there'd be no money left to spend on repairs. Chances are, three months down the line I'd have a bass in need of repair but no money - hence useless bass.

So, I'll be going for the Bryant (which I'm picking up for trial towards the end of November). Looking forward to hearing how it sounds. Also, I can't praise Paul Bryant highly enough for his "not just out for a quick buck" attitude. If anyone's interested, I might even get a few sound clips up when I get it.

If there's one thing I found out in my Great British Bass Hunt, it's that I don't much care for Spirocores. Despite everyone telling me that they are "the string for jazz", I find them a bit too springy. To my ears, the nicest string was D'Addario Helicore Orchestra (medium guage). It seemed to have the most tonal variety and consistency across all the strings. At the risk of getting of topic, anyone want to recommend a similar sounding string as a possible contender?

Cheers,

Douglas.

[LOBass]

Originally Posted by douglas81

Thanks for all the input, guys.

In the end, I've decided to give it a miss. Ken's mention of "sound and condition" being important hammered it home to me. The fact is, if I bought this bass, there'd be no money left to spend on repairs. Chances are, three months down the line I'd have a bass in need of repair but no money - hence useless bass.

So, I'll be going for the Bryant (which I'm picking up for trial towards the end of November). Looking forward to hearing how it sounds. Also, I can't praise Paul Bryant highly enough for his "not just out for a quick buck" attitude. If anyone's interested, I might even get a few sound clips up when I get it.

If there's one thing I found out in my Great British Bass Hunt, it's that I don't much care for Spirocores. Despite everyone telling me that they are "the string for jazz", I find them a bit too springy. To my ears, the nicest string was D'Addario Helicore Orchestra (medium guage). It seemed to have the most tonal variety and consistency across all the strings. At the risk of getting of topic, anyone want to recommend a similar sounding string as a possible contender?

Cheers,

Douglas.

Hi Douglas,
I bought a Paul Bryant Gofriller from Steve Koscica here in the States about a year and a half ago, and have been very pleased with it. As you mention, Paul does great work and the bass has a very nice full even and somewhat dark sound. I don't think that you will have have trouble with the bass as it is made very well using very good wood. You will probably need to have a shop do some setup work (maybe Paul can to it) in order to get the best sound from the bass. I had a better quality bridge with adjusters installed, planed the fingerboard a bit and installed a new nut, adjusted the afterlength and changed the sound post position. I have played this bass pretty hard for jazz and classical work and have noticed that the sound has really opened up nicely over the last year. You can't really get that "old bass sound" from a new instrument until it has been played for many years, but I don't think you can go wrong with the Bryant. It is a great value for a well made, good sounding bass.
Tom

[douglas81]

Just in case anyone's trying to look at these pics, I've just removed them as they were using up a lot of bandwidth. Also, since my request had been answered, there's no need for them to be up there any more.

I'm currently trying out the aforementioned Bryant bass, so I'll see if I can get some pics of those up soon.

Cheers,

Douglas.