Is this bass any good for orchestral audition?

**Matthew Tucker** · #1 09-03-2007, 06:17 PM

My brother snapped this bass in tropical Darwin.

Can someone help me ID it? Those FF holes look like it might be a Prescott, but the depth of the ribs suggests a French or Welsh origin.

**Matthew Tucker** · #2 09-03-2007, 06:19 PM

So, I asked about bridge position?

Oh, it was cheated northwards because of slightly sunken belly.

bassplayer57 · #3 09-03-2007, 06:40 PM

Look how thick that is!!
I can't help ID, but that's an interesting one!

.matthew e wengerd. · #4 09-03-2007, 07:49 PM

So there's not supposed to be any little heart hole in the bridge?! No wonder I'm not happy with my sound!

BMason · #5 09-03-2007, 10:24 PM

The lack of purfling suggests that the shoulders have been cut sometime in its history. My best guess is a Klotz, Barbe, or Chevy.

Paul Warburton · #6 09-04-2007, 06:25 AM

I wonder where the sound post is?

**Matthew Tucker** · #7 09-04-2007, 06:47 AM

isn't it that thing that pokes out of the top of the bass with the wires attached to it?

anonymous02282011 · #8 09-04-2007, 07:40 AM

certainly looks like an evolutionary freak of nature. interesting. why do you think it's a prescott? just curious.

Alek · #9 09-04-2007, 07:45 AM

That looks like a very interesting bass; it's extremely thick and it's beaten up.

My final word:
Don't use that for audition.

Silversorcerer · #10 09-04-2007, 08:48 AM

It's a Plotzkettle, kneedeep model. Those turn up in a bulldozing now and again. Does that one have the optional pet door?

**Matthew Tucker** · #11 09-04-2007, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adbass

why do you think it's a prescott? just curious.

The elegant turns of the FFs show the hand of a master, and there are telltale signs of prescott's influence. Also the flattened cheeks of the scroll are a dead giveaway in basses of this pedigree.

Paul Warburton · #12 09-04-2007, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Tucker

The elegant turns of the FFs show the hand of a master, and there are telltale signs of prescott's influence. Also the flattened cheeks of the scroll are a dead giveaway in basses of this pedigree.

That's the longest after length i've I've ever seen on a tailpiece wire.

**Matthew Tucker** · #13 09-04-2007, 03:08 PM

"Plotzkettle?" Silversorcerer, there is no need to poke fun at this bass or question my sincerity. It is definitely not a Plotzelkettel (spelling!!!) as they have never been imported into Darwin.

I am trying to ascertain the restoration potential of this bass; the top appears to be completely free of cracks, the popped seams are held securely with tape, and although slightly sunken the arching can be expertly restored by a master luthier. The scroll is clearly original. I am thinking of making an offer on the item, which is held in a private collection.

I wonder whether Arnold Schnitzer would be interested in taking this bass on as a long-term project.

Paul Warburton · #14 09-04-2007, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Tucker

"Plotzkettle?" Silversorcerer, there is no need to poke fun at this bass or question my sincerity. It is definitely not a Plotzelkettel (spelling!!!) as they have never been imported into Darwin.

I am trying to ascertain the restoration potential of this bass; the top appears to be completely free of cracks, the popped seams are held securely with tape, and although slightly sunken the arching can be expertly restored by a master luthier. The scroll is clearly original. I am thinking of making an offer on the item, which is held in a private collection.

I wonder whether Arnold Schnitzer would be interested in taking this bass on as a long-term project.

Have you called Ken Smith?

**Matthew Tucker** · #15 09-04-2007, 06:21 PM

Actually Paul, I haven’t, because I suspect that having deeper pockets than mine, he might want to snap this bass up from under me.

And you're a very naughty boy, but yes I think I do know now what you are hinting at; the Prescott lead was a red herring.

The baroque shoulders and hump at the neck block of this bass rather give it away as an early Bohmann, don’t you think? Perhaps before Bohmann developed his purfling skills?

Paul Warburton · #16 09-04-2007, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Tucker

Actually Paul, I haven’t, because I suspect that having deeper pockets than mine, he might want to snap this bass up from under me.

And you're a very naughty boy, but yes I think I do know now what you are hinting at; the Prescott lead was a red herring.

The baroque shoulders and hump at the neck block of this bass rather give it away as an early Bohmann, don’t you think? Perhaps before Bohmann developed his purfling skills?

Silversorcerer · #17 09-04-2007, 06:49 PM

I still think it is a Pltzketmixitlup. No need for it to be imported to Darwin. It could have evolved locally. Heck I've seen those before the tail dropped off with vestiges of the gills still plainly visible. Then again it could be a hybrid variety. Perhaps crossed with a sunken galleon. It almost looks as if it has grown deeper ribs at some point.

tbassist4 · #18 09-05-2007, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silversorcerer

It could have evolved locally. Heck I've seen those before the tail dropped off with vestiges of the gills still plainly visible. Then again it could be a hybrid variety. Perhaps crossed with a sunken galleon. It almost looks as if it has grown deeper ribs at some point.

Shouldn't have natural selection made that one go extinct a long time ago?

Silversorcerer · #19 09-06-2007, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbassist4

Shouldn't have natural selection made that one go extinct a long time ago?

That's the big hole in Darwin;- adaptive (?) Natural selection (?);- It all depends on what the chicks dig, don't it?