Bass ID/Maker

bassplayer57 · #1 06-12-2007, 08:39 PM

I want to see if any of you could help me ID my bass! I believe it was made around 1900 + or - about 10 -15 years. The label says (I know this is not an original stradivari):

Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis
Faciebat Anno 1723
Made in Czechoslovakia

^
There is a little symbol there to the left that looks like a really weird 8, and has a really teenie encryption under it that is unreadable.

I tried to take a picture inside, but it didn't work very well. Here is the picture of the bass.

fizzy · #2 07-12-2007, 09:49 PM

How close is your label to this?

I bought mine from my teacher. He claimed it was from the late 1890's, but I am inclined to doubt it - mainly because there seems to be a broad consensus on this forum that these "strad" basses were mainly imported during the post-WWII era, by the thousands, and because I don't think that the laminating technology predates the 1920's or so. (I believe this claim about laminated basses being introduced around 1920 was made by a reputable poster here, but I can't find the post anymore.) I'm not an expert, I could be wrong. I'd love to think I have a 100+ y.o. bass, but I am seriously skeptical for the time being.

Mine is a flatback. It's pretty beat up around the edges, and appears to be refinished, with shellac, I think. It has nice tone, but is a bit wimpy on volume. Also, note that my label doesn't say "Made in Czechoslovakia" and doesn't have the completed date.

I'm mainly a lurker here (this is my first real post!), but I'd like to know more about these basses, too, especially for a better estimate of its age. I'll try posting another picture or two of mine. (How do you embed an image without doing the attached thumbnails thing . . .)

EJ_Dad · #3 07-12-2007, 10:26 PM

According to Wikipedia, Czechoslovakia didn't exist until 1918 and split up in 1993, so it has to be between those dates.

**Matthew Tucker** · #4 07-12-2007, 11:18 PM

And the fact that the label is in English means that the Czechs would have had to ramp up their production and organise an export market. that probably would have taken a few years.

i'm restoring this bass

just for fun. All it says is "Made in Czechoslovakia" on a strip of blue foil. Anybody's guess really. But at least I know its not a stradivarius ;-)

bassplayer57 · #5 07-13-2007, 10:27 PM

Here is a picture of the label. I Used adobe lightroom to reveal it.
Mine is a roundback. I'll take some pictures with natural light tomarrow of the whole thing. Mine is warm sounding, and it has pretty good volume. I have Original Flexocores on it. The body kind of gets more slender near the neck base. (Is this called the heel??)
The whole year of creation...
I was told by the person who owned the bass before me was 93 years old, and died in 1999. He bought it used in about the 1920-1927 area.

Shot with Canon PowerShot A520 at 2007-07-13

And the symbol:

Shot with Canon PowerShot A520 at 2007-07-13