Bass Manufacturer?

pmckinney4 · #1 09-21-2005, 10:24 AM

I have a 3/4 hand carved maple double bass. I was wondering if anyone would know who the manufacturer is. The only identifiying mark is a label on the inside that says "Made in Germany US Zone"

Any idea's?

Eric Rene Roy · #2 09-21-2005, 12:00 PM

Wow, am I first to the punch here?

Post some pictures please...

Thanks!

Ed Fuqua · #3 09-21-2005, 12:01 PM

I have an idea;post some pictures. There's no way to tell from the information given, all you can tell is that it was made after 1945 and before, what, 1959-60? You can look up the point in time that the various Allied "zones" in Germany were dissolved.

KSB - Ken Smith · #4 09-21-2005, 12:16 PM

I know..I know..

It's a German made Bass... Right?..

And what does "Made in Germany" written in English mean?

Does it mean that it was made for an Italian guy for the Opera in Venice?

No ... It was made for export to the USA so we can read the label.. This way we know it's not an Italian or English Bass.

Ed Fuqua · #5 09-21-2005, 12:46 PM

K$B - my bass has a label on the inside that reads

HANDARBEITEN AUS MITTENWALD
Made in Germany

Was this made by a left handed bilingual Swede who migrated to Czechoslovakia by way of Austria?

**Freddels** · #6 09-21-2005, 01:22 PM

If it was made in Germany it should keep good time.

KSB - Ken Smith · #7 09-21-2005, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freddels

If it was made in Germany it should keep good time.

Um Pa pa, Um Pa Pa..

pmckinney4 · #8 09-21-2005, 08:03 PM

Sorry, new to the forum, didn't realize you could post pics. I have included a front view and a side view. I tried getting a picture of the label, but it is fairly dirty and I couldn't get a picture to come out. As I said, the label says Made in Germany, US Zone.

Ed Fuqua · #9 09-22-2005, 11:41 AM

Ooo, take a pitcher of the back of the neck block (the button) and the tuners and plate and the back of the pegbox. That'll help.

pmckinney4 · #10 09-22-2005, 08:37 PM

More Pics......Sorry if they aren't that great. The lighting is kinda bad and I haven't been getting home from work until after dark.

pmckinney4 · #11 09-22-2005, 08:38 PM

more pics

pmckinney4 · #12 09-22-2005, 08:44 PM

more pics

Ed Fuqua · #13 09-26-2005, 12:06 PM

It kinda looks like my bass, with a few differences. I don't have the top carving that goes under the fingerboard, but the back looks the same. Around the button especially. Mine has ebony strips along the neckblock, I don't see those here. The little carved design on the back and bottom of the pegbox is the same, the tuners and plates are the same, my bass has a dark brownish red finish. Although, the condition of the finish makes me wonder if this has been refinished at some point? The figure in the wood on the back is similar to mine as well.

All they could tell me about my bass was "german factory bass, probably made between the wars". Ken's assessment of an item produced specifically for export to the US may be right. Or it may be that since it was produced in the US zone they just made the labels in English. Again, I don't know what it would mean to have a label in German AND English.

K$B - so who were the folks besides Rubner who would have been working in Germany at this time, on instruments of this type and quality?

KSB - Ken Smith · #14 09-26-2005, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

K$B - so who were the folks besides Rubner who would have been working in Germany at this time, on instruments of this type and quality?

Lots, too many to list. With the Purfling around the Top, it could be one of the makers near the French/German Border or French influenced. I have seen Basses by Ebner, Meyer and a few others with this Frenchish look and is sometimes actually mistaken for French. If it has the outer Rib Linings and the Purfling under the Top, then my bet is on Germany.

pmckinney4 · #15 09-26-2005, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

Although, the condition of the finish makes me wonder if this has been refinished at some point?

Yes, it has been partially re-finished. I got this bass about 10 years ago when I was a freshman in high school for $800. I bought it off of my private instructor who had run across it in the basement of the place that the Akron Symphony practices. He somewhat fixed it up and sold it to me for the $800 and split the money between himself and the symphony.

Needless to say when I got it, the finish was in pretty rough shape. My dad(an amateur woodworker) decided he was going to try to fix it up a little. He did a lot of research on instrument finishing. He was scared to take it completely apart for fear that the sound post would move. So if you look at the picture by the tuners, there are some darker area's of the wood. That is what the color originally was.

So he went ahead and refinished it as best as he could without taking it apart. It suprising did greatly improve the tone of the bass when he was done. That is why it may be quite a bit lighter than yours.

Paul Warburton · #16 09-26-2005, 03:36 PM

My guess'....as Kenny Boy guess' Meyer or my old Jacobus Hornsteiner. Only diff on both basses is the purfling under the FB.

pm, by chance, is the end-pin in a hole by itself without the tail-piece wire going around it? In other words. two end-pin holes. One for the end-pin only and the other little knob for the tail-piece wire only. Or, vice -versa. I'm having trouble with this description Ken....help me out here!!!
Anyway, this is a typical Meyer trait. I've also seen some early Pollman basses that have this.

Ed, I don't see how similar your bass is to this one....but, I don't live with it every day...
My final guess is Meyer.

pmckinney4 · #17 09-27-2005, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

pm, by chance, is the end-pin in a hole by itself without the tail-piece wire going around it?

nope, just one end-pin hole with the tail-piece wire going around it.

Ed Fuqua · #18 10-03-2005, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

Ed, I don't see how similar your bass is to this one....but, I don't live with it every day...
My final guess is Meyer.

Well, I ain't that up on this ****, but - the carving on the back of the pegbox, below the tuners, is the saem, the carving on the back near the button AND the button is the same, the scroll carving looks really similar, the gears are the same that I used to have, the purfling looks the same, the general shape of the bass looks the same. the thing that's different is that mine has some kinda ebony strip along each side of the neck from the back to the front. Which you can see in the pitcher of the old tuners n'**** in the GETTING SOME WORK DONE thread.

Benton · #19 10-03-2005, 07:17 PM

I have a similar bass but older. I would assume that the US Zone in Germany must have been Just after WWII. I've seen maps of Germany being split between the English, French, US and Soviets (zones of occupation). Pre War and today is "Gemany" and by the 1960 it was West Germany.
Peace
Benton

pmckinney4 · #20 10-14-2005, 12:22 PM

I had to take my bass to a local luthier(Peter Horn) to have a sound post put in it today. He seemed to think that it was made by a company with the name of Wilfert. He said the carving going under the fingerboard was a trait of theirs. Does this sound right to anyone?