Help identify this bass (many pics)

[AnJst4All]

Hello everyone. I found this bass for sale locally and need some help identifying it. It has no tag on the inside, just a couple of written letter that are pictured below. Anyone have any idea what it is and a ballpark of what it is worth? Thanks

[chuck1073]

First impression...it looks like a chinese ply. Is the fingerboard ebony or coated? The weedwacker strings lead me to think it might be an ebay bass. If that's the case it worth 500 or less depending on playability/condition.

[Silversorcerer]

Originally Posted by chuck1073

First impression...it looks like a chinese ply. Is the fingerboard ebony or coated? The weedwacker strings lead me to think it might be an ebay bass. If that's the case it worth 500 or less depending on playability/condition.

+1

[jimmyduded]

yes, its very similar to my bass that came from fantastic musical instruments, they are OK basses, not great but its a bass none the less

[Dubbin]

I spent some time comparing the picture to mine and I'm pretty sure its a Cremona SB-1. The body shape is exactly the same as mine. If the fingerboard is ebony and the top is maple plywood (like the back) it is probably a sb-2. The SB-1 has a spruce plywood top and coated fingerboard. I don't think its worth much because a new one can be had for about $550 plus shipping. The SB-2 cost about $200 more new. Were all the joints tight? Best, Ed

[AnJst4All]

The strings were put on it by the owner. The joints seemed to be tight as far as I could tell. The neck was beveled under the E string. Do the cremona's usually have a tag in them? Maybe someone ripped this one out.

[Dubbin]

Mine has a sticker but no serial number. Mine also has a bevel under the E -string. It's hard to tell from the picture for sure mainly because I don't know what a coated fingerboard looks like (I am a beginner). Did that one appear to be some light colored wood that was stained? Most of the folks here are pretty adamant that these basses are prone to failure so you might give it some serious second thoughts before you jump unless its like $250 or $300 and the thought of loosing that doesn't bother you too much. On the other hand some folks have 5 year old Cremona's that are not falling apart. If you want steel strings I think they generally cost over $100. What are your other options? Ed

[AnJst4All]

Originally Posted by Dubbin

Mine has a sticker but no serial number. Mine also has a bevel under the E -string. It's hard to tell from the picture for sure mainly because I don't know what a coated fingerboard looks like (I am a beginner). Did that one appear to be some light colored wood that was stained? Most of the folks here are pretty adamant that these basses are prone to failure so you might give it some serious second thoughts before you jump unless its like $250 or $300 and the thought of loosing that doesn't bother you too much. On the other hand some folks have 5 year old Cremona's that are not falling apart. If you want steel strings I think they generally cost over $100. What are your other options? Ed

Yeah I don't know about the fingerboard because I don't know much about them either. The owner also had a H. Siegler (Chinese also) for sale. Here are some pics of it. I couldn't find much info about them on here.

[chuck1073]

Spotting the difference in the fingerboard is very easy.
The "coated" or "Ebonized" fingerboard has a very obvious and usually pretty heavy coat of semi-gloss black paint on on it.
Alot of the chinese lami's have these...and they tend to have some imperfections such as runs and bubbles.

An ebony fingerboard will look somewhat glossy with a bit of grain to it...but overall should be much better and natural looking than the painted hardwood board.

BTW - Be careful buying one of these basses. I had a "Merano". Same thing as a "Deville"..or any of the other cheap chinese lami's on ebay. The bass was a total POS when it arrived....unplayable. Fortunately Gary from Upton bass (back when the shop was tiny and still in Jewitt City CT)
was able to twist it into shape. Thing is...and you've heard this from other posters here...the fix cost as much as the original purchase of the bass. GB did the best set up that he could without planing the board (would have ruined the black paint)..the bass played well for a couple of years...until the tuners stripped. That was another fix...and a total of about 500 dumped into a bass that cost about that much to begin with.

That said...I did love that bass. I just reached a turning point this year where I wanted a better instrument. I could have had the chinese bass fixed up with an ebony board ect. The bottom line? It's just a few bucks more to do it right instead of trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear.

Had to add this after reading. The bass is still working very well and has moved to Baltimore doing street gigs with another TB'er. My point I guess is just to say that if you're going to
lay out the bucks for a your first DB...don't try to go the cheap route. There isn't one.

[jimmyduded]

unlabeled, ebonized, fits the description of the bass from fmi, search baritoneman on ebay and check out his stuff, i think you will find it is exactly the same

[Dubbin]

Originally Posted by AnJst4All

Yeah I don't know about the fingerboard because I don't know much about them either. The owner also had a H. Siegler (Chinese also) for sale. Here are some pics of it. I couldn't find much info about them on here.
]

Wow, that's funny. The label looks like it has the same logo as my Cremona's on the left side but the HS logo thing on the right. It's clearly a different instrument but also imported by Saga Music Company. They don't seem to carry H. Siegler basses anymore but they do have violins and bows. My bet is it is about the same as a Cremona, maybe even the same factory. Ed