Help identifying a bass...

xjeremiahx · #1 07-29-2009, 10:15 PM

Hey guys,

So here's the deal. About a year & a half ago I bought an upright off of craigslist and the thing is GORGEOUS. Sounds great and the price was right. I paid $650, if I recall correctly. When I bought the bass, the seller told me who it was from & showed it to me online that the original price was $1500, but I can't for the life of me remember who made it, so i'm asking you guys!

on the bridge is stamped "F KRONENBERG" i'm thinking fritz kronenberg? something came up like that on google...

here are 2 pics, one of the actual bass to show the condition i bought it in and one of the bridge w/ the name stamp.

thanks in advance

E.P. Miller · #2 07-29-2009, 10:59 PM

Look inside the bass (through the f-hole closest to your body if you're right handed) for a decal. It seems unlikely that the stamped name on the bridge is the manufacturer of the bass.

xjeremiahx · #3 07-29-2009, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trix Miller

Look inside the bass (through the f-hole closest to your body if you're right handed) for a decal. It seems unlikely that the stamped name on the bridge is the manufacturer of the bass.

that's what i thought too...in high school we had a stratavarious bass & it was clearly visible from a decal inside one of the F holes...but nothing of the like on this bass

Carl Johnson · #4 07-29-2009, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xjeremiahx

in high school we had a stratavarious bass

In a way their all Stratavarious

xjeremiahx · #5 07-29-2009, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl Johnson

In a way their all Stratavarious

im not that well versed in the upright field...just tryin to figure out who made mine

Bass Barrister · #6 07-30-2009, 12:51 AM

Your best bet is to take the bass to a luthier. In Chicago, you have Mark Sonksen (Sonksen Strings), Marc Hogan (a440 Violin Shop), and in the 'burbs there's Michelle Fiore and the folks at Kagan & Gaines. Any one of these will tell you what you have.

xjeremiahx · #7 07-30-2009, 04:29 AM

thanks a ton!

LouisF · #8 07-30-2009, 12:35 PM

I THINK (just from the look and the name) that this was one of a series of basses made in Korea by Linear/Universal. Some of them were quite good - others not. Sounds like you got one of the better one. I'll be curious what the Chicago area luthiers say.

Louis

Eli_Upright12 · #9 07-30-2009, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trix Miller

Look inside the bass (through the f-hole closest to your body if you're right handed) for a decal. It seems unlikely that the stamped name on the bridge is the manufacturer of the bass.

You never know though, my bass in addition to having a label on the inside has the name of the maker stamped on the bridge. It might be a clue, if nothing else.

eh_train · #10 07-30-2009, 03:16 PM

"F. Kronenberg" was, I believe, the name of a "master luthier" [read: marketing ploy] used by a northern Wisconsin retailer. His basses are Korean, and the finish on that bass sure looks like other Korean basses I've seen. They can be okay instruments, at relatively low cost.

The wood on that bridge looks incredibly spongy [read: not really hardy enough for a bass bridge]. My 2 cents...

Paul (Eh_train)

cajunInExile · #11 07-30-2009, 03:19 PM

parked between the window unit AC and the radiator, that thing is a keeper!

xjeremiahx · #12 07-31-2009, 01:03 AM

haha cajun, i propped it for picture's sake! i was WAITING for somebody to comment on that. i'll try to make a call or two over the weekend and see what some people say.

as far as how the bass sounds/feels/plays it's a winner. and for the price i paid, it can't be beat(imo - like i said, NOT the upright guru)

edit: notice the AC unit is OFF by the lack of LED lights lit on it