Hybrid Christopher's

[godoze]

I had a Gollihur 5 string. It is a very heavily wooded instrument. The neck would ideally need to be reset in order to make it a modern angle. Tone was ok. Plus the neck is like a landing strip- wide and long.

[Alexi David]

Originally Posted by DZ

I had a Gollihur 5 string. It is a very heavily wooded instrument. The neck would ideally need to be reset in order to make it a modern angle. Tone was ok. Plus the neck is like a landing strip- wide and long.

Sounds like my Christopher fiver. Very very heavy!

[Silversorcerer]

It is a deep chocolate transparent nitrocellulose lacquer. Glossy and shaded a bit. Bob's pictures are OK, but you don't see the details too well. I'll try to get some up. I should have done that already but I spend to much time chatting with Ken on this forum. I'm an old fashioned photographer. I use film so it takes longer. With luck soon. My rehearsal schedule is reduced next week so maybe then.

I think it is similar looking in texture to the glossy finish on the Chris but darker. You can see the grain of the spruce very easily. The texture of the spruce grain is also visible across the surface of the laquer, so it is not like the "mirror" gloss that one sees on some finishes.

As far as the weight goes, I haven't weighed it. Almost all of the carved basses I've picked up were heavy, with the prize going to my teacher's 200 yr. old German 3/4 edgeless gamba. If I get it near a scale, I'll weigh it, so there won't be any question.

The projection of the FB to bridge is 6.25" (159mm). The bridge height at center is 6 3/4" (172mm), with a string height on the A string of 9.5 mm. The overstand is 1 3/8 inches. The fingerboard is 2 1/8" wide at the nut and 4" wide at the end (35" long). Neck and FB thickness is 1.5" at the nut end and 1 7/8" at the "D" position.

Referencing opinions on the neck angle / bridge height topic in previous threads:

Arnold Schnitzer on the FB projection to bridge for 3/4 DB:

150mm or just a bit under 6" is a good projection height. Sometimes you can make do with 140mm or 5 1/2". -

Eric Jackson on overall bridge height:

I've been told 6 1/2 - 6 3/4" for a typical solid wood bass.

The neck angle, projection and bridge height on my bass seem to be within what would be normal for this size instrument based on all of the sources that I could reference including published specifications. The way it is built seems to fall right in the middle of the ranges I've found referenced for these dimensions. I can't imagine a neck reset to be "necessary" or even desirable on this particular instrument.

[Silversorcerer]

Originally Posted by KSB - Ken Smith

Silver, although that Bass is from Markneukirchen it is not typical at all of that School of making. That is a French Design that a few, very few Germans have used. I have seen a Bass by A.Ebner (1903, Germany) and a few others like that. All others Basses from that region are more typical German like Wilfer, Pfretczschner and the like from Northern Germany.

Are you refering to the slight concavity of the neck heel where most basses have a straight slant from the neck to the button as a French design? Is this specifically what is uncharacteristic to Markneukirchen or is it more than that? Other than that it strikes me as a fairly normal looking modern German gamba. If only a few Germans in Markneukirchen used this design, it might be easier to narrow down which one Dimitar Georgiev apprenticed with.