KAY & GERMAN Choice?

[bassedsouth]

I'm going to check out two uprights for sale , one is a 1938 Kay M1 ,and the other is a flatback German bass with a hand carved top , the German bass is approx 80 years old and from pics etc is in nice shape.

There is no name or identifying marks that the owner can see on the German bass / also it has single tuning keys with wooden type nobs over the gear part ( ie no metal plate with the tuners attached as seems to be the norm ).

I will be traveling a fair distance to see these instruments and am interested if anyone has advice and or any ideas (especially on what the hand carved bass may be etc ) .....

[drurb]

Originally Posted by bassedsouth

I'm going to check out two uprights for sale , one is a 1938 Kay M1 ,and the other is a flatback German bass with a hand carved top , the German bass is approx 80 years old and from pics etc is in nice shape.

There is no name or identifying marks that the owner can see on the German bass / also it has single tuning keys with wooden type nobs over the gear part ( ie no metal plate with the tuners attached as seems to be the norm ).

I will be traveling a fair distance to see these instruments and am interested if anyone has advice and or any ideas (especially on what the hand carved bass may be etc ) .....

Without pictures or more detail, no definitive advice could really be offered. What is the asking price of each? Putting price aside and assuming both are in really good shape and ready to play (a HUGE assumption), then the carved bass is likely to be a much better instrument. Really, though, there are too many unknowns here.

[bassedsouth]

Originally Posted by drurb

Without pictures or more detail, no definitive advice could really be offered. What is the asking price of each? Putting price aside and assuming both are in really good shape and ready to play (a HUGE assumption), then the carved bass is likely to be a much better instrument. Really, though, there are too many unknowns here.

I'm aware that it is impossible to really know what these basses are like until seen and tried , I'm not bassed in the US and the prices are are not bad at all / approx 500 to 800 US !!

I'm wondering if anyone knows about early Kay basses or if there is any references to German basses of that era etc etc ..though I do realize that
there are plenty unknowns ...

[bassist14]

Originally Posted by bassedsouth

I'm going to check out two uprights for sale , one is a 1938 Kay M1 ,and the other is a flatback German bass with a hand carved top , the German bass is approx 80 years old and from pics etc is in nice shape.

There is no name or identifying marks that the owner can see on the German bass / also it has single tuning keys with wooden type nobs over the gear part ( ie no metal plate with the tuners attached as seems to be the norm ).

I will be traveling a fair distance to see these instruments and am interested if anyone has advice and or any ideas (especially on what the hand carved bass may be etc ) .....

you can check the age of the kay here:
http://www.kaybass.com/KayHSerialNoList.htm

[drurb]

Originally Posted by bassedsouth

I'm aware that it is impossible to really know what these basses are like until seen and tried , I'm not bassed in the US and the prices are are not bad at all / approx 500 to 800 US !!

I'm wondering if anyone knows about early Kay basses or if there is any references to German basses of that era etc etc ..though I do realize that
there are plenty unknowns ...

German basses of that era vary widely. I don't think one could generalize meaningfully. I'm wondering why anyone would sell a carved flatback older German bass for $500-800 US unless there were very serious problems, the seller had to get rid of it very quickly, the seller doesn't know what he/she has, the seller wants to give a gift to someone or any combination of the above.

[bassedsouth]

Originally Posted by drurb

German basses of that era vary widely. I don't think one could generalize meaningfully. I'm wondering why anyone would sell a carved flatback older German bass for $500-800 US unless there were very serious problems, the seller had to get rid of it very quickly, the seller doesn't know what he/she has, the seller wants to give a gift to someone or any combination of the above.

Thats one of the pro's of living in a 3rd world country/economy !!
Collectables are a whole other ball game compared to the US / UK etc.


I'm going to be seeing these basses on Tuesday and hopefully will have pics and proper info to post later on in the week !!