King Moretone with neckrepair value?

[stray_cat]

Hi

I just found a King Moretone bass from approx. 1939 for sale in Germany. It's the sister bass of the one NoHopeLeft recently bought(http://www.doublebasschat.com/forum/...ead.php?t=9856).

As mentioned by NoHopeLeft "It's about the same age as mine but have had the neck fixed, and the angle of the neck has been changed. It's a nice repair, but it's made with different wood, and it shows. Other than that I think two of the tuners have been fixed."Unfortunately there are no pics of the bass available by now but below are some pics of the bass NoHopeLeft bought which he told me is in a similar condition as the sister bass.

Could anyone please give me an indication about the value of the bass?

I know that NoHopeLeft paid EUR 2.000 for his bass (with unharmed neck) and the seller currently wants EUR 2.200 for the one I'm looking at. However, I think that the value of the bass is probably decreased due to the neck repair with different wood and angle than the original.

What do you think?

Any help is very much appreciated!

Richard

[Steve Swan]

That is one weird looking tailpiece.

[Jake deVilliers]

Yeah but its strung 'Rabbath-style'!

[tomshepp]

The best I can offer is: Take the instrument to a qualified luthier for an evaluation. At that point, you'll know what the bass needs to be a healthy, playable instrument. Ask the luthier about the local market value of the bass. I think King Moretones are rare. Certainly more so than old Kays.

Then, research old King basses in terms of value in your local market. You have already done a bit of this with what you know about the other person's bass. Also know that it may be a buyer's market, although, with vintage stuff that's rare, maybe not so much.

I know that one King I played on was beat, played horribly, and sounded huge. Best of luck.

[stray_cat]

Hey Everybody

thanks very much for your help on buying the King Mortone bass I dreamed of!

Today I saw it for the first time, heard its deep growlin' tone and bought it (for EUR 2000).

The serial number is 1779 which makes it a 1940 Mortone according to Roger Stowers' list. As you may see on the pictures it has had a rough life.

As I was told by the seller, a double bassist and freelancing luthier in Heidelberg, he received the bass and its sister, which was purchased by NoHopeLeft (see http://www.doublebasschat.com/forum/...ead.php?t=9856), a year ago from a gipsy as compensation for a badly patched up chello he had bought from him before. Nothing is known about the history of the bass before.

Before restoration by the seller in 2010, the neck had broken out and been badly repaired with a slip of the neck cut out. As a result, the end of the fingerboard was only approx. 10cm above the the top of the body. The seller inserted a wood slice to lift up neck and fingerboard to its appropriate position. Due to an unpractical angle of the fingerboard in the thumb position, a thin further slice of wood was inserted between fingerboard and neck. Now you can easily play in thumb position way up to the end of the fingerboard. As the inserted wood looks different from the original, the repair does not look to elegant but in my view OK as it underlines the age of the instrument.

The bass is strung up with thin Corelli strings (370?) which are useful for classical and jazz playing but not for Rockabilly. I think of replacing them with either Lamberts or Silverslaps, let's see...

Please enjoy the pictures!
http://picasaweb.google.com/r.h.schaefer/MyNewMortone