Thoughts on craigslist bass....?

loend68 · #1 06-15-2010, 08:13 PM

I found this on craigslist and was wondering what you guys thought. I'm not sellling or buying it, just curious about it. I have a CCB that sits in my living room that I fiddle with now and then, so I'm definitely not a player.

This is sort of a discussion thread.

Is it worth money? Looks like the action is really high. Why would it not be staying in tune?

Inquiring minds want to know.

http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/msg/1793695539.html

Jake deVilliers · #2 06-15-2010, 08:21 PM

If that was in my region I'd be knocking at the guy's door by now!

Get him to let you take it to one of the local luthiers for an assessment if you're concerned about its health. That one photo of the scowling f-holes looks great!

loend68 · #3 06-15-2010, 08:27 PM

Like I said, I'm not buying it because I really don't have the money and I'm not really a player.....

Maybe someone else here can jump on it! I'd love to let someone know about a great deal....

loend68 · #4 06-15-2010, 08:28 PM

Isn't that crazy high action with the adjusters all the way down?

pnut166 · #5 06-15-2010, 08:28 PM

I have limited DB experience, but from looking at it, it looks like there may be some cracks in the front. How deep they are is anyone`s guess. But that woud certainy affect the bass` ability to stay in tune. The thing is certainly in rough shape, and if repairable at all, I`m sure the cost would be extremely high. Personally, I would not buy it.

standupbassman · #6 06-15-2010, 08:35 PM

From 1920ish all the way through the 1950's, really high action was the only way for bassists to get the volume needed. There are still a lot of bassists who keep high action because it gives the bass a HUGE sound and the "thud" sound from the big band era.

Carl Johnson · #7 06-15-2010, 09:06 PM

Could be a winner, top off and a little glue....

crowsmengegus · #8 06-15-2010, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loend68

I found this on craigslist and was wondering what you guys thought. I'm not sellling or buying it, just curious about it. I have a CCB that sits in my living room that I fiddle with now and then, so I'm definitely not a player.

This is sort of a discussion thread.

I just restored a similar old german shop bass that probably had similar ailments. I ended up with about 3k in repair costs but the end product was a very sweet instrument. This one might need more or less, who knows. It also might be a dud of a bass...or a real sweetie.

The fact that it's not holding pitch is a little worrisome, maybe a loose bassbar? Since it's probably got to come apart anyway it will be just another thing to fix. Mine also had low overstand (like this one seems to) and I got the neck reset to increase it (more $$$).

I'm sure somebody will take a chance on it at this price.

sirero · #9 06-16-2010, 08:56 PM

If I didn't buy my eastman last October I'd be in somerville right now looking, can't really scrounge the money though.

and yeah the action looks very high, but it the picture maybe accenting the distance, and making it appear higher than it is, would have to see it in person.

fdeck · #10 06-16-2010, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by standupbassman

From 1920ish all the way through the 1950's, really high action was the only way for bassists to get the volume needed. There are still a lot of bassists who keep high action because it gives the bass a HUGE sound and the "thud" sound from the big band era.

Does this mean those basses were made with correspondingly low neck projection?

Greg Clinkingbeard · #11 06-16-2010, 09:40 PM

The shape, ff's and back and scroll look alot like my bass. Many of these type basses can be great jazz axes with some work.

I have seen several German shop basses like this with very low neck projection. With the original projection, the bridges are 5" or less and my guess is the one in the picture looks close to 6". With the strings over an inch off the board it looks like the neck needs to be set with better projection. From the looks of the button area, no telling what that would entail.

One bass I really liked sounded nice but the projection was so bad the bridge was only about 4-1/2" and the string height was still a bit high. Poor projection makes thumb position difficult.

FWIW, my bass got a scroll grafted neck with projection for a 6-1/2" bridge and the height is 5-8mm. Perfect!

IF that bass were healthy other than the neck issue I would go for it, but my guess is it looks like a restoration project, so $1500 looks steep.

Jake or any other professional luthier will know better, but that's my $.02.

robobass · #12 06-17-2010, 02:22 AM

Interesting. It looks like the bridge, nut, and FB were done recently by a professional, but the neck angle looks way off. I wonder if the heel is coming out of the block? The top looks healthy, as war torn as it is. I'd certainly snatch it up if I wasn't so far away.

Carl Johnson · #13 06-17-2010, 01:11 PM

The neck on the bass in the ad was designed to work with a low tension gut string. Still will.

In fact it can be a crap shoot to string a old bass with high tension strings. Most are fine, but some can buckle

robobass · #14 06-17-2010, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl Johnson

The neck on the bass in the ad was designed to work with a low tension gut string. Still will.

In fact it can be a crap shoot to string a old bass with high tension strings. Most are fine, but some can buckle

??? I'll leave it to the proper luthiers to deal with this in depth, but for one thing, the bass isn't that old, and for another, there are a lot of much older basses out there which quite heartily manage daily use with modern strings. In fact, I'm not so sure that the gut strings of 100-200 years ago were so much lower in tension than modern strings.

For this bass in particular: The bridge, nut, and FB look like recent work done by a pro, and for modern strings (although I don't love the bridge slots). Would a luthier with these skills do all this careful work and set the action so high? Maybe, if the customer asked for it (A former teacher of mine played Flatchromes with ridiculously high action, and he was principal of a major orchestra!). But, I see evidence to the contrary. In the fourth photo it looks like there might be an added heel section, and the last photo shows overstand more fitting with modern setup parameters than than what you would expect from original setup of a bass of this vintage. It looks to me like the neck was brought out to increase the overstand. Any player who would have this work done is unlikely to have ordered the high action we see here.

My conclusion: The FB angle must have sunk since the setup, which would also explain the the tuning issue. Either the neck joint is loose (easy to fix), or this is a blockless bass (which seems unlikely, but is something to run away from - fast!)

crowsmengegus · #15 06-17-2010, 07:43 PM

All right, since we're all so furiously speculating, here's my shot at it.

First, the overstand does look low, look at the last pic. Yes, the fingerboard and nut look nice and professional, but look at the fit of the bridge feet. Doesn't look very good. So my theory is that the bridge was just stuck on there and not fitted, and since this is an instrument with a low fingerboard projection, we have high action as a result.

It seems no one has picked it up yet, I'm a little surprised.

BassGreaser · #16 06-17-2010, 08:09 PM

i would be all over this bass even with the problems! I wished I lived out there already..

TheSuzie · #17 06-17-2010, 08:14 PM

Have no idea if this bass is any good or not but I have seen it advertised in Boston Craigslist for *years*. Nobody has bit on it yet, I guess.

BassGreaser · #18 06-17-2010, 08:42 PM

nevermind just checked out those photos again and if you look if the left F-hole on the sixth pic.. you can see what looks like a big peice of wood that doesnt look like its suppose to be there

Greg Clinkingbeard · #19 06-17-2010, 08:56 PM

The sixth pic is of the back. ??

mellowgerman · #20 06-17-2010, 09:15 PM

I don't know anything about the construction of uprights, having only played one for 2 years in high school, but that piece of wood inside the bass, in the sixth picture (which is of the front, according to my counting), caught my attention instantly. But like I said, I don't know much about this topic.
Either way, this bass looks EPIC!