For sale ~1900 German bass - Project

Would you ship to Denver Co

Thanks

Sure, last time I shipped a bass I secured it upright on a pallet and sent UPS or FEDEX freight.

Deleting this because the box i had to ship it in is gone.

The scroll, button, and outline remind me a bit of my recently-acquired 1890ish German bass. It was in very rough shape when the previous owner bought it, and underwent serious restoration including scroll graft and new ribs on the bottom. The pictured bass looks like it needs at least a new neck/scroll graft (string length down to 41.5" or so) and significant top work. At $750 (in my non-luthier opinion) it looks worth being done up right.

This looks like a really interesting bass! Is there a reason for the asymmetry? More photos would definitely be helpful, as would be a list of known needed repairs. I am wondering what the (ball park) cost to get it fixed up might be.

The asymmetry would be a result of the maker not using a mold, and not being too concerned about symmetry.

Thanks @salcott

As far as work, for sure needs a new neck/scroll graft. In the photos you can see where it's already had a graft and also there is a screw by the nut. Could be done to a current standard and also drop the string length down.
There is most certainly a screw in the neck under the fingerboard as well. All this stuff started moving and the setup is gone now. I can slip my fingers under the strings at the end of the FB and not even touch the strings. Before that the bass sounded good, I had Superflex solo tuned to Orchestra pitch and the bass really loved them.

The ultimate decision is how far one would want to go in fixing this bass, full restoration or maybe just a full resto on the top (maybe sound post patch, replace old cleats and clean/reglue cracks, possibly edge work on the lower bouts). One might want to have the arch on the top pressed out too, one of the pics you can see there is some deformation at the bridge feet.

The back has cracks that I guess would need wood strips inserted into and glued up then the finish fixed up to make that all nice. Currently there are cleats over the cracks and crossbraces that are glued well so the back doesn't buzz.

My plan was to have the neck done and play, but in Feb a few years ago we lost power for a 5 days during a storm and some of the old cracks on the top opened up a bit. I decided to get something new and less fragile instead of sinking money in this one.

If anyone is interested in the bass, I have a short video I took, you can hear the buzz which I think might be the old cracks/cleats. Send me a message, just gotta say I have been in full dad mode the last 5 years and haven't played the upright at all so don't expect any pro playing haha.

take a peek here for some better pics.
German Bass

Oh yeah, I'm guessing the F holes look so wonky because there have been 100+ years of Texas luthiers sticking tools in them trying to get things fixed or glued up.

PM me. I live in Grapevine Texas, and might be very interested in this bass.

Is it fully carved bass?

Berniez40 said:

PM me. I live in Grapevine Texas, and might be very interested in this bass.

Click to expand...

PM sent a few days ago!

Grenadier said:

Is it fully carved bass?

Click to expand...

yes it’s fully carved. Lots of cracks, some in the top needing attention. Needs a new neck for sure, most likely the top off to replace old cleats and close up a few cracks.

Sorry, I couldn’t deal with the box taking up all the space, it’s been recycled now.