1683, really?

More like 1883. And firewood, to boot.

 

Wow, it's like that beer commercial for the most interesting man in the world...

"Back home I jammed in a kick a** band before coming over here to shot down some baddies in my fighter plane. Lost in the Burmese jungle for 6 weeks, no problem. I survived on my own good looks. Only to return home and invent the I-Beam suspension system before going off to do a little start up called NASA. No biggie, was just bored that day and wanted to do something different."

 

Good God, it's a blockless wonderless!
Hey Arnold, at least they say it's "One of a kind".

 

Would be an interesting conversation piece sitting in the corner of a room, that's about it..

 

1683 ? I doubt that. He says it was verified by a guy in Florida. Call them.

 

Einstein played it on the moon? That's gotta be worth something.
Oh, I misunderstood. The bass has been in the Burmese jungle since going down in WWII. Now I get it.

 

This is exactly the reason I would NEVER buy anything on Ebay that I did not check out thoroughly beforehand.

Good grief.

 

It's such a compelling story, though. It was also used as a gurney during King William's war... yeah, that's the ticket.

 

Further research shows that the roster of the AVG (American Volunteer Group, aka "Flying Tigers") shows NO Paul Bartlett with them in any capacity during their existence.
Honeywell Corp. was a sub-contractor of NASA, not a founding entity.

I imagine there are more holes in this story than there are in that bass.

 

ignorance comes in 5/8, 3/4, 7/8 and 4/4 sizes...

 

Aw, cmon! The wood looks pretty nice; a little flame on the back and ribs. If the instrument was free, it might be worth the effort/price of restoration. I'd buy it if I saw it at a garage sale in the Burmese jungle.

Here and here are basses from 1683!

 

No Paul Bartlett in wikipedia. No relevant results from a google search for him. And, as has been said, the official Flying Tigers website never heard of him. Googling "stringwarmers" produced one hit: the eBay item.

 

Kentucky String Warmers was an all female band - Goog'd

 

decimal needs moved, two places left.

 

I tried that, but fortunately they declined the offer

 

It is nice that the seller at least has the decency to post the questions where people state the description is way off the mark but the price is insane.

 

"Also, unusual, the fingerboard is attached with 2 flathead screws. Perhaps this was part of the restoration work that was done back in the 50s."

Umm...glue wasn't yet invented?

 

$5,000 seems a little cheap if it truly is from 1683. JMO.