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Double Bass 1970s Hungarian Laminate(s)

Aaron

Aaron

Jun 2, 2001
4,155
35
Seattle, WA
#1
Greetings All-

I just bought this funky laminate in which the only marking is "Made in Hungary". The previous owner said it was made in the 70s, and that story seems to be congruent with the case it came with, the amount of wear, and the fittings. It is nothing particularly special - I bought it because it has a lowend that seems like it would be served well with guts with higher action.

My guess is there probably weren't too many Hungarian factories making double basses in the 1970s. Anyone know any labels/brands used for similar basses?
 

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#6
Marton said:
I don't know, but I love the shape and varnish of your bass !

Congrats !
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I'm glad other people like it. My girlfriend thinks it's ugly and wants it out of the apartment.

yanto said:
I've got a Hungarian hybrid made in the Szegedi Hangszergyar factory in the 60's if that's of any interest
Iain
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Thanks - I'll go read up on the Szegedi Hangszergyar. So far I found that they made a lot of bowed instruments as well as kitschy guitars in the mid-60s.

Waltjie said:
I love that carpet! :p
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It was here when I moved in. It has grown on me. I realized the apartment would feel like a hospital without it.
 
#9
I think it's very cool looking, has that cool old piece of furniture look to it. It has that eastern euro shape to it for sure.

Put some guts on there and play that thing!

If my lady said something like that she'd be the one out of the apartment (no offense, my wife is very supportive of my obsession and sings and plays drums so........).
 
#10
I kinda went in the opposite direction and switched to medium steels and it has a really cool growly tone. I'm starting to getting used to having lower action. I still prefer having a bit more 'punch' and the option to dig in a lot more. It will still be a while until I decide whether or not to get bridge adjusters. For guts, I'd definitely want to have higher action.
 
#11
A good middle ground is going with Velvet Garbos (or Garbo Lights if you slap) on the E&A and a nice quality gut D&G. The Garbos blend nicely with guts on top and have alot fewer issues than true wound gut strings.

This is, if the gut sound is what you are really want. (sounds like you will probably go that direction eventually, it's becomes an addiction once you get that gut sound in your head)

What style of music are you going to be playing mostly?
 
#12
Gearhead43 said:
A good middle ground is going with Velvet Garbos (or Garbo Lights if you slap) on the E&A and a nice quality gut D&G. The Garbos blend nicely with guts on top and have alot fewer issues than true wound gut strings.

This is, if the gut sound is what you are really want. (sounds like you will probably go that direction eventually, it's becomes an addiction once you get that gut sound in your head)

What style of music are you going to be playing mostly?
Click to expand...

I'm spread across a lot of different styles, but if I were to put guts on this bass, I would probably only use it for country, swing, trad jazz, bluegrass and old timey. I would use my main axe for everything else (I bow quite a bit outside of the aforementioned styles).
 
#16
Aaron said:
Greetings All-

I just bought this funky laminate in which the only marking is "Made in Hungary". The previous owner said it was made in the 70s, and that story seems to be congruent with the case it came with, the amount of wear, and the fittings. It is nothing particularly special - I bought it because it has a lowend that seems like it would be served well with guts with higher action.

My guess is there probably weren't too many Hungarian factories making double basses in the 1970s. Anyone know any labels/brands used for similar basses?
Click to expand...
 
#17
I have a similar bass but it is a hybrid with a very thin top. Short string length but a very clear sounding instrument. Years ago the people at David Gage did a complete overhaul including a new fingerboard. I wanted and have quite high action on it.
 
#18
labravajazz said:
This looks like the same shape of the one I mentioned. It has a quite short but wide body. This one in your photo looks much newer. Does the label just say made in Hungary? On my one the top is carved and doesn’t really match the look of the ply back and sides. Someone thought it was originally all ply however I’m not so sure of that?
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The label says something more than just made in Hungary here is the label.
20190407_124613.jpg

Mine definitely has a carved top and laminated back and sides and was clearly built this way. As I said previous owner didn't know much about it apart from it was supposedly from the 1980's. I have removed the magnetic pickup and steel strings and gone for a kna db1 and superior bassworks deluxes strings. Areally great instrument though for what I use it for. Thumpy jump blues bass lines.
 
#19
Trimmo91 said:
The label says something more than just made in Hungary here is the label.
View attachment 3763311
Mine definitely has a carved top and laminated back and sides and was clearly built this way. As I said previous owner didn't know much about it apart from it was supposedly from the 1980's. I have removed the magnetic pickup and steel strings and gone for a kna db1 and superior bassworks deluxes strings. Areally great instrument though for what I use it for. Thumpy jump blues bass lines.
Click to expand...
OK thanks that’s interesting. Looks like yours has the same basic design but more modern so it seems. And different updated label, maybe for a particular brand name? Most likely from same factory I think. I’d guess my one is mid sixties perhaps just from the appearance.
I don’t have photos available just now but I can say my one does have a sweet tone especially for Arco even with Thomastik strings on. And easy to play with less than 41 inch string length.
 
#20
I recently watched a live stream of the singer and bassist of 80's rockabilly band "The Jets ". He pulled out a bas that he doesn't use live and it had that big bottom end that resembles our basses so I reached out to him. His bass also has the "made in Hungary " label. His must have been modified because it has odd plastic like tuners. I love seeing these odd shaped basses pop up.
Screenshot_20200521-060250_Chrome.jpg
 

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