Double Bass Another bass ID please

[MarkWHolbrook]

My son plays a flat back bass I'm trying to figure out who made it and roughly when. There is no label inside it. It has a carved spruce top and a wood flat back. Plays pretty nice. Paid about $3300 for it. It has a fingerboard with flat angles on it. Fairly nice tuners. Any help is appreciated.

Updated photos added.

Added a photo of the original tailpiece before the Marvin was installed.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

More light and pix with less artsy angles would show the shapes better...

 

[MarkWHolbrook]

Thanks Jake. I'll take a few more when the light gets better.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Looks like a Gliga from here - the Marvin was throwing me off!

It appears to be pretty recent but really, its hard to tell without looking inside, smelling it, etc.

 

[Bill Fatty]

It's very pretty! Liking the wide bottom and the wire tailpiece. Congratulations!

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

I'm thinking recent Romanian too. Can you post a clear close-up of the grain? Balkan timber often has a distinctive look.

 

[turf3]

It looks a great deal like my bass, which is a Romanian no-name imported by and labeled for a local music store. I believe mine is a Gliga, based on the shape which looks exactly like certain Gliga models. I haven't seen those exact proportions on basses with any other known origin. (Long middle bouts, narrow shoulders, wide lower bout, deep ribs, small angle of the angled part of the flat back, the two black strips where the neck meets the ribs.) Also, the color of the varnish is similar.

I think that anyone who is willing to buy a certain quantity of these can get them made by choosing from a selection of specs (for example, the bevel on the fingerboard vs. rounded; type of tuners; extended fingerboard or not, and so on) and any label you want.

Mine has a sound strong in fundamentals, so although it doesn't always seem loud standing next to it, it gets heard really well. I have Bel Canto strings. My bass is also very heavy compared to most others.

 

[MarkWHolbrook]

KungfuSherif: I returned the bass to my son so I can't take a picture of the grain of the top. I had to re-glue a back brace that came loose. It is the second one. I struggled to get it in place and braced through the f-holes. He needs it for two more local symphony concerts and if the brace comes loose again I'll be doing my first top removal and fix them all for good. Or at least for the next 50 years. Thanks for everyone who commented. Turf3: I think you must be correct. I'll post a picture of the original tailpiece and you can let me know if this matches yours. Tailpiece photo has been added.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Kung Fu Sharif has interesting political overtones...great name for a punk band!

Is the bracing on your son's bass generously wooded? That's a Romanian factory thing.

 

[MarkWHolbrook]

Kung Fu Sharif is a great name for a band! I think my son's bass has about 4 braces across the flat back. Looks to me like it was made with 4 boards as the bottom bouts are quite large. I will see it again on Tuesday night as we both play in the local symphony and rehearse that night. I'll try to get a picture of the insides. Looks like a bit of a sloppy glue job as there are glue splatters around on the inside of the back. I'm pretty sure they didn't get enough hide glue under the braces as the top one by the bend in the back, came completely loose and didn't look like it had much glue under it.