C.A. Goetz jr bass

i see a c.a. Goetz upright for sale locally. It’s not strung up. I figure the sound post must be loose so no chance to try before I buy if I decide to pick it up. He just wants to sell as is. Looks like a cheap plywood bass from photos. I’ll check it out and try to look for signs the neck is too thin or warped. Not sure how to tell if the bass bar is too thin. Otherwise I’ll look for obvious structural deformities and will only offer a low price. Is apparently from the 60’s.

Anybody know about these basses?
Upright Bass - C.A. Goetz Jr. | String | Calgary | Kijiji

 

So I bought the bass for not much money. Time will tell if it was just a waste of money.

It is certainly a student model, ebonized board but it’s actually quite hard and well shaped. Hard to tell without strings. I sanded off the gunk along with a lot of the ebonizing with 400 grit car sandpaper and a sanding block. I finished with steel wool.

Cleaned the bass up by wiping down with isopropanol and then using a car buffer with cutting compound. Turned out quite nice.

Next step is to fashion a tail wire and get some strings. I thought I had an extra set of strings but I remember I threw them in with the last bass I sold. I believe I have some strings in a box but probably not a full set.

I’ll ask a local orchestral player that I’m friendly with if he’s got anything kicking around.

It’s for sure a plywood bass and seems smallish. The neck is pretty thin and the fingerboard width is jazz bass thin. It’s a very light bass and the plys seem thin if that makes sense. It has a repaired neck up at the headstock but seems solid. The neck to body joint looks good.

 

I got a spiro G from my friend and actually put it on my “A” bass and broke up that set, putting the heliocore G on this bass “brownie”. Is not too bad actually. A decent set of strings and cutting down the nut would help immensely. The great thing is I realized that my “A” bass should have spirocores.

Happy birthday to me!

 

Thanks! It did work out. I was wondering if the thing would even take string tension.

 

Thanks for asking! Yeah, the blonde bass is over at my friends house where we have acoustic jams and it’s working great. That repair is so solid I have no concerns with it. I wouldn’t sell it because my friend helped me with that fingerboard so now I have a conundrum because this 60’s Goethe bass looks so cool.