I don’t do this sort of thing except by request, because I want to actually build instruments, not complete the assembly of someone else’s work.
That being said, even if you have to rework almost everything, you can hardly buy the materials to build a bass for the cost of buying all the parts to build one of those kits. So it isn’t much of a gamble, really, unless it turns out that the wood itself is unusable.
A customer once needed a better viola for his son, but had very little money. I had an old viola-shaped-object, Chinese in origin, with extremely thick plates to go along with the extremely thick hard finish.
I removed all the finish, and took off the top: the plates were so thick I was able to re-arch AND regraduate both plates, thin the ribs, and recarve the scroll, leaving a very nice large viola with a good voice.
Was it worth the effort? It was to that child. I was only out the labor, and it was much less labor than I expend in building from raw materials. But I still do not claim it as an instrument “I made.” I did NOT make it: I rebuilt it.
