Your guess is as good as mine. I just figured paint but don't really know.Looks cool IMO particularly with the gold tone frets.
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Double Czech - Jolana DiscoBass & Kolorbass -
- Thread starter JIO
- Start date
Your guess is as good as mine. I just figured paint but don't really know.Looks cool IMO particularly with the gold tone frets.
- Jun 30, 2010
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I wondered if they were gold or just looked gold under the warm sunlight.
I've seen brass (?) looking frets on some of the others of that era so I think that's most likely.
Also the main industry on Lubin (the town where Defil was primarily based) was (and still is) copper mining.
The board is amazing. Considering how little wear the frets show, maybe it was painted and the bass was never played enough to get worn away.
- Jun 30, 2010
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Until we run across someone who has more specific info - I tend to agree w/Matt that it is some sort of plastic. The side shot showing the black triangle against the white fb looks too smooth to be paint, especially considering the red body finish which is less than perfectly smooth. Studying the pu's, they look like the white top part is sprayed on the black pu's judging from the crude tape-job. If the fb was sprayed white nitro - it would have a similar amber tint by now similar to the tops of the pu's as seen in the pics. I rest my case!
I don't think it will clarify anything but here's one more pic:
It's still an interesting sight with the strings fanning out like that. Reminds me of Explorer headstocks.
- Jun 30, 2010
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Some differences - starting with the static/non-adjustable 4 screw pu's. I almost guessed the other basses pu's were white and sprayed black - and seeing white pu's on this one could point to that being the case. The close-up fb pic does disclose wood grain on the black triangles so maybe the white is a thin coat of (nitro) paint. It also looks like the binding could be white painted black. (like the triangles) I'll stop now...
- Jun 30, 2010
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Interesting detail (black curved piece) - too small to be a typical tr cover (and no screws) but the neck doesn't appear to have a tr so...
Some differences - starting with the static/non-adjustable 4 screw pu's. I almost guessed the other basses pu's were white and sprayed black - and seeing white pu's on this one could point to that being the case. The close-up fb pic does disclose wood grain on the black triangles so maybe the white is a thin coat of (nitro) paint. It also looks like the binding could be white painted black. (like the triangles) I'll stop now...
Hard to know if the first one I posted is 'stock' - the pickups in the second one look Defil-like (though the knobs look like later replacements). Also some of what was used for finishes may not nave been conventional to the US. I don't see any nitro checking on either of them. Perhaps some kind of oil paint - but I really don't know.
Another possible fingerboard material might be bakelite. It was available back then.
- Jun 30, 2010
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Considering all the plastic materials used for accordions back then in Poland, Italy, Germany etc... it's not a stretch that it was some sort of black & white plastic or bakelite.
True. Though the range of what was available was far more limited. I go to flea markets regularly - and there's a great monthly antique fair in the town where I live a 5 minute walk away that takes up the entire central plaza - and any of the period pearloid type materials were by and large from 'the west' (Poles and Czechs very much consider this Central Europe - which it is if one looks at a map - so using terms like 'east' is delicate even if there was the east/west political divide at the time). There was some of that stuff in the East Bloc - I think of accordions, as you mention, and Orfeus in Bulgaria and some other had some pearl pickguards (but nothing like the proliferation here of stuff like Italy, Germany - and Holland - think of Egmond guitars). But I digress, black and white, very possible!
There were also some formica type materials for flooring, counter tops, etc so that's another possibility.
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- Jun 30, 2010
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Took the art Kolorbas to TSC's rehearsal tonight. As I suspected playing it at home - it was really killin' in our trio mix. (Kirstin is still on new baby leave) Plunky, defined and acoustic (with a pick) and so easy to play being short-scale - love it! We rehearsed this song that we recorded 2 yrs ago and if I would have had this bass then I would have definitely used it on this song. I very much like our recording, but the art Kolorbas would have given it a more 'of the time' sound. (many recording done on hollow-body basses then)
- Jun 30, 2010
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So, now that I have the art Kolorbas sorted playing/sound-wise, I'm doing a correct restoration of the artwork. The cloud-like shapes are actually silver-leaf and if it was sealed it wasn't with a very protective sealer as it was worn-off and scratched in key player-interface area's. From what I could tell studying it, the silver clouds were added after all the metallic paint-pen drawing was done. In the bigger area's it's easy but it gets very small/detailed in some parts. "Painstaking" is the optimal word here and a fine-point sable brush is key. I use quick-set 'size' which is a slow setting varnish specifically made for gilding. (they make a 'slow-set', which is for larger gilding jobs) After 1hr it's tacky and ready to gild. Once started, you have about an hr or less 'open time' depending on temperature/humidity. I'm doing it in sections because I can control it better - the size is amber-clear and hard to see when applied so that way I can go over area's I miss as I do the next section. When doing a whole guitar body - I gild it all at once, or one side at a time depending.
Hard to photograph, but I initially used a silver metallic paint-pen to attempt to repair the artwork. But even being metallic paint isn't silver gilding, so it only looked ok from a distance.
Pure silver leaf - I had a partial booklet of 25 leaves and only got so far today. Will need to order more - the supplier is in LA so I'll get it soon. The soft-bristle (basting) brush is for smoothing the leaves over the tacky size and brushing away the excess w/o scratching the gilding. I could have used (cheaper) aluminum leafing (which I have) but real silver is much nicer looking.
So as I said - hard to discern in a pic, but the top 1/2 (and sides) is done/gilded. I'll seal it with DUX satin clear acrylic which then will be shot with satin nitro once cured. (24hrs) If this would have been done the 1st time it wouldn't have needed this restoration.
Hard to photograph, but I initially used a silver metallic paint-pen to attempt to repair the artwork. But even being metallic paint isn't silver gilding, so it only looked ok from a distance.
Pure silver leaf - I had a partial booklet of 25 leaves and only got so far today. Will need to order more - the supplier is in LA so I'll get it soon. The soft-bristle (basting) brush is for smoothing the leaves over the tacky size and brushing away the excess w/o scratching the gilding. I could have used (cheaper) aluminum leafing (which I have) but real silver is much nicer looking.
So as I said - hard to discern in a pic, but the top 1/2 (and sides) is done/gilded. I'll seal it with DUX satin clear acrylic which then will be shot with satin nitro once cured. (24hrs) If this would have been done the 1st time it wouldn't have needed this restoration.
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- Jun 30, 2010
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I sealed the gilding and under good light I think it was originally done with aluminum leaf. The sections I did with (Italian) 100% pure silver leaf is warmer/richer in its metallic character. Aluminum leaf is a bit deader, just like polished aluminum would be compared to real silver. Aluminum doesn't tarnish (it may oxidize) but silver will tarnish so needs to be sealed. You can use chemical solutions to etch copper & silver leaf which can create a variety of effects. Gold can be buried in the ground and dug up years later and it will still be gold. (unchanged) That's why gold is gold.
I did this Epi EBO years ago. Etched copper and silver (star) It had a black body and I gilded around it. When etching meal leaf like copper and silver, once it reaches the effect you want you use water to neutralize it/stop the etching process. As much as I did that and even with a solid poly clear-coat (by Pat Wilkins) - it continued to subtly change over time.
I did this Epi EBO years ago. Etched copper and silver (star) It had a black body and I gilded around it. When etching meal leaf like copper and silver, once it reaches the effect you want you use water to neutralize it/stop the etching process. As much as I did that and even with a solid poly clear-coat (by Pat Wilkins) - it continued to subtly change over time.
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