Double Bass Experts required.

[Stubert]

Hi, Stu here. A newbie with a question or two. I have inherited this bass which I gather is a 19th century orchestral, three stringer.I am wondering whether it would be worth renovation.
I sent pic's to Bomhams auction house who suggested it would fetch between £800 to £1200 in an auction, but for that kind of money I would rather doll it up and keep it.
I must confess that I am a guitarist who occassionally plays bass...I hope that doesn't make me a bad person here.

So if any of you guys could shed any light as to the manafacturer of this bass I would be grateful.
Who knows, I may be sat on the Stradivarius of double bass here. Cheers folks.

 

[eh_train]

Hi Stubert,

You ask "worth renovation"? Absolutely!!

From the few pics you've provided, the bass looks a little beat up around the edges. This can be expensive to repair. However the top doesn't look to be collapsed at all (a fairly common problem with older instruments). You need to provide a pic of the neck/body join, looking at the back of the bass. From the side pic, it doesn't look like that area has suffered any damage (another common problem).

Many people want to convert 3 string basses to 4 strings. This can also be costly, depending on the work involved. I'd be tempted to leave it as is.

Cheers,

Paul

PS, we treat guitarists well enough, but you might raise a few eyebrows when you mention "doll it up".

 

[Stubert]

Hi Stubert,

You ask "worth renovation"? Absolutely!!

From the few pics you've provided, the bass looks a little beat up around the edges. This can be expensive to repair. However the top doesn't look to be collapsed at all (a fairly common problem with older instruments). You need to provide a pic of the neck/body join, looking at the back of the bass. From the side pic, it doesn't look like that area has suffered any damage (another common problem).

Many people want to convert 3 string basses to 4 strings. This can also be costly, depending on the work involved. I'd be tempted to leave it as is.

Cheers,

Paul

PS, we treat guitarists well enough, but you might raise a few eyebrows when you mention "doll it up".

Thanks Paul, I don't want to be raising eyebrows on my first day here.
The top of the bass is intact as you can see and the fingerboard is perfectly straight ebony.

 

[Matthew Tucker]

I wish I could inherit one like that. But my Grand-dad was a truckdriver and my Dad a pathologist so I've got no chance ...

Looks like a nice solid german/eastern european bass, and from the pics you posted it looks as if you could just stick a new bridge and strings on it and start playing, never mind the scuffed edges! Is there any label inside the FF hole?

I think you'd get more than what you were quoted. On ebay people sometimes pay silly-high prices for restoration candidates and that looks like a nice one.

If it were mine, I would convert it to four strings as I have no need nor market for a three-stringer. Assuming there is no serious internal damage and the bass is sound and the fingerboard straight, you'd be looking at top off, crack repairs, new bass bar, new edgework, retouching, new machines and scroll modification, fingerboard work, new bridge and tailpiece. You are probably looking at a few thousand to restore it properly though, but when done I think you'd have a bass worth a fair bit more than you spent on it.

 

[Stubert]

Thanks Mathew. It's a pity we couldn't magic the bass to Australia for you to bring it back to life.
I am thinking that ebay might be the way to go as I am not a bass player as such and I would prefer an electric Fender bass really (please don't beat me !) so I think that providing I set a reasonable reserve I could, as you suggest, get a good price from someone who wants to renovate.

 

[Thumpie]

Thanks Mathew. It's a pity we couldn't magic the bass to Australia for you to bring it back to life.
I am thinking that ebay might be the way to go as I am not a bass player as such and I would prefer an electric Fender bass really (please don't beat me !) so I think that providing I set a reasonable reserve I could, as you suggest, get a good price from someone who wants to renovate.

Probably a good idea. You're not going to just "play it a little." It takes a huge amount of effort to learn the double bass, and many guitarists and bass-guitarists don't seem to get this.

If you aren't serious about learning (and willing to take lessons), sell it to a real player.

 

[Herbie 80's]

Looks like a German to me. Can't tell much about it, but it may be worth restoration.

 

[james condino]

....I am thinking that ebay might be the way to go as I am not a bass player as such and I would prefer an electric Fender bass really (please don't beat me !) so I think that providing I set a reasonable reserve I could, as you suggest, get a good price from someone who wants to renovate.

Two years ago I had a new customer show up with a nice old double bass that was his fathers, with a rough setup and in need of some repair. He didn't play it and wanted me to set it up nice so he could sell it and get some other equipment for his electric bass rig. He's a regular customer now who just bought his second bass and gigs 4-5 nights a week on his fathers old rig. Once he got a hold of it all set up nice, it changed everything for him....

That looks like a pretty cool bass you've got. If all I had were 3 strings, I'd play the heck out of those three and worry about any conversion later! I can pretty comfortably say that just those three strings could get me enough gigs to cover the cost of any work it might need and I'd still have a bit of pocket change left....

j.

 

[longfinger]

So who in your family used to play this? Did you ask for any stories and histories from the elders in your clan?

 

[Thumpie]

I can pretty comfortably say that just those three strings could get me enough gigs to cover the cost of any work it might need and I'd still have a bit of pocket change left....

Sure, maybe for you or me, but this guy doesn't play double bass. If he's serious about learning, great. But guitarists and bass-guitarists need to understand that taking up the instrument is NOT a casual affair.

 

[Chris Symer]

.........guitarists and bass-guitarists need to understand that taking up the instrument is NOT a casual affair.

And why exactly do they need to understand this? There are thousands of people who play only casually. Does this bother you in some way? If they want to put in any significant time on the instrument some concentrated study would be highly recommended of course, but having a bass and messing around on it once in awhile is hardly any skin off your nose.

 

[T-Bird]

Hi.

What a cool inheritance, congrats.

You can count another vote for "leave it as it is" restoration, preferably by a luthier.

Sure, maybe for you or me, but this guy doesn't play double bass. If he's serious about learning, great. But guitarists and bass-guitarists need to understand that taking up the instrument is NOT a casual affair.

And why exactly do they need to understand this? There are thousands of people who play only casually. Does this bother you in some way? If they want to put in any significant time on the instrument some concentrated study would be highly recommended of course, but having a bass and messing around on it once in awhile is hardly any skin off your nose.

As a someone who fits the "casual player" tag pretty well, I'm with Chris on this one.

Having played BG and guitar for about 25 years for fun, and DB for about 5 years for fun, I do find comments like that quite ignorant.

Sure, a classic piece like that deserves to be played regularily, by someone who can enjoy it fully and can bring the best out of it, but I for one can't see nothing wrong with keeping a family bass in the family, where the value is determined by other aspects than just the playing value.

Regards
Sam

 

[eerbrev]

get it in working shape and play it as a three stringer! that's something special you have there, in my opinion.

eerbrev

 

[robobass]

It seems like an oddball to me. Can anyone with more knowledge help out? What I mean is that it looks like an early 20th C German, but has only three strings. I've never heard of such a thing. Looks like a nice find at any rate.
And yeah. I'm with Eerbrev. Four strings aren't really necessary.

 

[mdcbass]

Edicson Ruiz makes it work very well.

Invalid Link Removed

If bass isn't your thing, search out classical players who may find a three string very appealing.

 

[Thumpie]

And why exactly do they need to understand this? There are thousands of people who play only casually. Does this bother you in some way? If they want to put in any significant time on the instrument some concentrated study would be highly recommended of course, but having a bass and messing around on it once in awhile is hardly any skin off your nose.

Look at the context of the discussion. Sigh.

 

[longfinger]

Two years ago I had a new customer show up with a nice old double bass that was his fathers, with a rough setup and in need of some repair. He didn't play it and wanted me to set it up nice so he could sell it and get some other equipment for his electric bass rig. He's a regular customer now who just bought his second bass and gigs 4-5 nights a week on his fathers old rig. Once he got a hold of it all set up nice, it changed everything for him....

j.

Perhaps this is the part of Mr. Condino's post that should have been quoted in the reply. Read it again... for context.

Does the OP have any photos of his ancestor playing the bass? That would be cool.

 

[T-Bird]

Hi.

But guitarists and bass-guitarists need to understand that taking up the instrument is NOT a casual affair.

Look at the context of the discussion. Sigh.

Your reply wasn't directed at me, but since I share his view, you lost me there

Care to elaborate, exactly how Your comment can be interpreted any differently than the way Chris and I did?

Regards
Sam

 

[eh_train]

Wow, VERY well. Never mind 3 strings, it's amazing how many long phrases he plays on just the top string! It seems pretty odd when you look at the 3 strings (they seem pretty widely spaced). Thanks for the link.

Paul

Edicson Ruiz makes it work very well.

Invalid Link Removed

If bass isn't your thing, search out classical players who may find a three string very appealing.

 

[Chris Symer]

Look at the context of the discussion. Sigh.

Yea, I got the context. Frankly I find your earlier post saying that if he is not serious he should sell it to a "real" player disturbing as well. How's that for context? I say let him restore the bass to playable condition and then enjoy it at what ever level he would like to. Maybe he becomes infatuated with the instrument and starts studying, maybe it gets played only a little every few weeks and then sits for ten more years, maybe he sells it. Either way, it seems like a move in the right direction for the instrument to me.