Double Bass how old is my bass?

[tuttimix]

this is an old ply wood bass, it says on a sticker inside: made in Czechoslovakia.
Anybody got an idea on its age?
The former owner boght it in 1970, looking like this:

 

[tuttimix]

 

[tuttimix]

 

[tuttimix]

 

[tuttimix]

not much to be said really..its old and crooked.
well ok then.

 

[Phil Rowan]

I'd say 50ies, because the bass has wooden pegs.

I thought I recognized this bass...

 

[El Thumpo]

this is an old ply wood bass, it says on a sticker inside: made in Czechoslovakia.
Anybody got an idea on its age?

How old is it? Past its expiration date! For purely sanitary reasons, you should pass it on to me for proper disposal.

Seriously, though: there wasn't a Czechoslovakia before 1918 (i.e., before WWI), nor after 1993. The "hatpeg" tuners tend to date it as before WWII.

The fact that it's laminated dates it closer to WWII than WWI; plywood construction didn't emerge until the thirties, I do believe, although there were earlier experiments. (Feel free to correct me on this, folks).

If I had to make a guess, based only on the information put before me, I'd say your bass dates from 1930-1938. The latter year, of course, was when the Germans annexed the country, putting a temporary halt on the use of the term "Czechoslovakia".

Looks like a fine bass. How does it play?

 

[tuttimix]

hey Jsn
Thank you very much, also for the history lesson
im a little surpriced that it could be that old, because it is in pretty good shape, exept the crooked scroll due to earlier reparation, and a repaired crack in one side, the bass is intakt.
I have replaced the finger board with one in ebony, and now it has a very very punchy bass and high clarity, its not as dark as i would have liked it, but i have put on thomastik spirocore strings, and they are new and still NOISy you only look at them and they make an overtone. So actually i hope for more darkness..when the strings get older.
I bought the bass for ca. 500$ including a bow of some sort, i think its plenty worth the money as i use it for practice at home
thanks again

 

[El Thumpo]

hey Jsn
Thank you very much, also for the history lesson
im a little surpriced that it could be that old, because it is in pretty good shape, exept the crooked scroll due to earlier reparation, and a repaired crack in one side, the bass is intakt.

It's also possible that the bass was made in the period immediately after WWII, perhaps at a time when they were using up an old stock of tuners. I couldn't make a more positive determination without performing my specialized technique--which consists of handing it over to someone who knows what the heck they're talking about.