Double Bass Info Requested on Old German Bass

[Jonturnermusic]

Hi everybody -

I stumbled upon this old German bass and I'm considering trading my Shen SB200 for it. The German has had plenty of work done, some of which appears questionable.

Basically I'm looking for some informed opinions on what this is, when it was made, and what needs to be handled immediately.


Plays nice, sounds good, vibey as hell. I'm inclined to do the trade.


What say you?

 

[Heifetzbass]

Needs a full restoration to be brought to 100%. I wouldn't trade an SB200 for it as you would be losing money on the deal. This bass (as evidenced by the partial sticker) either belonged to a public school or university.

I see basses like this all the time and for the most part the value of the repair outweighs the value of the bass.

If you could get it for $1000 or less- it might be worth it. Sell the SB200 if you must, but don't trade straight up.

My .02.

Good luck,
BG

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Welll...I can't really see much of the important stuff in your photos, but I can tell you the bass was made in Saxony in the 20th Century.

I agree that you shouldn't even consider trading a healthy SB200 straight across for this bass. In fact, I think you should take a pass on it altogether. There's just so much wrong there, and that bass will never be worth more than $5k even with a full professional restoration. I can see more than $5k worth of work there even without popping the top to look for hinky stuff inside the corpus.

 

[csrund]

Agree with everything said above. Don't trade a healthy, decent bass for trouble.

 

[El Thumpo]

I know this bass. I've played on it, and contemplated buying it. The owner is a really good guy, an experienced player/teacher who would like to see it go into the right hands.

Ultimately, I decided those right hands weren't mine. After years of playing on a battle-scarred old Kay, I didn't want to inherit another set of unknown issues and improvised repairs. Your mileage may vary, of course, and if you find yourself falling for the instrument you should consider it.

The price is definitely cheap for a German, carved bass. But it's not a steal. Like I said, I respect the owner and believe he's trying to price it fairly.

Since you already have a fully-carved bass (and one that retails for around $4K), only you can decide if this represents a quantum step up. I understand the appeal of "old" and "German", but ultimately it comes down to the sound emanating beneath your fingers.

 

[groooooove]

everyone pretty much hit the important stuff..

a shen 200 is a really fine instrument. i wouldn't get involved in a bass that might be okay if you invest more than its worth back into it.