Double Bass Johan Rauner

[Jay Mendoza]

Hello,
Found some information on Johan Rauner basses.
They were made by Hofner, in Nuremberg, West Germany.
In the mid to late 1960s they were sold largely to music schools here on the West Coast of the USA. In Southern California, they were sold by Vitali Imports of Maywood. Vitali was the local Hofner dealer. They had a label that said Johan Rauner Made in West Germany. They also had another label that had the name Johan Rauner and the date. This label, other than the name, looks almost identical to the Hofner bass labels I have seen that came from Vitali. My particular Bass came from Cal State Fullerton. I bought it with a broken neck. Sounds great today and just gets better over time.

 

[dylanjohnson]

I have a Rauner that seems to be a rare model. Where did you get this info?

 

[Kevin Hailey]

I recently acquired a Rauner bass here on TB. In my limited understanding, Johan Rauner was not a person, but a label used by a west coast importer for German basses from various makers

 

[Roger Mouton]

Thanks Jay. The "music schools" story makes some sense. I second Dylan Johnson's question re: the source of the info. I have a 1967 Johan Rauner, fully carved with gamba corners. It was my first upright. I bought it in 1987 for $1400. It was apparently in the Golden West College music department. I was given the impression that the students weren't "respectful" enough of it and it was consigned to a local music store where I found it. I won't go into any detail about how the students treated it unless someone asks.

Over the last 35 years I've learned more. I think I first started to look into it at the request of Jake DeVilliers. He has one but with violin corners. Perhaps he'll see this thread and chime in. Ken Smith and I talked about my bass some years ago. He suggested Wilfer was making some of these and that they were labeled Juzek for East Coast sale and Rauner for the West Coast. Paesold was said to be making some of these as well.

The Wilfer pedigree made some sense to me. I can't remember what year but I was cruising the NAMM Show aisles and came upon the Wilfer booth. There, to my amazement, was "my" bass but brand new. I mean, I was looking it over very intently and don't think I missed a single detail. Yeah, it was my bass alright. One of the booth reps came over and we started talking about the provenance of my instrument. Sadly, once the rep determined I wasn't interested in buying something he walked away and I was left wondering more about my bass.

Jon Peterson appraised the instrument for $6,000 in 1999. Trevor Davis got his hands on it when he worked here in Southern California. He removed the bevel on the fingerboard, among other things, and the bass opened up quite a bit. It's had one new bridge and an open seam. Maybe two, I can't remember. Otherwise, it's been trouble free and has only gotten better with age. Jason Brown did some recent set-up work and the bass is better than ever.

If anyone wants to ask more questions, like what pick-ups or strings I've tried I'll be glad to answer them. Thanks again Jay.

 

[Roger Mouton]

Hello,
Found some information on Johan Rauner basses.
They were made by Hofner, in Nuremberg, West Germany.
In the mid to late 1960s they were sold largely to music schools here on the West Coast of the USA. In Southern California, they were sold by Vitali Imports of Maywood. Vitali was the local Hofner dealer. They had a label that said Johan Rauner Made in West Germany. They also had another label that had the name Johan Rauner and the date. This label, other than the name, looks almost identical to the Hofner bass labels I have seen that came from Vitali. My particular Bass came from Cal State Fullerton. I bought it with a broken neck. Sounds great today and just gets better over time.

Jay, further to the Rauner story and your information, I've discovered there's more than one Rauner thread and I seem to have posted a little something in most of them. Hochberg has chimed in. Somehow I must have missed that the first time around. I'm wondering if anyone has gotten around to re-graduating the top.

I sent a message to Jake, hoping he will chime in. I re-read my NAMM story and realized I gave the Wilfer rep a pass on his disinterest.

 

[Roger Mouton]

Correction to my post above. My Rauner is 1969, not 1967. For what it's worth, the label with model no. and date appears to be written in the same handwriting as one posted in the other '67 Rauner thread currently running. Not that it makes any difference but obviously the labels were written by the same person. It doesn't mean the basses were made in the same place.

 

[Eric Hochberg]

I've posted this elsewhere, but my bass looks much like Jake's Rauner and has a Juzek label. Importers can do what they want.

I bought it in Chicago in '78 and it has MasterArt, 1955 and Model 43 on the label. It's definitely not a Juzek MasterArt model.

I'd like to see pics of your Rauners, especially the back button area.

 

[dylanjohnson]

It seems like two models are most prominent... The 171 and the 169. The 171 is the violin cornered carved that looks a lot like the Juzek Master Art basses to me. The 169 was the gamba (hybrid?)Mine is 362 (or maybe 367). It looks to probably be refinished and has a lot of repairs. I was told it was owned by a studio bassist from LA named Jack Bruce, but not THE Jack Bruce.... No idea.

 

[Eric Hochberg]

These are pics Jake sent me of his Rauner. Nothing like the above

sorry, the front pic is too small.

 

[dylanjohnson]

That's what all the 169s I've seen look like. Very Juzek gamba like with that type of finish. Steve Swan, who owns a large shop in the Bay Area in CA has seen a lot of these apparently, which makes a lot of sense.

 

[Roger Mouton]

I've posted this elsewhere, but my bass looks much like Jake's Rauner and has a Juzek label. Importers can do what they want.

I bought it in Chicago in '78 and it has MasterArt, 1955 and Model 43 on the label. It's definitely not a Juzek MasterArt model.

I'd like to see pics of your Rauners, especially the back button area.

 

[Roger Mouton]

View attachment 4928164 View attachment 4928166

Here you go Eric. Don't know if these will help you much. They're old photos.

 

[Eric Hochberg]

Here you go Eric. Don't know if these will help you much. They're old photos.

Interesting as your button is different than Jake's leading to the conclusion that Rauner labeled basses aren't consistent in design.

I just looked at the old thread and we already covered all this years ago!

 

[Roger Mouton]

Interesting as your button is different than Jake's leading to the conclusion that Rauner labeled basses aren't consistent in design.

I just looked at the old thread and we already covered all this years ago!

Eric, I looked at one of the old Rauner threads. I don't think the pic in the old thread you referred to is of Jake's bass. I'm not spending much time going through these old threads but Jake's bass has violin corners. Unless I'm looking at the wrong picture that bass you referred to is gamba shaped.

 

[Jay Mendoza]

Update and Photos of my Johan Rauner, circa 1967. This instrument came from Cal State Fullerton, it fell over and suffered a broken neck, 1/3rd of the heel stayed in the end block and the fingerboard had cracks. Around 1990, the school gave it to my friend who was taking music there as they did not have the budget to fix it. He put a lag bolt in a hole he drilled in the heel and used epoxy to glue the neck back on. According to Jason B it is not going anywhere, but is also not repairable should it get broken again, but otherwise, it is fine. The top had some cracks too that were fixed. Jason just did a set-up with a new bridge and soundpost. I acquired the bass from my friend in 1994 and traded him a new Musima Wilhelm Eberle laminated bass made from curly anigre
and beech veneers with ebony appointments. The white label inside this Rauner is identical to the Hoffner labels and Vitalli Import labels of other Hoffners from Vitalli that I have owned.

with ebony appointments.

 

[dylanjohnson]

Nice one, Jay! Hey, I'd still love to know where you got all your info about Rauners.

 

[Jay Mendoza]

Some of information came from the now deceased owner of Vitalli Imports, that used to be in Maywood California. I dealt with them back in the early 1990s as they were the local Hoffner Double bass importer and also did repairs, sales and rentals of all stringed instruments. My 1958 laminated 3/4 DB had a Hoffner label, and a Vitalli label inside, and I called them and found out they were the local importer/dealer for all things Hoffner here in SoCal. BTW, the Tyrolean tuners used on these basses are unique to them, and they are no longer available. All the current Rudner and other Tyrolean style tuners will not fit without some serious modifications which involve plugging and re-drilling the peg box, not a good thing. They also have the biggest gears of any Tyrolean tuners and therefore have the finest tuning. The heart shaped tuning keys are how you can identify them. My bass has ebony strips on the tops of the ribs where the neck meets them, a nice Pro feature. Jon Peterson was also familiar with these basses and was a good source for information, but he's playing with the angels now!

 

[Roger Mouton]

Some of information came from the now deceased owner of Vitalli Imports, that used to be in Maywood California. I dealt with them back in the early 1990s as they were the local Hoffner Double bass importer and also did repairs, sales and rentals of all stringed instruments. My 1958 laminated 3/4 DB had a Hoffner label, and a Vitalli label inside, and I called them and found out they were the local importer/dealer for all things Hoffner here in SoCal. BTW, the Tyrolean tuners used on these basses are unique to them, and they are no longer available. All the current Rudner and other Tyrolean style tuners will not fit without some serious modifications which involve plugging and re-drilling the peg box, not a good thing. They also have the biggest gears of any Tyrolean tuners and therefore have the finest tuning. The heart shaped tuning keys are how you can identify them. My bass has ebony strips on the tops of the ribs where the neck meets them, a nice Pro feature. Jon Peterson was also familiar with these basses and was a good source for information, but he's playing with the angels now!

Jon Peterson worked on my bass over the years. We had a discussion about its origin after I had encountered the Wilfer guys at NAMM. We concluded it was of Wilfer origin but that there were other, similar instruments and similar labeling.

 

[Jay Mendoza]

Hello again, The tuners, and the Hofner crest on the top of the back are dead giveaways to my Johan Rauner being made by Hofner. Below is what Steve Swan had to say about Hofners here in California, and he confirms they were branded Rauner:

Hofner was the source of a large number of lightly made trade type doublebasses that were sold through catalogues and local distributors under various label names. I know of them as makers of solid woods smaller 3/4 size instruments that went to high schools and colleges, as well as various retailers. The lightly built 7/8 size basses were especially interesting to me as a retailer. They stopped buying wood to store and season for the 7/8 size instruments years ago and I got one of the last of their 7/8 size basses about 4 years ago. I believe that they still have much of 3/4 size wood to go through and I hope that it continues on going forward. Here on the west coast they were distributed under the "Hammig" name from South San Francisco's Sahlein Music and under the "Rauner" name from a distributor in souther California.

Steve posted this a few years ago on the TB forum under Hofner Basses. Most people who have them seem to agree that even the laminated versions have decent tone, definitely better than other laminated basses, and the owners of the solid carved models also agree they have excellent tone. I know mine is exceptional and have only played a couple other basses that could begin to rival it.

 

[Jay Mendoza]

OK, here is some interesting information.

• Turns out that the town of Luby in Czech Republic was once called Schonbach and that is where Karl Hofner started making violins under that name. It was a huge center of violin and musical instrument making at the time with many famous makers. Hitler invaded the Sudetenland, this area, and it cause a wild panic and disruption of the music makers in Schonbach. Many fled and the rest got kicked out after WW2 when it was taken from Germany and became the Czech Republic. Hofners group fled west in mass to a small town called Morendorf, just north of Nuremberg. There, they continued in the previous tradition as before of using cottage industry and working together with many other groups of musical instrument craftsmen to produce instrument sold through a large organization in Markneukirchen, just east of Erlbach which is just across the east Border of Germany. On the other side is Luby, which is what the Czechs renamed Schonbach. Just a little south of Warkneukirchen lies the Rauner- Haarbachtal Nature preserve. Note the Rauner name! After WW2 in the 1950s Fred Wilfer formed a group called Framus, which re-united all the displaced people from Schobach into a a large co-operative group of music makers. They initially selected Mittenwald as the place to base their new manufacturing center, but the Luthiers of Mittenwald vehemently protested this so another location had to be found. By this time, Hofner had to relocate to a bigger facility they built in the small farming community of Bubenreuth, and it became a violin making center almost overnight. The 1950s shifted this groups focus on the new demand for guitars, and for a while they could not keep up, but this was short lived. The stiff competition of USA guitar manufacturers, and eventually the Japanese, followed by the Chinese undermined Hofner and Framus, and they all basically collapsed once cheap Asian instruments began to flood the market. By 1966, Hofner, Wilfer, and Roth, and others began to re-focus on high quality stringed instruments and joined forces as they had always done back in Schonbach. The Hofner factory had 30 full time employees with 300 more in off site "workshops" producing stringed instruments, and guitars. So it becomes apparent that many of the basses we see here from that era were made by a large group, in several different towns and small shops and assembled in larger factories such as Hofners. Names of past makers of renown were used to honor the legacy that was lost and displaced by the chaos of WW2 and the Nazis, and later the Russians. So, all these Juzeks, Rauners, Wilfers, and others from that era may have well been made by the same people, as at that time they were surviving by joining forces as a musical craftsman co-operative, as they had done for over a century in the past. By the 1990s the industry collapsed, even Hofner was sold to a British company. Juzeks today are made in China. Hofner still sells basses, but they do not say where they are made. Their guitars however are made in China.