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Double Bass Need Help Identifying Bass

Sithian

Sithian

Operator! Give me the number for 9-1-1!
Supporting Member
Aug 17, 2008
651
705
New Jersey
#1
Hey all,

Can you please help identify this carved bass from the 20's or 30's that I am considering purchasing? Here are the pics-

005-Copy.gif


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Anyone have any idea what kind of bass this may be?

Thanks in advance!
 
#6
German or Czech shop bass of the 20s or 30s sounds about right. She looks a lot like those Juzek basses a lot of us jazzers use and love. I bet those Spirocores sound great on that baby. (are those Spirocores actually? The E string looks like it has yellow up in the pegbox which would indicate that's it's actually a solo string, but the others seems to have green up in the pegbox. Am I seeing right? What are those string or what type of Spirocore?)
Can't tell for sure of course, but seems to be in good shape. How much is the seller asking for?
 
#7
Seller is asking 3k- will be trying it out soon-not sure what to do if I like it, as I am not sure what it is really valued at... will be playing both jazz and bluegrass with it- anything on these pics that I should red flag?

Also considering Shen, Christopher, and others in that range... trying out as many as I can-(not even sure whether ill be getting ply, hybrid, or carved for that matter)-

And another pic-

004.gif
 
#10
Hi Sithian,

I should have been more clear - the first pic, next to the treble side of the bridge. It may not be exactly where the sound post would rest, but it's pretty close! It could have been repaired appropriately (see Matthew Tucker's current post under 'Repair and Set Up'). You would need to put a mirror and light in the f-hole to see what has been done inside...

Cheers,

Paul
 
#11
Measurements would actually be some helping in identification too. But based on what you've got up, and what I've been looking at lately, and bearing in mind that what I know would fill a thimble . . .

The button makes it look like a Pfretzchner bass and the F-holes and scroll seem consistent. Run a search for "Preftzchner" and for "Morelli" and you'll find a bunch of pics and info. Some of the posts say that these basses were over-built but I'd take it with a grain of salt -- there's no telling who knows what they're talking about, and the ultimate tests of whether a bass is overbuilt are a) whether it sounds good and b) whether the top caves.

Before you sign on the line, TAKE OFF THE TUNER PLATES and see whether there was a repair to the peghead. A bunch of those basses needed peghead repairs, and the value is correspondingly lower.

Good luck & report back please.
 

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