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Double Bass old double bass: is it worth it?

O

oakalin

Aug 23, 2011
3
0
#1
Hi everyone I'm new to the double bass world. I've recently come across an offer for a double bass (which is claimed to be 150 years old, however it has no label) which is priced at £1100 (approximately $1815). However, there seems to be a few downsides: there is a massive crack on the back which looks like someone attacked it with an axe and a few small ones on the front which have been repaired. The fingerboard is also not ebony but some hard wood which has been coated(not sure if that is the appropriate word) to make it seem like ebony. The back is claimed to be sycamore and sides and ribs to be some hard type wood. Front is claimed to be of pine. As the provenance of it is slightly dubious i don't know if it is worth it. I would like your advice on this matter. Here are the pictures from the ebay site (I know, ebay is hardly known for its credibility):

eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

Any comments appreciated, thanks.
 
#2
Looks like the auction is over, with many bids prior to it selling for about $2000.
It very likely is old, and interesting looking. Many 19th century basses started out as 3 string instruments, and the mismatched tuner might indicate that a string was added later.

There is a crack in the pegbox, but it is pretty high up so it might not be affected by the string pressure. The 'crack' on the back is hard for me to see; it's normal to have a centre seam, which might be separating. The dark brown colour around the centre seam might just be character in the wood. Again, hard to see.

Many people like old basses, and are willing to deal with the inconvenience of keeping up with repairs. Looks like more than a few people were interested in this one!

Cheers,

Paul (Eh_train)

oakalin said:
Hi everyone I'm new to the double bass world. I've recently come across an offer for a double bass (which is claimed to be 150 years old, however it has no label) which is priced at £1100 (approximately $1815). However, there seems to be a few downsides: there is a massive crack on the back which looks like someone attacked it with an axe and a few small ones on the front which have been repaired. The fingerboard is also not ebony but some hard wood which has been coated(not sure if that is the appropriate word) to make it seem like ebony. The back is claimed to be sycamore and sides and ribs to be some hard type wood. Front is claimed to be of pine. As the provenance of it is slightly dubious i don't know if it is worth it. I would like your advice on this matter. Here are the pictures from the ebay site (I know, ebay is hardly known for its credibility):

eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

Any comments appreciated, thanks.
Click to expand...
 
#4
actually the winning bidder apparently backed out so I got a second chance offer (the offer was £1300 actually not £1100 as I initially suggested). Unsure what to do though since it is odd that the winning bidder backed out on such an item
 
#5
Looks like a reasonable price for a nice old bass. Probably the wood is maple and spruce like normal, sounds like the seller doesn't know that much about the instrument. I wouldn't call that an extremely risky buy, although expect to have to get a bit of work done or change the strings since it may not have been played much recently.
 
#7
got two more pictures of the rib cracks off the seller. what does everyone think?
 

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#8
oakalin said:
got two more pictures of the rib cracks off the seller. what does everyone think?
Click to expand...

The cracks look like they've been repaired pretty well. The neck looks to be beechwood, but doesn't appear to be set at the proper angle (the fingerboard [which is most likely maple] looks like it's almost parallel to the bass - should be angled out a lot more.) This will be a costly repair. It's generally advisable to play a bass before buying unless you know and trust the seller. While it may be a good bass to learn on, I would advise against parting with hard-earned money without being absolutely certain what you're getting into....
 
#12
oh well it's actually pounds sterling (I'm from the UK). Sorry for the confusion! That's interesting, I wouldn't have realized that the neck angle should be angled out more. It seemed normal comparing it to other basses i've seen. but obviously I'm not a professional. Thanks for the advice!
 
#13
bassteban said:
The one picture- from post #7- I've seen that suggests this to me(admittedly VERY unqualified here)may, IMO, be misleading- although I totally agree w/the rest of your post.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I looked at both of those as closely as I could. The one with the bass on the floor could go either way...I went with my gut reaction to the second photo. Thanks for the vote of confidence, though. :)
 
#15
Hey Oak, don't let the low overstand and the cracks put you off. I have an ancient Bohemian bass with cracks on its cracks and seriously low overstand (not to mention a Beech neck AND fingerboard!) and it still sounds like the voice of God! Its never going to look very pretty but who cares?

Get over there and play it. Take someone who knows about DBs with you.
 
#16
Just plan on sinking lots of time and money in to the restoration project, even if it means putting it off for a time. Have it done right, by someone that you and others trust, ideally somewhere where you can check on the process in person. The bass will become a friend, and bring you many friends as well. And not to mention,you will have a very fine instrument.
 
#18
It's an old German or Czech factory bass, and it looks like it's in reasonably good shape. For anything under $2000, I'd say it's worth it. It may sound fine with low overstand, but it can be a playability issue if you want to spend much time in thumb position area. I bought an old bass like this and had the neck reset to bring up the overstand and it was totally worth it IMO.

Be prepared to spend a little money on this honey and you'll have a real nice bass. (Fingerboard for sure, maybe a neck reset at the same time, crack repair and such...)
 

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