What year was my Earthwood acoustic bass made?

My first post here. Hoping I can find out some info on the Earthwood acoustic bass I just got.

From the little bit I could find on the net it seems to be an early one.

It has brown wood pickguard on BOTH sides of the sound hole.

The bridge is the straight through type. It does not have a bone saddle.

The sides seem to be walnut. More figured than mahogany but lighter than rosewood. Not certain though.

The headstock has a brownwood oval where the "E" seems to be on other basses I have seen in pictures. There is no "E" on mine. Otherwise it looks the same as the pics I have seen.

Luckily it came with it's original hardshell case (a little rough). It needs a bridge reset as the seller said the bridge was lifting off (although it looks OK on first inspection but I don't want to risk it without getting it checked out by an professional).

It already has two `1/4" jack holes drilled in it (ouch!) one near the end pin and one on the bottom side of the upper bout (huh?). I will probably have a decent pickup installed (in a non-destructive way). Are the "rare earth" pickups any good?

Any info people can give would be much appreciated. Is there a list of dates of manufacture v.s. serial number?

I'll post pics when it arrives. I bought it while on an out of town trip and had to have it shipped home to NY. Can't wait to get it back in my hands.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll try there. So far noone here has any info to help me date it yet.

Really just curious. It's in transit right now and I'm impatient.

The repair shop I use will get a kick out of this one...

 

Here are a few pictures of my Earthwood. I can't play it yet as the corners of the bridge were lifting off when I bought it so it's off to the shop for a bridge reset...

One picture is of the front and the other is the bass sitting next to a dreadnought Gibson J45 just to give you a sense of the massive size of this beast. Luckily I'm tall and have long arms so I can reach around easily but it looks really silly carrying the case.

 

It seems to be made of walnut. More figured than mahogony but lighter in color than rosewood. It almost looks like Koa.

 

I'm fearful of having the bridge rip off but I couldn't help myself when I was checking it out in the shop where I bought it and on the owners encouragement I tuned one string up to pitch and played the one string and it sounded great! Deep! Big! Full sound!
Good thing I have long arms... I'd never be able to play it otherwise.

 

Hurray! That's the sort of information I was looking for.

You are right, my bass is 8" deep.

The bass will be made right and right away too. The shop I take my gear to is highly regarded and does fantastic work on historic instruments. Getting clamps long enough to be able to clamp the bridge during the reset may be a challenge but if anyone can do it they can.

How do I reach Sterling Ball? I'd be happy to contact him.

Thanks for the information. I appreciate it.

Linus

 

Mine has the original case in rough shape (delaminating) and the case will require repair as well. Sorry I can't help you with that.