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Double Bass Why? Is it playable?

I just went into a shop near DC and saw this:

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A 7 string?
 

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I'm guessing the instrument is a gamba, so yes, it's playable. It would be nice to see this instrument stood up next to a person or a standard 3/4 or 7/8 double bass.

in the second picture presented you can kinda see the comparison with the bass in front of it. Granted it is a tough angle for depth perception. My initial reaction was a violone, but any instrument from the viol family will also have frets and almost certainly not have steel strings. Thanks!
 
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I just went to the Brobst Violins page. Holy crap. I think that might be a 3/4 double bass, modified to have 7 strings. Again, I wish it was clearly stood up against another bass or at least stood up next to a person.

When I first saw it in the OP's post, I was thinking that someone took a fractional size double bass (with violin corners) and tried to convert it to something that would pass itself off as an "early music" instrument.

The DC area has a relatively active early music scene, and I would not have been surprised if some straight-ahead player was bored enough to take one of their basses that they never use and try to convert it to something that they could use to hustle an occasional early music gig.
 
“view attachment” is just what appears when you quote a post with an attached photo. (Like your original post...)

Believe me, I wasn’t trying to compel you to go back and look at the pictures you posted. :)

That’s just a quirk of the TB software. :thumbsup:
We're good bro! I didn't read anything into your comment. ;) It looks like an unwieldy waste of money...
but...

Darn, the string height was low and the sound was very even and clear, but I didn't really play it ... I just hit a few notes... But it was VERY focused regarding sound...
 
We're good bro! I didn't read anything into your comment. ;) It looks like an unwieldy waste of money...
but...

Darn, the string height was low and the sound was very even and clear, but I didn't really play it ... I just hit a few notes... But it was VERY focused regarding sound...


I am burning with curiosity; what was the tuning?
 

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