Help Identifying Double Bass?

[bookshelter]

Hello all, I hope it's alright to post here, I joined in the hope of identifying the make and maybe age-range of a stand-up/double bass that I recently acquired.

It's had some repair work done to it (and could use a bit more) and the repair info appears to have been written inside on a bit of wood which looks to have been replaced.

Unfortunately any original identifying info like a label is not present which is what led me to ask around and see if anybody might have any information based on the body alone.

It's a 3/4 size. I've included a whole bunch of photos of any details which might help in identifying it, and a couple photos of the only writing found within: pen or pencil marks which I think are the details of the repair work. I apologize for the photo-quality of the writing, even I'm not 100% sure of what is written and many searches have come up empty.

My best guess as to what is written is: "Repair 3/90" (Maybe the month and year of the repair? It's also possible that "Repair is not even the word I'm seeing..) And then "M. Campellone" I *believe* that's what it says anyway, and Mark Campellone is a guitar maker I've found with whom I've also put in an inquiry, however he doesn't seem to have a lot going on in the world of Upright Basses. As for the last bit of writing, "P... N." but I'm not really sure what this says.

Anyway, I know this has been kind of lengthy and there isn't a lot to go on but if anybody has any information that might be relevant I'd be very excited to learn anything I can about this bass. Thanks very much to anyone who takes the time to read this.

~Cass

Edited April 23, 2017 by bookshelter

[JoeEvans]

I'm in no way an expert but I'm not sure that it's possible to pin down the history of an older, solid-wood instrument. I would have thought that it was at least 80 years old, maybe older, just from the patina of the wood; something about the shoulders makes me think of some other German basses I've seen but this is all basically guesswork...

[bookshelter]

Hey! Thank you so much for your reply. I'm certainly not an expert either, I know a bit about other instruments but I'm pretty new to anything to do with uprights.

The age seems a bit in line with something another person had said to me, so that's encouraging. I know that there are basses out there which are made to look older than they actually are to increase their price, but I never thought this looked like one of those.

I'll take a look into some older German makers to see if I can narrow things down. Thank you so much again!

[SubsonicSimpleton]

Probably a good idea to ask on the double bass side of the talkbass forum as well - one important detail which isn't really shown in your pictures is the button, so you might want to completely remove the bib from the bass and re-photo the neck joint area.

[bookshelter]

Thanks, Subsonic, I actually had an issue getting confirmed there the other day but just retried and it went through so I'll be posting there as well. I'll be sure to get a better photo of the button area too, I hadn't realized that that was an important area. Thanks again!

[Beer of the Bass]

The external linings, gamba corners and the tuners are very much like instruments I've seen attributed as about 1900 (or a couple of decades either way), German or perhaps Czech. Is it a beech neck too? Many of these basses were never marked with makers names, so you might not get any closer than that.

[NickA]

Chances are you will NEVER KNOW. It's one of the joys and mysteries of the Double Bass .. and any antique instrument. My own bass is fairly easy to pin down as it has "the mark of Markneukirchen" on the back and fits the fashions of the 1880s, but no one can tell me who made it ... Markneukirchen had lots of makers in the 1880s, so who knows really.

Take my 'cello (which has a label "J B Colin Beare and Co" inside). I took it along to a very reputable valuer in London (a Mr Charles Beare - no relation apparently) who span it around and declared "quite nice, German isn't it?" (it's French). Next chap said "probably a J B Colin as no one would bother to fake one" and the final one who said "Oh yes definitely a J B Colin, has all the right shape and purfelling, but the varnish is a bit german" .... and this is a 'cello that SAYS "J B Colin" in it. Mind you, my dad had an old Viollin that said "stradavarius" inside it; it wasn't of course .. he sold it for a song; turned out it was quite a nice German violin from the 1900s and probably worth a couple of thousand.

You could take it along to Turners or Tofts and ask for a valuation and they might be able to tell you something about it .. but the next place will say something different!

Just enjoy the ownership and playing :¬)

[neilp]

What NickA said! I'd guess turn of the century German/Czech. What they call a "trade bass" built in their thousands, huge variations in quality.

I would say, however if people over the years have deemed It worthy of decent quality repairs, that's a good sign!

Enjoy!

[mart3442]

Looks like a German "trade" instrument, made in the mid/late 1800's, also know as "blockless wonders" because theres no block at the heel of the neck. Yours is near identical to mine, which was made around 1850.
Take it to a luthier, they'll have more information for you.....