NickA

Two things: My dad had a Violin that an uncle gave him, it said Stradivarius inside it and was hence considered worthless and hung on the wall as an ornament. Then on an off-chance he had it valued ... no it wasn't a Strad, but it was still worth £1200 which got him a nice new 'cello bow. Ever read the Spike Millligan story about an old fella who calls in a pawn shop with a Violin with Amati written in it; shopkeeper sees it's genuine but only offers him £20 "see a lot of these mate - common as muck; what did you think it was worth?" to which the old fella replies "£200,000". Let a Violinist have a quick fiddle which will tell you if it is worth anything (ie not chinese plywood) and if so go to a dealer and ask what it is. Places like Tim Toft Violins have free valuation days .. and are pretty honest too. .. and a couple of photos would help ;¬)

Ok. My Wal playing pals on Facebook say that what you have there is a "rear loaded pro 2e" built by Wal and Pete Stevens In the early 80s whilst they were developing the pro 2e into the Wal Custom ( now called the MK1). They only made 2 or 3 like this and from the serial number, this was the first. Valuable to a collector indeed, to a player it's a very nice pro2e which would currently sell for £3k to £3.5k. I lived in Putney in 1983, used to walk or cycle past that Fulham shop every day. Never saw,a Wal there. Did buy a carlsbro cobra bass amp there, and wheeled it back to Putney high street on a sack truck.

THAT is seriously unusual! The body is not like any Wal body I've ever seen. Looks like pro 2e electronics (one big PCB) mounted from behind in a body that is a bit like a Wal Custom.. As W1111 was the VERY FIRST Wal and this is W1112, it would seem to be a very early prototype; all the other W serial numbered basses start with W2xxx. http://walbasshistory.blogspot.com/p/normal-0-false-false-false.html Probably worth lots to a collector. If you post to the Wal facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2413094311/). There will be much interest and discussion (I copied one of the photos as a teaser - hope that's OK). And you could also ask Paul Herman at Electric Wood.

Great engineering @staggering on. My fully carved 140yr old bass doesn't get half that much care! Goes on the front seat with the neck down the foot well 😞

Ouch!! Stainless though, so probably urine resistant! True; due to the internal ribs, though. Most basses are carved (or hot formed from ply) so that the arch obviates the need for internal bracing (leaving it all more resonant, I guess). Lad here thinks he made a whole bass out of plywood - but no arch in the top at all, so probably more a "model" of a bass ... no idea what it sounded like (he doesn't say) https://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Make-A-Plywood-Upright-Bass/ one of the comments has the formula for neck angle and string force.

Have to get a mirror down there. But apart from repair patches there is only the sound post supporting one side of the bridge and the bass bar under the other side of the bridge. there is no bracing of the table at all, but it's arched of course and that helps it support the load imposed by the bridge. The bass bar is a chunk of pine or spruce about 2cm wide, 40cm long and 3cm deep tapering to 1cm at each end. But a normal dB has upper and lower "bouts" and needs the bass bar to transmit vibrations to each of them ...yours has one big "bout". I'll see about photos when I'm next at home.

OK! Tiny Bridge hence the very low neck angle wrt the body. There is some double bass pedantry about neck angle and bridge height - I don't know the physics, I guess it's to do with leverage / transferal of string vibration to up and down bridge motion, but "luthiers" are always looking at basses and saying "oh you could do with angling that neck back at bit more", when a smaller bridge would seem to achieve the same thing. A lot of old Violins (Strads / Amatis / Guarneris etc) have been "modernised" by angling the neck back, fitting a taller bridge and strengthening the bass bar ... this supposedly gives a stronger tone. Still not sure what your "ribs" are doing as I guess they aren't attached to the front / table. You might still get a better sound out of it by attaching some structure to the table though; ie on a normal double bass, the side of the bridge not sitting near the sound post is over the bass-bar, which then distributes the vibration to more of the table; also stops the table collapsing under the side of the bridge that isn't supported by the sound post. Likewise an acoustic guitar has some kind of bracing under the table (there is a big "X" inside my acoustic double bass, between the bridge and the sound hole). Anyway ... great fun project & and now waiting to hear the rendition of Bottesini that is surely to come 🙂 🙂

A housemate bought this in about 1987 and I dismissed it as radio 2 stuff. But hang on, the harmonies, the playing ( all extra good session musos) .. it's really tight and the lyrics are fun too. Now a top 2 West Coast smooth rock favourite .. can't buy a thrill being the other. Kamakiriad ... not so much.

Explain please: The angle of the neck ... don't you need that angled back to fit a bridge under the strings? Or are you going more for a huge acoustic bass guitar (ovation style but with a metal back!) the cross bracing under the front bit (aka the table)... doesn't the table need to be free to move around as the strings vibrate? I mean flat backed double basses have cross bracing at the back of the bass not the front, but then the fronts are bowed, so stable under load. My flat topped acoustic bass guitar does appear to have the front (table) braced but the bracing is glued to the table so as to stiffen it up - so that matches the big metal ovation idea. BUT I can see you have fitted a sound post, which indicates a double bass bridge to come - which surely requires a bass bar on the back of the table to go with? I'm intrigued by the whole project both as a bass player and an engineer! Can't wait to see (and hear) the final thing! Fantastic; love it when he runs out of finger board and carries on up the bare string!! You'd need longer arms than mine for that kind of virtuosity. You will be playing that on the wheelbarrow I hope.

I had a bass off Turner's for a few weeks once .. it's a great service; I did have to pay their insurance cost though and they did keep mine as a "hostage". It didn't work out, I didn't think it had been well restored and they were much too shady about its real price. Could have saved haggling ( which I hate) by just paying the speculative £7000 on the price label and selling my own privately of course. At least I had the chance to consider it. Back then, Bass Chat and Musical Chairs didn't exist tho.

Nearly bought another (smaller and fancier) bass last week (my hands aren't getting any bigger but they are getting stiffer with age) ... someone else got there before I made my mind up; so, the hunt begins (again) for a smaller and better bass. Lizsop isn't the only person who might like to try that Martin ;¬) The trouble with dealers is Mark Up and VAT. A reasonable dealer's markup is "only" 15 - 20%, but then add 20% VAT on the sale and on the commission and £10,000 is only buying a £6944 bass !! Now think of the markups applied by the likes of Turners and you don't seem to get much for your money (though the big dealers will haggle and do a good trade in deal to soften the blow!) Of course what you should get from a dealer is a bass that is properly setup - usually to your custom requirements - and some come-back if something turns out to be wrong and of course if you bought a £7000 bass privately, you could then spend £3000 doing it up (maybe). What do we reckon. Are dealers worth the extra cost? PS: good story I read about the "worlds most expensive bass" (at least, it was in 1999): "a Venetian double bass by Domenico Montagnana of c.1747 which topped Sotheby’s sale when it sold to a professional musician for £140,000. Interestingly, despite the fact that this was well under the £250,000-350,000 estimate, it still set a new auction high for a double bass “The bass world is notoriously difficult to sell to”, said Sotheby’s specialist .. “most basses tend to change hands privately between players and not sell at auction which made pricing difficult to predict. Our estimate reflected that we were hoping to attract a collector or institution. However, the world of the bass player felt our price was a little ambitious”. So glad to read that :¬) hope it's still true.

Self adjusting bridges; still out there. As a minimum you just need to saw the top profile to get the right action and shape to match the curve of your fingerboard (though a bit higher action for the lower strings) https://www.touchstonetonewoods.co.uk/products/stringed-instruments-violin/parts-and-accessories/bridges/double-bass/adjustable-bridges/aubert-double-bass-bridge-with-adjustable-feet-15041425638317/ Probably awful, but better than a bent bridge (or no bridge at all). Looking at what a top pro double bass mender would do ... it's definitely a skilled job involving not only shaping the feet and cutting the top but also re-carving lots of the bridge blank to minimise the mass ... but what the hell, most of us would never hear or feel the difference.

I've had the bridge off my bass and my cello without the sound post falling down .. but it's a risk. I used to feel the same about adjustable bridges, but everyone in the know says they are exactly like solid bridges and pretty much all jazz players use them. Fitting a bridge is usually considered a skilled job; but, I have done it on my cello ( not as well as the pro who did it next ). You have to lay glass paper ( rough side up!) On your bass, then scrub the bridge back and forth ( for hours ) until the curve of the feet matches that of the bass. Professionals will preshape the feet with a chisel and only sand the last few mm. there used to be self fitting bridges ( de Jacques) which have flexible hinged feet .. popular with schools, not great but easier to fit...not seen one for years. Of course all this effort will be wasted if your fingerboard is worn!!!! Go see a luthier, you'll get some free advice anyway.

Try taking the frets out; that usually stops fret buzz 😁. If that doesn't work ..... bridge too low or you have some fingerboard wear, ie string ruts or lateral dips where you play most often. Getting a new and adjustable bridge is best for a new string height that can be fine tuned, whereas fingerboard wear will need the board "shooting" ie planing flat. I'd have thought you'd want quite a high action for slappy rocky billy stuff .(??) though gut strings ( and softer strings in general ) need a higher action; it's usually us jazzers who are coasting the fine line between mwah and buzz .. hence adjustable bridges and high tension strings.

They're all ebony or rosewood I think. Standard for the fretted basses is rosewood. The scribble on the scotch tape inside the back cover will confirm.

Yup. Allianz expensive but reliable. Never realised that about violins tho! Double basses are great value compared to violins. Lots more wood for your money and sound nice too!

Fretless Wal owner here, also in full support. Job well done, looks great and it's going to get played. Also makes my lovely fretless even rarer 🙂

Woo classy. I could only run to a Grant Jazz bass copy into a Cobra. The bass was plywood facings over soft block wood .. as I found out when I stripped the sunburst off it to give it a natural bare wood finish. Live and learn😄

... but don't decide that your singing is your real talent, pick up a jazz bass deluxe and record a solo album 😉