fiatcoupe432 Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 Hi guys , just thinking on buying a db . The bass is been sold by one of my neighbors and is a German 1880 , can't tell you more about it as I haven't seen it live yet but only on photos . As I'm not a db player I would only buy it to restore it and then resell it at a very reasonable price . I'll attach some photos .... any advice welcome , I know there is lots of db geeks on here ;/) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatcoupe432 Posted May 25, 2018 Author Share Posted May 25, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatcoupe432 Posted May 25, 2018 Author Share Posted May 25, 2018 Please let me know if is any good asap as somebody else is going to see it this afternoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubinga5 Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 Maybe ask in the Double Bass section,? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mybass Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 It may help to say where you are based as there will probably be someone can help quicker if they knew? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatcoupe432 Posted May 25, 2018 Author Share Posted May 25, 2018 Based in south hams south devon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinnDave Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 40 minutes ago, fiatcoupe432 said: Based in south hams south devon I'd ask in that shop that sells harps in Totnes, if they don't know themselves, then I'm sure they'll know who to ask Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 (edited) We need The Rev, he is based in Bristol and knows his stuff. I'd be surprised if you could break even on it with a professional restoration even if it were free but I'm no expert. Edited May 25, 2018 by stingrayPete1977 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubsonicSimpleton Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 You really need to take it to a double bass luthier like Martin Penning http://mpenning-luthier.co.uk/contact He will be able to make an accurate assessment of what work needs doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRev Posted May 26, 2018 Share Posted May 26, 2018 Bristol Violin shop and Cremona House Violins in Bristol do double bass repairs but I don't personally know of anywhere closer to South Devon. Martin Penning in a good shout or try searching for string instrument shops in Devon or Cornwall? Even if they can't do the work, they should be able to tell you what work needs doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted May 26, 2018 Share Posted May 26, 2018 Martin Penning is a double bass legend. To give you some idea of cost, an overhaul of my functional bass (neck reset, new bridge, new tailpiece, rebuilt tuners, new soundpost etc.) was £500. And that was with Martin generously doing some work for free because he’s just a thoroughly lovely man. Cosmetic improvements will be expensive and unless this bass is a rare one or built by a named and in demand luthier it’s not going to be economically viable. this looks like a very effective get poor quick scheme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatcoupe432 Posted May 26, 2018 Author Share Posted May 26, 2018 Thanks guys for the advice , bass is now gone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted May 26, 2018 Share Posted May 26, 2018 Looking at it I think you had a lucky escape. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilp Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 Is it just me or is that bass completely lop-sided? My brain is shouting "plywood" for some reason. I'd like to bet it's not 1880, thats for sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickA Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 I thought Plywood too. Why is that? It's evidently real wood from the directional cracks up the front. Probably quite old from the hat-peg tuners. Also probably a REALLY bad idea. A dealer with a workshop might make something of it via a thorough restoration or could at least re-use the ebony finger-board on something else. Not one for a private buyer. Saw a hieronymus amati bass at a dealer once; looked like lots of glued together matchwood; now considered priceless beyond valuation.. SO, you never know ... but this surely aint no amati. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatcoupe432 Posted May 31, 2018 Author Share Posted May 31, 2018 so do you all think thars plywood?to be honest i cant really tell from photos .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatcoupe432 Posted May 31, 2018 Author Share Posted May 31, 2018 apparantly she had a piace of paper from the origin of the bass with date - wood used - maker but she had to look for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilp Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 There's something about the finish, the contours and proportions that just say "60s Czech plywood" to me. Oh, and by the way, there is a great deal of debate - to put it mildly - whether Hieronymous Amati ever made any double basses. The Karr - Koussevitsky bass (which I have played!) has been dated to after H Amati's death, and that was claimed for years to be the only existing Amati bass. If anyone were to try to sell a bass as an Amati, they would have to have utterly bomb-proof provenance. To my knowledge, such a thing doesn't exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickA Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 Not the Karr-Koussevitsky (once "attributed to" Antonio and Girolamo Amati according to Wikipedia). but THIS one (by Girolamo Amati aka Hieronymus II Amati, about 100 years later). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_II_double_bass Roger Hargrave and Rene Zaal made a copy of it a few years ago https://maestronet.com/forum/index.php?/topic/328014-making-a-double-bass/ (fantastic blog for anyone with an interest in bass making) and they don't seem to doubt it's genuine. Whether or not the decrepit bass I saw at Gallery Strings in 1988 really was this one prior to renovation, I honestly don't know; but it sold for a "significant sum" they wouldn't reveal. So what is apparently matchwood CAN be very valuable ... but usually is NOT!! Dealers do love the phrase "Attributed to"! ========================================================================================================== Back on topic. VERY hard to tell much from the photos; the vertical cracks running down from one of the f-holes are indicative of a carved front; I don't think plywood cracks that way unless someone's taken a hammer to it; but it doesn't look right somehow. Some things need to be touched to tell what they're made of! This one to be left well alone. More and fresher fish in the sea. :¬) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilp Posted June 3, 2018 Share Posted June 3, 2018 The words "attributed to" in my book almost always mean "there is absolutely no proof to this assertion, but I want the Fairy Dust of a Cremonese maker, and the scroll looks vaguely right" I'm sure it's a magnificent bass, and worth a lot of money just for that. Amati though? Who knows? And if you don't know, don't claim it. Gary Karr's bass, now thought to be French, was amazing, but REALLY hard to play... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickA Posted June 3, 2018 Share Posted June 3, 2018 The replica is also an amazing bass and a splendid work of art. IMHO it's a real shame they "antiqued" it as personally I'd rather own a bass like one that had just come from Amati's workshop rather than a replica of a damaged one (as if, even were I a millionaire who could afford such, I would not do 1% justice to anything that good!!!!). My own bass doesn't need antiquing, it has lots of its very own - and took a mere 150 years to acquire it. The Czech / German, carved/plywood monstrosity has been antiqued rather too much methinks, even if it is quite old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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