Bass ID

[calduggan]

Any idea what this is and approximate value? (Assuming the cracks on the front are solidly repaired and stable etc)

[neilp]

It's German, maybe 1920s/30s I reckon. Scroll looks quite nice, shame someone cut the hatpegs off! It's been in the wars though, those new bits of wood in the ribs don't help its cause any and there are lots of cracks in the top and the back. As it doesn't look great, its value depends largely on how it plays and how it sounds. Could be a grand, could be 3 or 4....

[bassace]

Not so much what it looks like, more what it sounds like. There are a lot of basses sloshing around these days. Where are they coming from?

And there’s a Martin Penning on Musical Chairs at the mo for £12k. Doesn’t he charge 15? And what about that lovely Bryant on the TB for sales? Basses are hard to sell these days. If you’ve got a nice bass that you’re happy with hang on to it. That’s the best value.

Pardon the unfocused post but the DB situation is sad these days.

[tommyjamesallen]

Looks nice. German 1900ish. It’s hard to tell what’s happening on the back and ribs as far as what are scratches or cracks, It’s not blockless and it has outside linings, which is good, and lovely flamed maple. 
It looks like it’s been repaired at some point. So assuming that it’s all sound and stable it would probably be worth 4-5k. 
if it is full of open cracks it could be 1-2k. Hope that helps. 
Are you buying or selling?

[NickA]

Trouble will be the cost of bringing it up to scratch.  Any buzzes, rattles, soft spots, you may be talking £2k+ to fix ... in order to get a £5k bass. 

But yes, German. Likely Markneukirchen.  1890s at oldest.  I have quite a similar shaped one, though the back on mine is carved not flat and the condition is better.  Mine was valued at £7500, but I think £6500 is nearer the mark.  Doubt a dealer would pay me more than £4.5k though (sucks teeth, "may need a lot of work before we could put it in the showroom")

 

[DanOwens]

My main DB was from a school. I took it to Sam Wells and he said it's fully carved, and in good condition would be worth around £7k, but since it was fully carved and poorly looked after the top was similar to this one (perhaps worse) and he valued it at £1.5k. He offered to make me a new top for £1.5k and yes it would raise the value but I don't really care about that. I just asked him to glue it up and learned to love it. 

And I really do love it!