PaulKing

'hybrid' ... didnt spot that. Even nicer.

... I just noticed that's a Boosey & Hawkes Excelsior in my avatar. Doesnt go out very often these days.

Strunal make great basses. It's the same factory (in Luby) that used to make the old ply basses imported by Boosey & Hawkes in the 1960s (eg the famous 'Aria Excelsior'). I had a factory-new 5/40 some years ago, it had sweet tone and was built like a tank (in a good way). The sound mellows with age and use, so if this one has a few years in it that's not a bad thing. Pictures? I think the 35 denotes some concessins in accessories, so expect slightly cheaper tuners etc, but none of that makes a jot of difference if you're talking a 'starter' bass at good price.

Whats the name of the band, I'll look you up. Nothing wrong with 60-ish musos slapping a double bass in punky billy bands 😀.

Crikey that's a gnarly old dog with some stories to tell. I love it already. Chances are its worth 3-4 figures, but would cost at least that to fully restore. But a few hundred quid would probably get it playable. BUT ... it could be something special worth 5 figures with a few grand spent on it. You'd need someone who really knows their basses to tell if its something special worth restoring. It ain't a 1940s plywood King Mortone, and there my knowledge runs out.

Was the soundpost too loose then, if I understand right? Well ... it should be, with no string tension to hold in place. Although maybe a 1/4" air gap is tad exaggerated....

Nice job.

That's the bloody thing with rattles. If you do anything that reduces the energy of the natural bass vibration, it reduces the buzz, so you think you've found the source Whereas all you're doing is not triggering it.

What Beer of the bass said. I love gut, but even I only use the G plain gut (actually I use Gut-a-like Swingmasters these days...), with Evah Pirazzi Slap EAD. The Ebay strings are OK for real simple roots music, but very little note definition or attack in the E and A. Even quality plain gut struggle with that on the E and A. Unless you've tried full plain set and know that's what you want I would advise against. Apart from anything you need to make quite substantial nut and bridge adjustments to get the buggers on, and if you don't like them you're in a pickle. I've been there. Thanky heavens for Milliput.

RUN AWAY!!!

Yeh Prestos are quite boingy.

Snap ... I've got that exact bass too. A cracker - early 60s. In fact I just noticed I'm playing it in my avatar pic ... a rarity, as I barely ever play it. Sadly it's number 4 in the family.

I have these on all my basses and have no problem generating festival shaking volumes that cut right through the mix. I love 'em. Plenty of people get perfectly good roots tone out of Spiros but I find them much to mid-rangey. But yeh for jazz, you'll probably be better off with Spiros. If you do swap them out, how much do you want for the cast-off EP's?!

It can be a nightmare working out where odd noises come from, as there are so many potential sources. Often the sound is acoustic, but lacking any obvious direction making it hard to pinpoint on the bass. But it could be an amplification thing in your chain. Is the pick up tight, or buzzing in the slot? Is there a trim pot on the Rockabilly Pro - maybe you need to roll it off a bit to avoid clipping? (I just checked - I see there's a bridge channel filter and gain - presume you've tried adjusting them??) If not then it still could be acoustic: Is there a cable somewhere rattling against the front, or tailpiece? Are you certain the bass-bar is intact, or that the seams are all solid? Are the tuning plates tightly screwed in place? Do any of the tuners rattle? Are any windings loosening on a string (if so the buzz will be at all frequencies but only on that string ... all the above tend to happen only at certain frequencies, but on all strings).