Help re old double bass

[Andja]

edit:  it has been strung for the past couple of years - we have just removed the strings this week to look at repairing it.  It was in concert pitch when it was strung. 
 

Hi 

we’ve inherited a double bass that needs lots of repair work. No idea if it’s worth mending or cost for such repairs, or if we could sell it without repairs. Any advice appreciated. We’ve been told it’s probably Victorian and from either France or Germany. That’s all we know. Photos attached. Please be kind. We are based in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. 

Edited Wednesday at 13:51 by Andja

[Burns-bass]

Looks to me like it’s beyond economic repair but I could be wrong.

 

[PaulKing]

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.

[Beedster]

Do not release it onto the moors 😆

 

Glorious old thing, please restore it and play it. It’s strangely beautiful 👍

[bassace]

If it came into my hands I’d do a quick and dirty rig  and just try to get an impression of its sound. Could be surprised.As PaulK says it’s something to be loved.

[Burns-bass]

1 hour ago, bassace said:

If it came into my hands I’d do a quick and dirty rig  and just try to get an impression of its sound. Could be surprised.As PaulK says it’s something to be loved.

Depends on the crack on the top I guess. The pressure of a bridge could see the whole thing implode which would be a shame.

[The Guitar Weasel]

Well it's solid wood - and to my eyes is rather pretty. 

From my limited knowledge it looks like it needs taking apart to cleat all those cracks properly - The crack at the neck heel needs investigated  and I certainly wouldn't risk stringing it up with that nasty top crack. 

I really don't know the value 'as is' here, but I would imagine it would be considered 'beyond economic repair'. Someone would almost certainly buy it in that condition as a project. 

It could be turned into a nice bass but doing that won't be cheap. 

As you'll see from my own repair saga here - even fixing a relatively modern laminated bass is a complex and very VERY time consuming thing. 

 

I would put it in front of a real expert, I'm not one of those - but my impression is that if you are a bass player or intend to be then it well could be worth your while spending possibly into four figures to get it sorted properly ... it's actually a hauntingly pretty bass, even with it's obvious disfigurements and in it's time looks to have been something rather special. 

 

Edited Wednesday at 09:24 by The Guitar Weasel

[Owen]

My gut reaction is that there is some nice wood in there. Therefore, probably a nice instrument hiding under the cosmetics. To bring it up to playing standard might be worth a shot. To bring it back to its full glory would get spendy quickly. But I certainly think it would be worth a 25 mile drive to Sam Wells in Burnley to ask.  https://samwellsbass.co.uk/

[Owen]

Of course, it goes without saying that we HAVE to be told what the story is as it goes along. We are all invested in this now.

[Owen]

That back is so nice that if it turns out to be uneconomic, I would take it apart and hang the back on the wall like a picture.

[Owen]

Just now, Owen said:

That back is so nice that if it turns out to be uneconomic, I would take it apart and hang the back on the wall like a picture.

I have form for this.

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, Owen said:

That back is so nice that if it turns out to be uneconomic, I would take it apart and hang the back on the wall like a picture.

Or…

 

[Owen]

2 hours ago, ezbass said:

Or…

 

That's just vulgar!

[The Guitar Weasel]

6 hours ago, Owen said:

My gut reaction is that there is some nice wood in there. Therefore, probably a nice instrument hiding under the cosmetics. To bring it up to playing standard might be worth a shot. To bring it back to its full glory would get spendy quickly. But I certainly think it would be worth a 25 mile drive to Sam Wells in Burnley to ask.  https://samwellsbass.co.uk/

Yep that back is quite gorgeous fiddle back maple ... stunning ... 

Take it to see an expert and let us all know the result 😁

[NickA]

Not sure I've ever seen such abysmal repair work.  Having recently had far less serious renovation done on an old cello and a new neck on my bass ..you're probably talking £5000 or more to bring it up to scratch, more still to fix the cosmetics.  Taking the front off is major and expensive work.....

and is that a crack in the heel of the neck?  Might be possible to pin it, might need a new neck.. and that's £4k or so straight away.

 

But, nice wood and a pretty shape.  I'm guessing German factory bass late 1800s, fully done up it "could" be worth £10k in a sales room ( IE you won't sell it for that, but a dealer might), but maybe only half that.

[The Guitar Weasel]

10 hours ago, NickA said:

Not sure I've ever seen such abysmal repair work.  Having recently had far less serious renovation done on an old cello and a new neck on my bass ..you're probably talking £5000 or more to bring it up to scratch, more still to fix the cosmetics.  Taking the front off is major and expensive work.....

and is that a crack in the heel of the neck?  Might be possible to pin it, might need a new neck.. and that's £4k or so straight away.

 

But, nice wood and a pretty shape.  I'm guessing German factory bass late 1800s, fully done up it "could" be worth £10k in a sales room ( IE you won't sell it for that, but a dealer might), but maybe only half that.

Yep those exterior patches are pretty horrible - I'm actually guessing that's a skint owner repair somewhere back in the distant past rather than a professional fix. They certainly look very old.  

 

I see a fair number of guitars and basses through my workshop that started off high end - and then as they got more battered - gradually moved down to less and less well heeled musicians.  There's an old saying 'don't buy a luxury car from someone who hasn't been able to afford the maintenance'  and this is sort of true of musical instruments too - especially the more complex and difficult to repair ones. Because of the possibly necessary cheaping-out on the repairs in its past this poor old bass is going to need a lot spent on it. 

It would be a shame however to see it some sort of sterile ornament in a corner.