Hi there, I have been incredibly fortunate to have been gifted an old Czech flat back bass. All solid wood, real inlayed purfling, top hat pegs, what seems to be ebonite fingerboard? It’s super lightweight and has an amazingly present and lively tone to it. I’m having trouble figuring out from what time period it comes—so maybe these pictures will help someone who knows more than myself with the specifics of this instruments history. Bonus points for the make/model of the A string—feels like a wound gut, has purple after length and pegbox colors. TIA!
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
Welcome to TalkBass! Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Double Bass Mystery Czech Bass Identification HELP
- Thread starter TheDellow
- Start date
AGCurry
Good enough for a town this size.
- Jan 12, 2004
- 1,368
- 1,021
- 5,461
- Disclosures
- Owner, Stand Up Guy Basses (Repair/Sell/Buy upright basses)
I'm thinking 1930s vintage, or older. If you can show a close-up of the label there may be more clues in the graphics.
The neck join has had some funky old repairs, but as long as it's solid it should be good. I restored a similar looking bass a few years back, also Czech, and it was a great bass!
If the A has the same purple on both ends (can't quite see from your pics) then I guess Dominant. But Francois knows more about strings than I do!
The neck join has had some funky old repairs, but as long as it's solid it should be good. I restored a similar looking bass a few years back, also Czech, and it was a great bass!
If the A has the same purple on both ends (can't quite see from your pics) then I guess Dominant. But Francois knows more about strings than I do!
That's a Karl Hofner you got there. They used that logo for several decades so it's hard to pinpoint a specific time it was made.
Nice instruments from that factory. One of my violins has the same label with some minor differences in the font. I was never able to figure out an exact date (or decade).
Nice instruments from that factory. One of my violins has the same label with some minor differences in the font. I was never able to figure out an exact date (or decade).
Well, it’s not that simple with Pirastro...
The Original Flexocor silk at the peg end is actually split in two parts.
The part next to the metal winding is purple for all the strings in the set.
It’s the second silk part that sports the tone color.
If the string was cut, chances are that the black (for A) silk at the end is gone.
The person who gave it to me told me that they were told it was built sometime around 1900-1920--but I figured TBers may have a more specific estimation. Any guess as to the ballpark value of the bass? I just put some helicore hybrid strings on it and this bass is singing now!
Czechoslovakia only existed after 1918, so the earlier part of that range is unlikely.
I’ve had early 20th century basses before and this one definitely seems like it’s from the 1920s-30s. Excuse my ignorance on the formation of Czechoslovakia—regardless, this thing is old, it’s got mojo and it’s super lightweight. It’s my first flatback actually and I’m really digging the tonal difference in this type of build.
Thank you! I have one of those basses also. I've been curious (of course) about what maker the 'KH' on the label signified. It looks just like TheDellow's except the tuners are oval shaped instead of clover and look handmade. What is the name given to the knobs at the end of the string pegs on the headstock? They're purely ornamental it seems.
The History of the Karl Hofner Company by Christian Hoyer.
Last edited:
At first I thought you were joking.... but I looked it up. Being that this is the only double bass that I've ever owned I never thought too much about it. Thank you.