Description
This ca. 1920s Knilling 3/4 carved back bass was very successfully used for several decades by a traditional jazz player. It is being sold on consignment by the estate of this player. The spruce top features fairly evenly spaced medium-fine grain structure. The plain figure maple back and sides have been repaired over the many years of jazz gigging life. The ca. 1930s-40s Rubner hat peg tuning machines have replaced the original German halfplate hat peg tuning machines. The nut, fingerboard, and tailpiece saddle are all made of Ebony. The period tailpiece is black painted white wood. The bridge was originally made in the 1950s-60s by noted luthier and Los Angeles bass shop owner, Paul Toenniges. It is still healthy and has a good many remaining years of reliable service ahead of it. The recent setup refinement and fingerboard regaling has reduced the original working height of this bridge by about 1/4″. This player really believed in high gut string working height and vigorous playing for traditional jazz playing !! The adjustable endpin is of an older type, possibly from the 1940s. This instrument yields a strong, rich voice with either Bel canto strings for orchestral play or Spirocore weich for jazz play.
Dimensions are:
Top length 42 1/2″, Upper bout width 20 3/8″, Middle bout width 14 7/8″, Lower bout width 25 7/8″, Rib depth at tail 8″, Rib depth at upper bout corner 7 3/4″, Rib depth at neck 6″, String length 42 1/4″.
A very nice dark-voiced jazz instrument for use with Spirocore weich strings or gut stringing. With cover.
