I still don't know how to play it really.The the strings were far too high off the fingerboard so after a long chat with the repair man, not sure what you call fixers of classical instruments like those, it needs the sound post fitting into the right place, the bridge lowered and profiled, ( it was actually on the wrong way round), the fingerboard needs some relief so it's going to be shaved down to lower the action, nut lowered and new lower tension lighter gauge strings.
Other than that he said the bass is a pretty decent model worth far more than what I paid for it on ebay. Although there is a badly stuck on antoni sticker inside he reliably told me it is NOT an antoni. The sticker was probably put on to help the bass sell.
It has had some professional work done on it previous to me owning it and he thinks the cost and nature of the work, had it been an antoni would not have been cost effective. The back of the neck had been thinned and reprofiled and to compensate, an impressively thick slab of ebony was used on the fingerboard.
He thinks it's more than likely to be a 1950's GIbson bass due to the style of headstock, neck joint, internals and the width and style of the upper body of the bass. So It seems i may have dropped good fortune on yet another bass. :-)
For the adjustable bridge, it was pretty expensive to change to one of those and his advice was that it's cheaper to trim down the one I have now as its far too high and enough wood to work with.
Jazzyvee
(Message edited by jazzyvee on June 10, 2013)