I purchased this Czech ply bass, circa 1960 unstrung, with a broken bottom block, fallen soundpost, ding in the lower bout rib, un-glued bassbar and sunken top.

It had a crooked neck glued in with epoxy and rather badly retouched varnish all over.

It needed its neck reset and a spline graft to reduce the string length from 44" to a playable 41.75".

It also needed internal repairs including a belly patch and new bassbar.

Read the articles here:

http://bresque.studio205.net.au/workshop/11-repairs/25-neck-reset.html

http://bresque.studio205.net.au/workshop/13-restoration/24-shortening-a-neck.html

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Before:

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After:

The bass is getting a Shrek makeover for Olivia:

The fully-restored bass:

In action, Shawna and Olivia and Holly:

The bass has a nice fat sound, a growly E string and is easy to play.

A year later, Olivia, Holly and Shawna each won a 2008 SIMA Jan Rutherford Jazz Mentorship Awards after their concert at The Basement!

This video shows Olivia (17) playing the green bass in a duo with Margot (14) on drums.

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In October 2011, the bass was sold to central coast bassist Eugene, who is pretty happy with his new friend. Shrek has gone to another good home!

We look forward to following Shrek's adventures in the years to come!