Demian Copy of Hofner Violin Bass Any ideas?

[Roland Owner]

I bought this bass for my son for $60 at a pawn shop.
I know it is Japanese as it is stamped on the neck plate.
I found these great pictures of it on a German website devoted to Violin Basses.

http://www.fuenfhunderteins.de/brandpag ... htm?ref=nf

Any ideas on the makers of Demian?

[VintAxe]

Hey Roland Owner.

I've checked out your link and without doing extensive research, I do have a first impression.

First, I should say that basses receive less extensive documentation than guitars, so identifying a bass maker is problematic. Also, distributors tend to buy from the low cost supplier so a given distributor may purchase instruments from a variety of suppliers.

There are 2 basses pictured on your link so I'm not sure which one corresponds to your bass. The first one looks like a Kawai to me although I have no exact model confirmation in my archive. My attribution is based primarily on the pups and the general build characteristics.

The second one is most unusual given that angular tailpiece. I don't think I've ever seen that tailpiece before. Hopefully, someone on the Forum can contribute some more information on this instrument.

Regardless, you got a deal at $60; a retail price of either of the pictured instruments is over $200.

[Roland Owner]

Thank you for your thoughts.
It is the bass at the top of the page that I have.
When I was researching, I found only a few guitars and/or basses with the large triangular truss rod cover. Apollo/Greco and Avalon. The Apollo Greco has a different tail peice than mine.
Mine has mis-matched knobs and is missing the pick guard and nameplate for the head stock. Any Idea where I could find those?