Took the bass to the violin maker yesterday. He said next week I'll get the bass back.
By the way, he's the guy working on Myrna Herzog's smashed 1660 viola da gamba -
here's the story in The Strad - I saw it yesterday, it will take him at least a year to finish the restoration project. So I believe that my Höfner is in good hands and will be better than when it was new.
We chatted a little about "relic'ing". In violin making this started in the 17th century. He showed me an upright he built for his wife (an accomplished classical player. Absolutely amazing instrument. It was strung with high-tension strings and had medium-high action, like classical players prefer, but still played effortlessly, and sounded huge. I don't know how I'll ever play my upright again) - it's a new bass (~2-3 years old) but looks like a 100 years old instrument. He showed me some details of the process, my jaw dropped. Violin makers are miles ahead of the guitar industry in relic'ing techniques.
Here is a violin he made for his daughter - a replica of the 1679 "Hellier" Stradivarius: