I had a chance to do some repairs on two American instruments with Zaret bassbars about three months ago. Both had the top plates about 30% unglued just from normal playing by the owner. When I tried to glue the seams, I found that the tops came right off with a spetula. The yellowish glue that was used was quite messy, and did not come off with water. I ended up spending a lot of time carefully filing and sanding the glue off. I would appreciate if anyone who knows a easier way of cleaning this glue off drop me a note here.
The bass bars on the two instruments had different designs and wood material, although the general idea is the same. The centers had T or L shape rectangular beams that seam to provide damping on the instruments. Both instruments had notes in them indicating that the bassbars were done by Zaret.
The instruments sounded warm but did not project very well.
