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Pino Cazzaniga
02-25-2013, 04:42 PM
I finished this restoration the last summer. I did not tell anything about it for the privacy of the customer, but as the work was done he allowed me to share the report.
Then, the translation took some time.
As the document is huge, maybe too much, I split it in five pieces to post...

Pino Cazzaniga
02-25-2013, 04:45 PM
Second part.

Pino Cazzaniga
02-25-2013, 04:55 PM
third part, the top.

Anselm Hauke
02-25-2013, 05:33 PM
Pino, that is absolutely amazing! Thanks for sharing. CanĀ“t wait for part 4 and 5!

Pino Cazzaniga
02-25-2013, 06:12 PM
Thanks, Anselm, I just realized that the part about the back is too heavy, so I split it in two (part 4a and part 4b).
Hope not to bore too much...

Pino Cazzaniga
02-25-2013, 06:15 PM
And the part b of the part 4

Pino Cazzaniga
02-25-2013, 06:18 PM
This is the last part, at last!

Anselm Hauke
02-25-2013, 06:22 PM
Hope not to bore too much...

not at all, now i have something to read :-)

Anselm Hauke
02-25-2013, 06:45 PM
i just finished reading part 5. beautiful bass, great work and documentation.
thanks a lot.

how does it sound now?

Ken Smith
02-25-2013, 11:46 PM
Pino, your work is beautiful. One question. Do you know the exact spices of pine or spruce the top is made from?

Ok, I have seen two other basses like this. Not identical but very similar. Guess what? They were not Italian. They were English, London, c.1930s. One was labeled from the Betts shop and the other although an attributed Italian bass for decades, I think it was English and told the people that were handling the bass. It sold as English, and not Italian taking my advice.

If you look carefully, those Ffs do not look Italian at all. Making the upper eyes so much bigger than the lower as they look in your pictures is an exaggeration of Maggini who did in fact make the upper slightly bigger, slightly.

So, despite the Cherry and Walnut used, I think this is an English bass, not Italian. The form and clean cutting of the head and overall outline is totally English looking work to me.

Do you have any idea how many English basses from the 18th to 19th century were selling as Italian basses until recently? Wow, I could write a book. Basses like my Hart have fooled people even in England thinking they were Italian. A few basses I know of that were attributed to Maggini (4 that I can recall right now with the owners names) were English or British and not at all Italian.

The work you are doing is beautiful work and I have had many basses restored up to that grade. I know how difficult it can be and time consuming as well from how expensive the jobs have run. You are a credit to the trade Pino.

BUT, Please get some nice English Gears on that bass. Nice modern ones. I think the Slones look better on more modern instruments. Older basses look much better with more traditional English style gears if you have to go new.

Eric Hochberg
02-26-2013, 10:20 AM
Thanks for sharing your meticulous work with us! Do you know how many hours you put into the restoration?

Pino Cazzaniga
02-26-2013, 07:58 PM
Ken, thank you so much for your consideration, this to me is important as you know how the work is.
About the wood, for what I can say is spruce, not larch or pine. The top is in three pieces, the outer ones with tighter grain then the center one, the winter lines well visible.
A dendrocronological research would be helpful, even if not definitive, but this depends on the owner, and as the bass is not on the market I guess I will have to wait some times for it.
Anyway, to give an attribution is always not easy, seem that any instrument with that shape or a similar one was labelled "Maggini" now or then.
What was amazing while working on this bass was the workmanship of the maker, for what was left after wears, alterations and bad repairs. If it was made in England I must admire the forger.
I have doubts about the head being original to the body, not only for the cleaner hand but also becouse it is so well preserved in comparison.
Anselm, the first impression was that it is easy to play, very good on the treble, sweet but not loud on the bass.
Also, there was a wolf tone on A, at the octave of the third string, not heavy.
I would like to hear it with solo strings, but flexocore orchestra are quite a standard here for a first set up for arco playing.
Eric, I did not count the hours, the bass was on a table in the workshop while I was doing my everyday work and I worked on it time by time. It was a presence.
Thanks all.

Ken Smith
02-26-2013, 11:05 PM
Pino, my Hart has a 4-piece top of Pine, possibly from America. Another English bass attributed to Dodd (or Craske) had a 3-piece Spruce top. So, many Italian-like features like multi-piece tops and Italian style scrolls are to be found on old English basses from that period.

Arnold Schnitzer
03-03-2013, 10:02 AM
Pino, outstanding restoration! One question; do you think the back bend is original? The extreme angle, as well as the high placement on the back are quite unusual; that, and the outline make me suspect England also. However, I have never encountered Cherry or Walnut in an English bass. And I agree with you that the scroll looks like it was made by a different person than the corpus.

Ken Smith
03-03-2013, 10:47 AM
Yes, I agree with Arnold on the wood being rare for an English maker but the Scroll is not in question here with the Origin. It is the Cherry on the Back and Ribs. Also, those corner blocks look small like I have seen on Italian basses, rarely on an English bass. Do you guys agree?

Also, basses usually travel in one direction from Italy to either England and stay there or to America from Italy or from England and sometimes found in other parts of Europe. I have not heard of many Italian basses finding their way back to Italy. The fact that the bass is in Italy puzzles me. Also, the deep ribs and the sharp high bend is quite exaggerated looking at it. I wonder now if this IS something Italian after all. Anything is possible. The English were the great copyists of their time and Brescian style basses were common with many makers like Lott, Kennedy, Fendt, Hart/& Valentine and Betts/& crew and more.

Ok, I got it now!! :rolleyes:

Pino, send ME the bass and I will solve the mystery. Free of charge! ;)

Brian Gencarelli
03-03-2013, 11:18 AM
Pino,

WOW! Great work and fabulous documentation! I have learned so much about this process from your careful work. I have two basses in my shop that require the same amounts of work, and while they are not as valuable, I will strive to reach this level of mastery! What inspiration!

Salut,
Brian

Pino Cazzaniga
03-04-2013, 07:17 AM
Brian,
Thank you so much, the approval of a fellow luthier is precious (and unusual). Have nice days with your works.

Arnold, Ken,
I think a bend of some kind was there since the beginning.
The ribs are deep and almost parallel till the bend, the use of a bend was well known since the early times, and it is more easy to me to think of a bend than of a long neck heel.

There is no evidence though, becouse the upper part of the body was modified, tightening the back and widening the top, so it is possible that somebody made the bend more angled, maybe for playability.

Other reasons to modify that part are possible though, for example to add a string to a three string instrument.
My preferred idea about it is that the upper block's sides were parallel, with the back as wide as the top and maybe longer.
No evidence, of course.

If this bass is English, it is a fake, not an "inspired to" copy.
As there was an interest, a fashion, in England about Brescian instruments, some makers did honourable copies, when they get inspiration from an old school to make their own, following their taste and musical needs. It is more than possible that someone did fakes too.

Talking of fakes, everything is possible, cherrywood, small corner blocks, multipieces upper and lower blocks, small C bouts, the "crest" on the upper part of the top,the endpin position and even some wears and damages.
On the other side, if it is Italian, there is no evidence that it come from the Maggini's workshop, or even from Brescia.

The Brescian school, for bowed instruments, lasted for more than a century,with many makers involved.
Gasparo's workshop, for example, had at least five apprentices, and probably more.
There was a wide movement, and I can't think that everything died with Maggini.
If somebody survived the pestilence, or some makers in other cities worked on brescian shaped instruments, their work was probably attributed to Maggini, later, for market issues.

This could be happened too to his contemporaries or to popular survives.
No evidence, of course.

I think that there is no way to give an attribution to these old instruments without a successful work on documents (Letters, invoices, anything) and scientific examinations.
An hard and difficult work, I think.

Ken, thank you for your kind offer, but this bass is not mine...
maybe the next...

Ken Smith
03-04-2013, 12:07 PM
Brian,
Thank you so much, the approval of a fellow luthier is precious (and unusual). Have nice days with your works.

Arnold, Ken,
I think a bend of some kind was there since the beginning.
The ribs are deep and almost parallel till the bend, the use of a bend was well known since the early times, and it is more easy to me to think of a bend than of a long neck heel.

There is no evidence though, becouse the upper part of the body was modified, tightening the back and widening the top, so it is possible that somebody made the bend more angled, maybe for playability.

Other reasons to modify that part are possible though, for example to add a string to a three string instrument.
My preferred idea about it is that the upper block's sides were parallel, with the back as wide as the top and maybe longer.
No evidence, of course.

If this bass is English, it is a fake, not an "inspired to" copy.
As there was an interest, a fashion, in England about Brescian instruments, some makers did honourable copies, when they get inspiration from an old school to make their own, following their taste and musical needs. It is more than possible that someone did fakes too.

Talking of fakes, everything is possible, cherrywood, small corner blocks, multipieces upper and lower blocks, small C bouts, the "crest" on the upper part of the top,the endpin position and even some wears and damages.
On the other side, if it is Italian, there is no evidence that it come from the Maggini's workshop, or even from Brescia.

The Brescian school, for bowed instruments, lasted for more than a century,with many makers involved.
Gasparo's workshop, for example, had at least five apprentices, and probably more.
There was a wide movement, and I can't think that everything died with Maggini.
If somebody survived the pestilence, or some makers in other cities worked on brescian shaped instruments, their work was probably attributed to Maggini, later, for market issues.

This could be happened too to his contemporaries or to popular survives.
No evidence, of course.

I think that there is no way to give an attribution to these old instruments without a successful work on documents (Letters, invoices, anything) and scientific examinations.
An hard and difficult work, I think.

Ken, thank you for your kind offer, but this bass is not mine...
maybe the next...

Ok, I wait for the next time, anxiously.. lol