English 'Class'..

[Ken Smith]

This is not about the 'Class' you took in School..lol

The other day I brought my two prime English Basses to Arnold's for some clients that were coming by to look at along with some other Basses he had in the shop.

The first Bass I played after walking in was a Panormo (or Panormo school/shop Bass). Then I played a beautiful B.S. Fendt and finally I played the Gilkes and Hart that I had brought over for comparison to see how my two Basses stacked up.

Now, this is a group of Basses that have never been in the same room with each other aside from the Hart and Gilkes that usually sit side by side in my shop. Also, they were all made in London within a few decades of each other (est. 1800-1840).

The Panormo was a FULL sized Bass with a sound to match. The Fendt was sweet and classy. It was the 3rd and best Fendt I've played. The Gilkes seemed to put out the most amount of sound but being more of a Strad Cello model rather than some form of a Maggini Bass which the other 3 are, it had a different type of tone entirely. The Hart sounded like the 'Grandfather' of the group. The Panormo is in need of some repairs so it was probably not sounding all that it could but was still impressive regardless.

This was the first time I ever had the pleasure of playing 4 'fit-for-a-King' English Basses at one time. Something I just felt compelled to mention here.

[Phil Maneri]

This is not about the 'Class' you took in School..lol

The other day I brought my two prime English Basses to Arnold's for some clients that were coming by to look at along with some other Basses he had in the shop.

The first Bass I played after walking in was a Panormo (or Panormo school/shop Bass). Then I played a beautiful B.S. Fendt and finally I played the Gilkes and Hart that I had brought over for comparison to see how my two Basses stacked up.

Now, this is a group of Basses that have never been in the same room with each other aside from the Hart and Gilkes that usually sit side by side in my shop. Also, they were all made in London within a few decades of each other (est. 1800-1840).

The Panormo was a FULL sized Bass with a sound to match. The Fendt was sweet and classy. It was the 3rd and best Fendt I've played. The Gilkes seemed to put out the most amount of sound but being more of a Strad Cello model rather than some form of a Maggini Bass which the other 3 are, it had a different type of tone entirely. The Hart sounded like the 'Grandfather' of the group. The Panormo is in need of some repairs so it was probably not sounding all that it could but was still impressive regardless.

This was the first time I ever had the pleasure of playing 4 'fit-for-a-King' English Basses at one time. Something I just felt compelled to mention here.
Whats the story on the Fendt? I don't remember a Fendt at AES or hearing anything about that. It's not like you see one just laying around everywhere. I played one at Kolstiens. It was majestic.

[Ken Smith]

Whats the story on the Fendt? I don't remember a Fendt at AES or hearing anything about that. It's not like you see one just laying around everywhere. I played one at Kolstein's. It was majestic.

It just arrived a few days earlier. It is a different model than the Kolstein which as for his, I am not sure if it's a labeled or an attributed Bass. The one at Arnold's is fresh in from a recently retired Symphony player and is the d'Salo/Maggini model, the works! I have seen several of these pictured but never played one.

I played only a few notes on the one at Kolstein and it was nice, reminded me of my Gilkes in a way. This one I felt was better than the one at Kolstein's. Also, there is no mistake about what this one is. It's the real McCoy.