ISB @ Penn State..
 

Who here is going to the ISB this June? I have never been to one and am thinking of going. I don't have a booth but might get a table unless they are sold out. In that case I will be allowed only 3 Basses.

I was thinking the best 3 to bring would be the Hart, Martini and Candi. The big Gamba is not as something for everyone size-wise and I am still working on the neck heel and depth myself. It also needs an Extension so regardless, I don't think it will be ready for June.

So, who is going and.. if I go and have a table, which 3 of my Basses should I bring? Batchelder maybe and drop the Martini? (Hart, Candi, Batchelder?)

Batchelder
 

Hart, Candi, and Batchelder. That's a fine trio for diversity.

I would love to go. I just don't have my wife talked into letting me take off.....yet:cool:

Takes years! I won't be going either.

I should be there (I hope) with Don Gorman and my bass.

if your goal is to sell a bass:

i would bring the batchelder, because it´s imho a bass that will not sell very easy if the potential buyers have no first hand experience with it.
what i want to say is (please excuse my bad english): when i played the bass i was very surprised from it´s qualities (sound and playabilitywise) which i did not expect knowing it only from pictures before.

the more people actually play it, the more is the possibility that it finds a buyer

your other basses will sell by itself.

(all this said in consideration that the batchelder is the only bass from you that i played...)

I would drop the Candi, with all do respect. You would have 3 levels of instruments Batchelder, Martini, & Hart. Good, Amazing, & One of the finest English instruments on the market. All jokes aside, I think if you brought those 3 instruments it would show a nice selection of instruments in terms of price and quality.

I'm considering going as well. The convention hasn't been this close to the NY/NJ area in a long while. however, June is never a great month to sneak away from gigs and not to mention the wife & kids.

Ken, what about the Gilkes?

Gilkes?
 

The Gilkes is not available at the moment. That's all I can say for now.

On the dropping the Candi theory, I would suggest you come over and play the Candi next to the Martini and then tell me if you still feel the same. If I could bring 6 Basses, I would bring them all. For now, I don't even have a table purchased to display them nor am I even registered. Also, my car might not fit 3 Basses in it. So, let's see what happens over the next few days as far as the arrangements for my possible attendance.

Ok..
 

We are in..:D:D:D ( I think.:confused:. lol).

Since the regular rooms and tables were sold out, the ISB was able to get a classroom or two by the stage where the performances are being held in the next building or the music school.

I will have several fine basses in various ranges as well as my Bow collection. I will also bring my Stock of KSB Bows and sell them at a special price right off the show floor.

I might have a few other goodies as well but I am just now filling out the forms and starting to make my plans for travel and set-up.

Requests?

Questions?

PS..
 

Members, those of you that also post on TalkBass if you can, please mention to the members there that I will be there with a good selection of Basses and Bows from my collection. :cool:

I will not be bringing any of the student grade basses there as I am sure there will be plenty of the Chinese grade stuff already. :eek:

I am bringing my available restored Italian and English Basses and the Batchelder. :)

If a bass I have is in repair or waiting to go into repair/restoration, then I will leave that home. :o

I do not want to show any 'as-is' Basses, just the ones ready to fly.;)

ok..
 

I just booked my Hotel for the week so it looks like I will be there from the beginning till the end.

As far as the Forum here goes, I will not be bringing a computer with me so the world will just have to wait until I return. Play nice while I am away..;)

good luck!
i will keep an eye on richard :)

An eye.....
 

I'll keep an eye on Anselm :)

ISB Booth # info..
 

We will be in Room 117, near the Esber Recital Hall in the School of Music Building, sharing the large Room 117 with one, perhaps two other vendors.

This is not where most of the other exhibits are but it's near the Recital Stage area in an adjacent building. Maybe we will be able to use the Stage to demo Basses, who knows?

The line-up at this time is;
Samuel Gilkes, London 1814
John Thomas Hart, London c.1830
Attr. English Gamba, c.1780
Oreste Martini, Mantova 1919
Oreste Candi, Genoa 1936
Peter Hamilton-Box, Kent 2008

We will also show a collection of fine French model Bass bows as well as our affordable KSB Bows in French (stamped C.Loveri) and German (stamped B.Fendt).

Bows at the ISB..
 

I started this Thread about coming to the ISB a few weeks back but since then something has happened on the Bow end of things.

I advertised that I will have Bows by Sue Lipkins as well as others but the two Lipkins Bows I had have since been sold. On the Lipkins make, to ease any sorrow about not having them I will bring my Lipkins Sartory model so at least I have one to show.

Also, about a week ago I get a call from a dealer friend of mine who mentioned he couldn't make the Show and asked if I could use some extra Bows at the Booth to show? I said maybe, what kind of Bows? he replied, Bazin, Fetique, Pfretzschner etc.. My eyes lit up.

Today I received two boxes with a total of 17 Bows in them. I have a Lotte and Ouchard in the pack as well as several beautiful high end German Bows. One is a gold mounted Snakewood Bow by Jan Krusig? Don't know him but the bow is beautiful with the screw in Snakewood to match. In total I recieved 9 French Bows and 7 German Bows. The lowest priced bow in the pack is an English maker who went to study in Italy and made this Bow in Verona, priced to move at only $2400. The only living maker in the French bows is G.Lucchi. All the rest are oldies..

I also have two beautiful bows in German style stamped G.Werner. Anyone know who or what that is?

Anyway, I will have these plus a bunch of my own collection as well as all of the KSB Bows I have in stock in the higher grade French and German models so if you are Bow shopping, come by and see me before you make any decisions about a new Bow.

All in all, I have Bows from $120 (low end German) on up to $11k in classic pedigree French.

I found a New Zealand site selling a "Dörfler, stamped G. Werner" for NZ$730. Eventually I found http://www.vivaceviolin.com/pp/Bows/.../VlnBw406.html which seems to further indicate that G. Werner is student grade bows made by Dörfler. On their website, I found no information on the stamping of their beginner/student level models, though...:confused:
G. Werner bows seems to sell for USD150-500.

On Krusig I have nothing. Can't find anything online, no matter which of the German words for bow or bow maker I use in association with his name.

Ken, good luck.
Just a little thing though, I noticed you've been doing a little bit of episodic posting on this thread. Please keep multiple posting for the bull pit, where it belongs.
Oh, and I'll keep an eye on Tim while you're away.

Where? Down here (NZ)? What city?

well..
 

I found a few websites that sell them but also list them in more than one level of Quality and price. All have been French that I have found. These are fairly high quality German made German Bows, from what I can see. Still, the prices the dealer set for them are probably what they sell for retail in NYC. At an international show, these two Bows may or may not be competitively priced. Still, I have a good bunch of great and classic bows besides these. I was just curious what was known about them out here because I had never heard of them before.

epi-what??
 

Lol.. Richard, what am I to do with you??:confused:

Are you asking some guy called 'you you'? Sounds like someone out of The Mikado.

Ken, what basses will you be displaying?

My Display..
 

Arnold, I posted this a short time ago, post #15;
As of now, I still plan on bringing the same 6 Basses. What are you bringing?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2446/...05c8d5e4_d.jpg

Here is a picture of Ken and his basses at the 2009 ISB.

Play it Ken.....
 

Very cool pic! :)

Who is the guy standing next to Ken? Did Ken give him a turn?

lol..
 

Give a turn? Of course. I only played the bass for the picture. Most of the time I just watch them play and answer questions about the basses. That is the Martini by the way that I was playing in the picture.;)

Ken @ ISB convention, photo II
 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3636/...1ca861b0_d.jpg

Another photo from the Convention.

Great pic!
 

Great pic!

Yes, great picture.
Is the G string set at 5mm?

5?
 

If that's the Martini, I will measure it. Probably closer to 4mm under the 'G'. That bass plays like a dream..

Stefano Sciascia played the Martini today as well as most of my other basses and asked if I play it a lot as he commented that it was more 'open' than the Gilkes or Hart. I told him it is one of my favorite basses to play. He also liked the Candi as well. What a player he is or rather I should say, what a musician. Also, he is one of the nicest people I have ever met. At the same time I had the world famous Italian Luthier Sergio Scaramelli there also playing the Basses.

Great to hear you're having so much fun, my friend. May it continue!

ok..
 

I am back home, finally. This was a long week. I packed up basses on Thursday and Friday, loaded the van on Saturday and drove up Sunday. I set up Sunday and Monday and the exhibits that were supposed to start on Tuesday started on Monday for us. Why? because our room was in the Music building where the Solo competition was being held. As people emptied out from the theater, they wandered into my room. I was also sharing the room with Bow dealer Chris Brown who is also a top notch bassist. He is the Principal with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and formerly played with both the Pittsburgh and Detroit Symphonies.

So, what does one do working all week long with a bassist of that caliber? Ask for a Lesson, of course.. I also got a lesson with another bassist that I have known for years (Doug Mapp) but didn't know he was as good as he is. he is currently the Principal of the Reading symphony and has subbed and toured with the Philly Orch as well. I knew he played in the Reading but never knew about the Philly job.

Now I have some work to do. Besides the two semi-formal lessing in which I played a bit and then took comments and correction as well as what to do to work on things to fix the problems, I was able to watch up close and personal some of the best players in the world play my collection of basses.

Example.. Just before dinner last night, Arnold Schnitzer (a bassist too.. don't kid yourself), my friend Kevin (a Philly pro and teacher at UArts) and myself were playing a Bass trio jazz tune. Paul Ellison walks but and hangs out to listen. Then as I am about to take a solo, John Clayton walks by and I call out, "John, come help me with this. I don't know the tune".:eek:. (joking slightly). He takes "Big Ben" from my hands (Arnold with the Martini and Kevin with the Candi) and starts playing some chords. Then Arnold hands me the Martini and I bow the bottom till we finished... Just another day at the office.. lol;)

There were so many top players there I felt like I was a beginner. Leon Bosch came by several times each day and played my basses. He is so so good I can't begin to tell you. I don't think I can play as good as him if I live another 200 years..

Folks, JOIN the ISB and ask for a copy of the Program of this last show that ended today. You will not believe how many great and famous players where there. The Basses on exhibit were just a drop in the bucket as compared to the music played and the people there.

I met Linda McKnight while finishing up dinner and than sat next to Bert Turetsky while watching Ron Carter in concert.. Just a small sample of an evening at the ISB.. Oh, and I walked from dinner to the concert with Stefano Sciascia as we just happen to be walking out of the same restaurant.

4mm..
 

Ok, confirmed, 4mm but it may have risen a little since in the heat and humidity. I will leave it as it is for now because the Martini is the Bass I practice on and play the most. 5mm is about the highest I play it at under the G. The heights increase about a millimeter or so per string down to the E in case you were wondering.

Thanks Ken, and I'm glad you had such a good time at the ISB.

Yeah, first I was attempting to bow the melody to "My Romance". I look up and Paul Ellison is standing next to me. I exclaim, "Paul, I don't really do this!" (play the bass). Then the three of us are playing a fast blues, and I open my eyes because I notice the guy next to me is SMOKIN! And it's John Clayton! Holy crap!!! What key were we in? Only at the ISB...

Here's my John Clayton story. I hope he reads this.

It's 1976 or 77. I just finished a week at Blues Alley in D.C. with Gap Mangione (Chuck's older brother). We have a night off before we fly to Seattle for our next engagement. I go into the club to try and hit on Susan, a gorgeous air-head of a waitress. The band starts up. Monty Alexander with Jeff Hamilton and John Clayton. I stop my flirtation in mid-sentence as my jaw will not rise from the floor. My goodness, it sounds like Ray Brown on the bottom end, but with something else, a slightly different bounce to the notes, a little more aggressive feel. Then he takes a solo! I left my place at the bar and went to hang by the bandstand. After a couple tunes, I started drinking. A lot. "I'm finding another line of work", I told myself. In the end I did find another line of work, and that's going just fine.

John, you are a mother$^%^$ of a musician and a wonderful guy to boot. It was a thrill to hear you in 76/77 and to play a few choruses with you in 2009.

Wow..
 

Wow, too cool! :)

Speaking of "too cool"....
 

Speaking of "too cool" and "wow"....if you haven't seen or heard this; check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&h...&v=7vfHTn_4SFw

Ken or Arnold...
 

Ken or Arnold, what do you know about the DB John is playing in this clip (....in addition to the fantastic sound he projects)?