Hillman from Switzerland
I came across a bass built by a fellow named Hillman when I visited a principal player in one of the orchestras here. At first, it seemed to have a very nondescript appearance. No purfling, no fancy varnish, just plain. But when it was played, it was up to a standard that I've only heard from maybe a Krattenmacher among modern instruments. And on a closer inspection, it became obvious that it was indeed nothng left to chance. The owner told me that Hillman refuses to use ANY electric tools during any part of the process of making a bass, and thus he only makes about one instrument a year. He only makes basses, apart from a cello (which was commissioned by a bass player). The absence of purfling was because he meant that it in practicality makes the top and back smaller, and if that is the case, it only hampers an instrument that is already too small. I think that one's up to discussion, but it's and interesting point, and apparently it's not just the guy beng lazy. The basses are built way up in the mountains, and I think he actually has some dehydration device in his workshop, to keep the wood as dry as possible. And this specimen - from 1997 - hadn't ever had a crack.
I'll try to get some pictures of it someday as well. There is one more - a fiver - in the Winterthur orchestra. It seems like he's going to keep the slow but steady pace, so I guess he'll never get the spread that Pöllmann or even Krattenmacher have - especially as he shuns competitions, as well as any detail that is pleasant for the eye but matters not for the sound - but these are excellent basses, and will become highly priced as time passes by.
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