[Ken Smith]

Looking at these Basses once again and other Gamba style French Basses from 1800-1900, they look nearly the same to the naked eye regardless of the makers be it Pilliment, Gand, Bernardel, Jacquet, Derazey, Barbe and a few others I can't recall at the moment. Only close personal inspection inside and out would be a firm attribution if that. Remember that in France they had Guilds that had separate skills like Carving (Scrolls), Violin making (basic carcase/body) and finishing (varnish). Also, some firms did not make Basses at all but rather bought them from Bass specialists and placed their label inside if labeled at all. That's why the Scrolls and Varnishes look so alike within each period of instrument not to mention the basic outline.

Although I did mention that the Bernardel Basses pictured within look like Jacquet type Basses, it may very well be that the differences from makers or brands can only be seen by close inspection or internal viewing of the interior work that was done by the makers or firms and not by the outside Guilds.

This of course is just my opinion on this from what I have seen, read and heard. To date I have owned only two French Basses and that was back in the early-mid 1970s. One was called a Gustave Bernadel and the other attributed (and never disputed) to Barbe. The Barbe a large Gamba Flatback of fairly plain wood and the Bernardel a Violin-Cello outline with a Carved Roundback in highly figured maple. Neither of these Basses had labels but both were bought and sold as named!