I am starting this thread to bring to light the subject of the Gamba shaped Italian Bass. Not the more famous Violin models or the Cornerless Guitar models but the Gamba models that are often overlooked as even being Italian.
Many of the Gamba model Italian Basses I have seen are from the Neapolitan School of makers. These include several Basses attributed to the various members of the Gagliano family, Ventapane, Fabricatore, Desiato, Tarantino and Loveri. Most of these are Gagliano School followers as well. Alessandro Gagliano is also the father or the Neapolitan School of makers.
From other Italian Schools and individuals there are Gamba Basses from Grancino, Rastelli, Postacchini, Sgarbi, Albani, Cavani, Caspani, Tecchler, Platner, Pedrazzini, Antoniazzi, Monzino, Ferrarotti, Santagiuliana, Botti, Valenzano and many others.
One interesting Bass of note was owned by Jazz legend Percy Heath. The first time I saw that Bass was around 1969 or so in a Shop when I was just a teenager and was told that's a Landolfi, Percy Heath's Bass. Years later I hear from another Bassist that the same Bass is thought to be a Testore. Most recently, the Bass has been attributed to Ruggeri.
I have seen many other Basses from the Italian School that were Gamba shaped and more often than not, without an accurate attribution. How accurate are the ones listed above that I have seen either in person or on the web? Who knows! Some are what they claim to be and some are attributed I am sure. One thing though is for certain, the Italians made many Basses of the Gamba form. The Italian Bass identity so often associated with the Violin cornered Model is not the only identity this country has to offer. Some of the names I have listed above are 200-300 years old while others barely a century old. This proves that the Gamba shape is one used for centuries by many Italian makers and for some, almost exclusively.
I have shown pics side by side of the Homer Mensch Attr.
Gagliano and my
Carlo Loveri before and here they are again below. Shown first is another old Neapolitan Bass that I once owned bearing a handwritten label of what seems to be a fictitious name,
Raeffael Guadininni.
The most common stigma I see with a Gamba Italian Bass when trying to ID it is dealers quickly calling it German, Bohemian or Czech Bass not to mention Hungarian, English or even French.
What we should do here is open our eyes and look out for these '
Black Sheep' Double Basses from Italy that have been overshadowed for centuries by the more stylistic Violin cornered models.
If you know of any other Gamba Italian Basses, have one yourself, seen one on line or even have related stories of interest, then please post it here and show us some pictures or even web links if possible.