Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig Regan
Do they leave the little tag behind that says "Repaired by... Date...."?
For some reason, I find these labels fascinating; they are like little clues on the history of the instrument.
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You know, I'm not sure if Biase uses labels at all. I have never seen one. In 1973 Peter Eibert restored my old Italian Bass just after I got it. About 2 years later Biase popped off the top and trimmed away some of the excess wood from Eibert's repair and the Bass opened up quite a bit. That was the last repair while I owned Bass and then sold it a few years after I retired from playing.
Neither repair/restoration were marked with a Luthier's label. The only label that was ever in the bass while in my possession was the Giacomo Rivolta label which was printed but had some hand written stuff as well about his medals won and his revival of the School of Stradivari. All of this is known history but the Bass was dated 1822 on the label. I don't know if the silver and gold medals (argento in di quella d-oro/?sp) had been attained by that date.
Back to the English Gamba, this BIG Baby (or is it officially '
Big Ben' now?) doesn't have a single marking or Stamp anywhere inside or out, not even in pencil. English Basses often have external and/or internal stamps with the makers name. Some of them have internal pencil inscriptions from either the maker and/or past repairers. The English like to write. It looks like this Bass was repaired in New England in the mid 19th century. A 3-piece X-brace replaces the traditional cross bars as evident but the shadows of scars inside the Back. In the lower Bout we see the oldest scar in that area of twin rail cross bars. Two bars of about 1/2" wide each and less than an inch between them. This is 'olde' English Gamba construction. Viol d'Gamba, not Gamba cornered Basses I mean. This was a major find in the ID process as well as the age guesstimate. Also, the Top is purfled but the Back has a few signs or inked lines. This is also a feature of the Olde English. Most authorities place the Bass in the Northern part of England in the mid 19th century. This mainly because of its Gamba shape I believe. The FFs however and their placement is nothing Northern to my eye but rather a refined or modified Strad style 'F' shape but rather long like we see on Gagliano school Basses. Gagliano (Alassandro and possibly one of his brothers) reportedly worked in Cremona in both the shops of Nicolo Amati and Stradivari. Clearly an early Italian influence is here which started in London with makers as early as Peter Wamsley (c.1715-1751) who overlapped Strads period (Strad died in 1737). The English mainly copied Stainer then as well as the earlier Amati's, Andrea & sons. It would be almost 50 years before the Strad model took foot in London gradually replacing the Stainer and Amati stylings. With this knowledge and the evidence shown on the Bass we place the dates from 1775-1825. Biase thinks it is a very old Bass made way before the Tarr school of makers ever came to be. The only Basses I have seen that resemble it were attributed to George Corsby (with internal pencil inscription inside) and Joseph Hill which Biase also thinks it looks a bit Hill'ish especially in the FFs. I have seen at least one other English Gamba style Bass made slightly on the Germanic/Mittenwald pattern like the Neuner, Hornsteiner and Seitz models but that was a large 3/4 or 7/8ths size by the numbers. Another Corsby believed to be possibly the brother of George that dates a few years earlier than George in London is in Northampton. His dates are up until 1780 or so and then we see George from 1785 dated by his known works. They say in the scriptures that their work is similar but neither or their work is prolific. In the later years of George he becomes more of a dealer in London than a maker. A pattern we have seen with many English makers as it was a sign of the times and more profitable in that period as well. My theory on them drawn from the dates and opinions that the work is similar is this. George Corsby started in Northampton (known for mostly Basses and Cellos) and then moved to London. As a maker ages, so does his work mature, usually. At least we see evolvement in many makers especially in this time period where the Double Bass was just coming into its own in a big way. The c.1800 Corsby I have seen pictured is very similar to this Bass as are 3 Joseph Hill Basses (attributed or confirmed). The Hills look like earlier work and are dated so. The Corsby is a full sized Bass like this one. A sign to me possibly that this size was needed to fulfill a purpose, the new Symphony orchestra. Remember now, England up until 1800 mainly preferred chamber music over the new Orchestra music coming about and seen by visiting Orchestras from Germany. The English making mainly 3-string Basses while the visiting Germans played 4-string Basses. The big flourish in Double Basses I believe came about with the model of Panormo which were more or less full sized Basses and the great Dragonetti who brought his d'Salo to London. The London Gamba model Basses as well as the Cello models made earlier would soon vanish from the work bench. The long forgotten Gamba 4/4 models are sadly overlooked now. With playing styles being as advanced as they are today, these bigger Gambas are in need of modifications to suit todays playing technique. Block cuts are quiet common these days to shorten the playing length we need. I know a Hill in London was recently shortened as well as my big Gamba Bass. A 4/4 Panormo school Bass was recently modified with a block cut as well.
I have to say this though. Time aside, Biase has payed special attention to the playability and originality of this Bass. I am sure any of the other good Bass Luthiers out there today could have done this as well but credit is due no less to a Luthier that very few of us know.
When I get the Bass and start breaking it in, I will report back on the playability as well as the sound. The new grafted Neck was moved out quite a bit and the pitch is modest rather than extreme. The Bridge height is about 7" but moved up about an inch with the bottom edge of the bridge feet parallel to the upper cut of the F-notches. If the bridge were lower, it would need to be even higher. Let's just wait and see how she plays an sounds.
