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Old 06-09-2007, 02:55 PM
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David Powell David Powell is offline
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Join Date: 02-06-2007
Location: Atlanta
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My intent would be to use it as it was originally built, for either original music or Baroque performance. It's a reproduction violone in every way. About the only thing I would forgo would be the tied on frets. The price quoted was $12K, and some good private advice has been that this is probably excessive. I will try to get some photos, but that would of course be at the pleasure of the shop. I don't generally talk about local shops on forums, and this one has no web site indicating the owner either is not interested in the Internet or doesn't need it to stay in business, but I'm just about certain you would know the shop. It's in Decatur and the owner has been in the business since the mid 1940's. If you don't know of him, it is likely some on this forum have crossed paths with him. He has been dealing with the Wilfer family and the Pollmann shop for decades and probably sells more basses than any other shop in Atlanta.

I've been seeing this violone for years every time I go in there and it has more carving detail than any instrument I've seen. I don't think there is any hurry to do the purchase and I know this fellow could go to his grave with this thing sitting there as window dressing in his shop. In short, he doesn't need to sell it and I don't really need to buy it, but I'd like to. It just fits in with my appreciation of the unusual and impractical.

So I would just have some fun with it, probably play it at some art gallery performances and record with it and then pass it along to a university level music department at some point in the future. I don't think I could consider it business equipment. And I couldn't justify a conversion because I could just get a Pollmann DB if that's what I wanted it for.

So I'll get the photos if he'll let me do that. The only repairs it might need that I could see would be separation of the ribs and top plate for a couple of inches along the shoulders. It might not even have a bass bar. It has some surface dings and scratches, but I didn't see any cracks. I hope he'll let me do some photos and post them. It really is serious eye candy.
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