Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Glassman
Well, I don't know. The shape of the upper and lower bouts look completely different to me. Somehow the shape of your mystery bass reminded me of that Houska article on the Prokap bass. http://www.contrabass.co.uk/spring98.htm I know you don't think it is related to the Prokap bass, but something about the way the c bouts flow into the lower bouts seem more similar than this bass. I get a Bohemian vibe anyway.
BG |
Brian, I agree with you partially on that
Prokop Bass but that is the only Bohemian Bass I have ever seen with soft Gamba Corners. On the subject of 'Gamba', in the 19th century book by Sandy's & Forster(S.A., pupil of Gilkes) titled 'History of the Violin' there is a picture of an old English Viol d'Gamba with tons of inlay decorations etc and the exact soft Gamba corners as the Prokop Bass and this Bass of mine as well as far as the lower bout corner goes.
On the Gamba thing, my Bass has many scars from previous cross bars in the Back. Currently it has an X-Brace in 3 pieces with the lap-joint broken and not connected under the longer piece. It also has Scars from some standard type System and older Scars of Gamba type Bars with 2 or 3 below the center Bar and 2 or 3 more above it. This is typical for old English Gambas more so that any Flat back Bass I have ever seen. With the lower corner almost a Guitar and the Neck Block area Gamba construction as well, I can only guess that this was made by a Gamba maker rather than a Violin maker or one that did both. The fine grade of wood on the Top used is rarely seen on a Bass and especially on English Basses.
With a combination of English Gamba style making, English Sycamore wood, old English style Purfling on the Top and English Ink on the Back, one must conclude that this is none other than an *early English Bass (*pre-Panormo/Brescian influenced design). The Prokop Bass is a 'fluke' if you ask me and not typical at all of the Bohemian School. That Bass had 'Guitar' written all over it! George Chanot (worked in France and England) made some Guitar form Violins and some patents as well prior to that Prokop. Perhaps Chanot was the inspiration combined with Stauffer who was his teacher and a Guitar maker.
On the Pics above and the similarities I see it in the FFs a bit along with their low placement, the size which is very close to my Bass and the Back construction with the half-inlay rubbing down the center joint to used to aide in shrinkage and expansion as the Bass moves. My Bass measures slightly bigger but the size is along the same idea. That Bass by the way is by George Corsby, 1800 London from
Contrabass Shoppe. There is another older Corsby in the books from Northampton c'1770-1780 as G.Corsby appears in London from 1785. These two are speculated by some to be Brothers but no first name is known for the earlier maker who was known as a Bass maker. The London Corsby was a Bass and Violin maker as well as a Dealer. Becoming a dealer in London was the normal trait for makers in their later years when it was learned they could earn more money than by just making. Makers that turned to dealers include Dodd, Forster, Betts, Davis, Hart and Hill. Everyone mentioned was a maker first. I suspect that both Corsby's are possibly one and the same. While up in Northampton he made chiefly Basses and then moved to London making some more and then turned Dealer.
I have been told by many that my Bass is made in Northern England but I have yet to find a single maker with FFs like mine and the balanced Gamba Form as well. London Makers made this more balanced form than those in the northern areas and most of them date much later. The fact that my Bass has Yankee repairs from the mid 19th century indicates that it was an old Bass already by then. This Bass was used very little in the 20th century with some old C-extension scars as the only evidence. The Coal dust in the cracks indicates it was out of use for a very long time as well as the ribs peeling off the blocks. There were even patched floating around inside that just 'fell off' as the Bass was drying out.
I am not conclusive that Corsby (London or Northampton) is the maker but that London did have Gamba form Basses as well as the later makers up north including Tarr. Before Panormo and the Strad influence in London Stainer and makers of the Tirol were the biggest influence in London. This is why we see that Germanic flavor in many English Basses because that's what they had seen to go on. at the turn of the 19th Century we have Panormo who was big on Strad as well as Dragonetti with his d'Salo and at least one Maggini Bass floating around in town. I see Maggini as the main model that many used including Dodd, Lott, Fendt, Kennedy, *J.Hart and Wlm.Gilkes from 1800 -1840 (later Hart Basses were made by William Vallentine who became his son-in-law). Earlier London Basses included the Cello shape and some other ideas for a Gamba shape like those used by the Hills of the late 18th century. The more rounded Gamba design is mostly Germanic but the softer corners and the sloped shoulders are straight from the viol d'gamba form.
On my Bass it also has some old style French flavour in the upper back in both shape and bend style. The Back bends gently from the corner block to the neck block which is French in tradition. The Ribs are 8.5" from the lower block (endpin) to the upper bout corner and then tapers to 5.75" at the neck. The French and some English moved back and forth learning from and working with each other. That is fact and not speculation. Germany was also a big trade partner with England as well. Many visiting Orchestras and Musicians came to London as well as several from Italy. It is this 'visiting' factor from France, Germany and Italy that gave London its flavor more so than any Londoner traveling thru the continent which was not the case at all.
If you look closely at my Bass you will see French, Italian, Germanic and English flavors all rolled up in one Bass (the Yankee flavor being only later modifications and not in the making). You almost never see any English flavor in the other countries mentioned. Why is that? Because they had their own recipe and English was never a flavor in the continent with the exception of New England Yankee Basses which were a mix or English and German mainly. The English were mainly Copyists, period! Makers often copied Stainer and Amati in the same shop with the occasional Strad. The French thing is not that common with the exception of a few that may have worked there or with someone from France in the UK. This Bass is somewhat of a 'melting pot' example with the 'gamba flavor added both inside and out. When I showed the
C-bout corner blocks to Jeff Bollbach up at 'Biasie's, he mentioned he has seen this style only in old French and English Basses and furniture as well.
So, with that 'brief' explanation, how does London/Corsby style sit now in your mind?
