Just in..
I just got in a beautiful Hawkes Bass. I have played several over the years but this one ranks with the best of them. I gave it from a basic set-up re-cutting the Bridge top and re-slotting the Nut as well as changing the strings.
The Bass has a recent Neck graft but looks to be more of a European type set up with the Neck being thicker and the Fingerboard thinner. The Fingerboard is new with the graft but shaved down quite a bit for that old school gut string set-up. For now I will leave it as-is but if down the road it gets a C-Extension, I will have the Neck re-done as well as a new thicker Fingerboard as well.
This one I believe is an early 'Hawkes & Son' Concert model but has a few things that puzzle me. The Bass seems to be German with slightly narrow outer linings/mouldings but the inner Linings inside are easily an inch wide like we see on French basses but not quite as thick. The Corner Blocks are well scalloped between the corners and the bottom block is quite narrow. With the Ribs being nearly 9" deep the bottom block looks even smaller in its width by comparison.
This Bass (from looking in the pegbox) was made as a 3-string as the old middle hole plug is visible. The conversion must have been done not long after the Bass was made as it has 3 of the original gears but all 4 worms and handles match, just one slightly different Gear. The Gear Plates are the 4-string ones but evidence of 3-string Plates are under these. The Gears now are where my head spins a bit. Most of the Hawkes imports have French Gears. This is on all of the German made models as well as the French 'F' models. The English made 'H' model always has English Baker Gears. This is the Pamormo pattern I am talking about and not the Jacquet Vuillaume model made earlier by Riviere & Hawkes in the 1880s. The Gears themselves look French. The buttons/handles look like English Bakers and the Worms of the Gears are in between Bakers and French Mirecourt Gears. The Gears are also pinned in the back of the Peg Box like some French Basses are done. To date, I have never seen this on German or English Basses.
The wood looks to be German and of high quality with nice flame in the Back and Ribs but the Back flame is much more visible in the raw looking inside the Bass. The Top is nice even gran Spruce with a big of 'bear claw' in it here and there. The Varnish however seems to have faded in hue over time which is something I have seen on a few French Basses, mainly on red varnished instruments fading to an olive brown. This one shows only some fading in areas.
The number that was stamped in the pegbox before getting destroyed in the graft process dates it back to around 1895 or so from what we could find. If anyone has a dating system for the Hawkes Basses or dates and numbers of particular Basses, please share it with us here.
I will have some pics available in the future because my son Mike who does all of new the web pages is away at College and has very little free time when he does come and visit on the occasional weekend.
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