What I would like to see is some detailed restorations of old Basses with 'before', 'during' and 'after' pics. To kick it off, I will show you a beautiful old English Bass I have that many of you have already seen but many have not. Please excuse all the copy as this is straight from my website.
The Bass featured is a rare English Bass from the great Samuel Gilkes who's legacy as a Violin/Cello maker spawned out of the 18th century and helped shape the 19th century thru his pupils. I know this sounds a bit far fetched but if if I could draw a family tree it would amaze just about any reader. In brief, he trained and worked first with Charles Harris Sr. and then worked with William Forster III. His co-workers and apprentices include Chas. Harris II, W. Forster IV, Simon Andrew Forster, John Thomas Hart, James Gibbs and his son William Gilkes. W.E. Hill later apprenticed for a short while with Harris II who worked with J.Hart a few years after the sudden death of Samuel Gilkes (1787-1827).
Ok, here are the web pages of the
Before (w/restoration pics) and
After pics and description including as much history I could gather. Feel free to re-post any of the pics here for discussion using the [img]url[/img] format before and after the url. If you need any help, just ask.
Questions, comments and discussions are welcomed and encouraged. Please, if you have a similar story/saga to 'show and tell', by all means please do! It doesn't have to be a 200 year old Classic. Any restoration at all will be welcomed as long as it shows some details from start to finish for study and discussion purposes.