Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric Swanson
What a lovely instrument! That design at the heel reminds me of pictures of the solar system. How many circles are in that oval? Are they in any sort of pattern?
Thanks for sharing this bass, Ken...
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Which Bass? I think David was referring to
this bass which was always called
the Mystery Bass originally. The Circles I think you are referring to is
the Hart, which started as a mystery of some sort being originally purchased as a Fendt.
This one you mean?
By the way, the Hart is the main bass I play and the
Lipkins-Sartory is its mate!
If this is the 'circle' thing you are referring to I can explain about the circles. The bass had a
hole filled with dried red wax about 1" in diameter. At first I thought it was from a previous neck repair but when the back came off there was no hole on the inside. After the bass came back from restoration I received an email from England about a bass that was a twin to mine that was played for 30 years in a London Symphony but it wasn't my bass. This one had the empty hole as well. To top that off, he knew of 2 others that were the same as well BUT had inlaid emblems in the hold still intact. One was an ebony crucifix and the other a Madonna with a child. These 4 were made with that purfled design around the open circle with a wax head seal in the middle. I had a simple coin made as shown but by the time the hole was fully clean and round it was a little bigger. Jed Kriegel who was Arnold's assistant at the time made an Ebony disc and inlaid the coin in the ebony and the pair in the bass.