Thread: Xavier Jaquet ?
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Old 03-09-2009, 09:24 AM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisTurner View Post
Thanks for the swift reply sheds abit more light on it. Just wish i could know everything. I always imagine some old guy working away in his shop lol.

With regards to the photos i had trouble because they were quite high resolution and im not really sure how to bring them down. Any ideas?

All i have been told in the past with regards to date is that it points to mid - late 19th century. In your mind what characteristic gives it that indication ?

It would be wonderful to know who carved the 1940 in it at some point and why as that is during parts of 2nd world war.... where was it etc etc lol stuff i will never know.

Cheers once again great forum you have here much better than anything else out there.
For Pics, read my son Mike's post here!

On your Bass dates, I am just comparing it to others I have seen and that is quite a bit of them. Most of then attributed to one of the Jacquet's, some to Barbe and some to Claudot.

I have played many French basses and owned 2 nice ones myself. One was attributed to Gustave Bernardel and the other to Barbe. The 7/8ths Violin-Cello model Bernadel was quite typical but the big Gamba 7/8ths Barbe could have been something else. We will never know as we were not there to watch them being made. That's the only 'real' way to know. Seeing IS believing. A Brand on a Bass does NOT mean that is the actual maker. It just means it's their Brand and selling AS.

Shop basses in Germany from the Wilfers and others labeled in this country as Juzek, Pfretzschner, Morelli and others are just that, Brands that were imported by Marketers. This manufacturing style was not limited to Germany. This I think is the reason we see so many French Basses that look alike. Oh, did I mention Lamy? That was another big shop that exported many Basses in both Violin and Gamba shape. In the turn of the 19th-20th century USA catalog from the importer, the 4-string model was an additional $6. That's SIX U$D extra. The 3-string was basic model offered and some French shops offered basses in 3, 4, or 5-string. Would you like 'Fries' with that?

From 20 feet away (maybe even closer), a Lamy, Jacquet, Barbe or Claudot Gamba model basses can all fit in the same mold. What does that mean?
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