A few years ago I was lucky enough to acquire a beautiful
Bultitude Bow. Within a few months I was at Arnold's shop picking up my
Prescott Bass (former) that was just restored. Another Classical bassist was there testing out his newly completed Schnitzer handmade Bass. I had also brought up my
Dodd Bass (former) for a few adjustments. As I was pulling out my Bow case before uncovering the Dodd Arnold asks me what Bows did I bring and I told him it was my Bultitude and Lipkins. Arnold asked if his customer could try his new Bass with my Bultitude. I agreed and that was the last time I ever saw it because I agreed to sell him the Bow after less than an hour of trial. It was never my intention to sell my favorite Bow but it was one of many good Bows I had in my collection.
A few months later I find
another Bultitude for sale and I jumped on the chance to see it and made the purchase decision within minutes of playing it. A few months later I was up at Arnold's showing him my newly acquired Storioni to get a restoration consultation. Another Classical bassist was there for some Bass related business who was also a good friend of Arnold's. He was trying my Bass out with the Bultitude and seemed to enjoy playing both of them. A few days later Arnold calls me and says his friend must have that Bow, must! I agreed once again to be the nice guy and let a working professional buy it to improve and further enjoy his art. That's the 2nd time I was 'ambushed' with my favorite bow in hand..lol
A few weeks ago I went to pick up my
Candi Bass that was just restored. I asked Arnold for a Bow to try it out and he says "Where's your Bow?". I answered, "Home safe and away from you and your customers"..lol
Well, a few weeks ago I heard about yet a
3rd Bultitude Bow available for sale and pursued it. I open the Bow case and my eyes Pop!.. I have seen 4 Bultitude Bass Bows, 2 of them were mine and all of them looked within 80-90% the same as far as the Model, Tip, Frog and Stick. This latest Bultitude looked nothing like the others I had seen with the exception of the wood and the sound. Yes, it had a familiar dark smooth sound when drawn across the String. This Bow however had a longer slightly thicker Stick, thinner Head, thinner Frog, lower Frog and a completely unmatched Screw.
Well, I thought to myself "is this really a Bultitude?" I took some pics and made up a hidden link (shown above now) and emailed it to a few people in USA and several in London. All but 2 of the people I contacted replied but in one case, I got a 'double' reply. One of the people I sent the pics to not only gave me his knowledgeable opinion but went one step further and contacted a living Bow maker that actually knew Bultitude and knew him well, personally and professionally. He pasted the other opinion in with his Email and that made my day, big time. I am referring to Anthony Houska of the Contrabass Shoppe in London and Bow maker Brian Tunnicliffe who knew Bultitude before he passed and provided me with just the information I was looking for.
Why am I posting all this you might be asking? Well, even for me it was an interesting week as far as trying to ID an old and rare Bow. The links posted here are to give some mental relief for all the various Bass and Bow names mentioned.
Here's what we have. My opinion was just about correct but I was only guessing. I needed some confirmation to be sure. One authority here and in the UK both implied it is probably not a Bultitude. Another believed the Stick was probably good but the Frog is possibly not with the Screw definitely German and replaced.
The Bow Stick and Frog are actually both Bultitude. The Screw was replaced in the past and lost by now as it came to USA 10-15 years ago as it looks now. Bultitude worked for the Hill Bow shop for about 40 years and then retired from Hill in 1961 to make a few Bows for musicians at his new home-shop. He had planned on working for about 10 more years but put in over 20 years making over 2,000 completely handmade Bows. Only a few of these were Double Bass Bows. The other two that I had were the first few he had made with his brand and it is reported that at Hill, he never made a Bass Bow. This latest Bow was most likely one of the last Bows he ever made. The workmanship looks to be that of an old man with poor eyesight and less hand control than the master we knew him to be. Tunnicliffe mention that Bultitude told him near the end of his bow making career, and I paraphrase "I want to give those so called experts out there something to think about". That is 100% evident here with this Bow as besides it being so different in the fittings, model and workmanship, it does not have the number stamped under the Frog that just about every Bultitude Bow has. Maybe, it is under the grip/lapping which I will remove before sending it up to Sue Lipkins to restore. Maybe, he just left it off to add to the mystery.
One thing is for certain in my mind. When I play a note with it, it brings back old but brief memories from the short time I owned and played the last 2 Bultitude's I had.
I spoke with Arnold today and told him I found #3. I then told him he would never ever see it
because each time I show him my favorite Bow, someone convinces me to sell it.
