Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Shaw
Get your point Ken. As for other basses used in the UK - Hawkes basses are certainly expensive now, but still not really regarded as suitable for the best professional sections. Hardly any German basses are played professionally in the UK but, of course, there are some amazing old Italian instruments in use. Then it comes back to who actually made these instruments. I was playing with a guy last year who had a beautiful old Italian bass. I asked him if he knew who made it to which he replied "No, but I'll make up a name if I ever sell it". I'm sure this is the case with most of the Italians! The number of "Amati" basses seems to increase daily.
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"Number of Amati's", lol. I think that when they made Cellos back then, it was referred to as the basses. We play the Double basses, Cellists play the regular basses. I have a Hart bass that looks like a Maggini somewhat. Thwaites has a bass they call 'the old lady' a beautiful old British London school bass that was called a Maggini for decades if not longer. Stuart Knussen, a former London principal player bought and played a Maggini for 30 years. When he went to sell it they told him it was a William Valentine (Hart) bass, much like my 'John Hart' Maggini 'model' according to his son Ken. So, I think we find more British Maggini's mistaken for Italians than we do Amati's.