Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart Riley
I met Elgar in 1987. A friend of mine had written to him in the 80s and bought one of the Busans in the book, on p52/53. Elgar dabbled with repairs, and he felt there was a problem with the varnish, so he stripped it and put some plane clear varnish on the bass, which is why it looks so light in the photos. Real shame, but it plays great. The stories going round the UK are that he was an enthusiast who went round the orchestras looking at basses, taking shots and asking the players what it was, which he published. So its not surprising there are lots of errors. At the time the books were out of print, so I wrote to him asking if he had any, and any basses left, as I had heard that he owned quite a few basses in the books and was selling them off as his pension. I went to see the Baker - it had worm in the blocks and he had taken the back off, chopped off all 4 corners and crudely put in some wood that looke like his dining room table. when I tried it the varnish was still wet and it stuck to my leg!! He was a wily old fox who insisted the full amount was paid before the bass crossed the threashold. I should have bought it, but felt it was too much of a risk. So I asked if he had anothers. The two I remember were a small chamber/solo bass and the Tarr on p178-180. I bought the Tarr in 1989, and there are shot of me playing it at www.stuartriley.info. I have just sold it after 22 years. |
Stuart, this is great information to hear from someone with first hand knowledge about Elgar. That Baker came to the states a few years ago and the worms were in the wood as well from what I had heard. Maybe all dead but the damage was done. The Bass came from a shop in Europe to a shop in NYC to sell and I think it fetched about $145k/dollars. I missed seeing it at the two shops that it passed thru, the sellers and one where it was brought for an opinion which the potential buyer returned after getting the opinion. The shop owner saw all the worm damage and said something like "take it outside. I don't want that wormed bass in the shop" as if the worms were there ready to attack the other basses in the shop. Probably just a precaution. One thing everyone agreed on was the sound. It was a huge, thunderous floor shaking bass. I hope one day to see it in person.