Quote:
Originally Posted by Abe Gumroyan
Ken or any of the other gentleman,
How many corner-less double basses have you seen in your careers? I've only seen two. One being Fernando Grillo's instrument at a lesson in Italy and the second being my colleague Matt Hare's italian bass (maker unknown). Is Grillo's bass authenticated as Rogeri or is it attributed ? That Storioni looks and probably sounds like a tank  ... Ken are you doing anything about the long string length as far as shortening it. |
Ok. How many have I seen in person or how many have I played?
Played my attr. Storioni and another Bass I have in restoration which is somewhat of a hybrid Cornerless/Violin model It had one-piece Guitar Ribs but has some small corners with 8 separate carved scalloped blocks mating each corned with the Rib.
Other Cornerless Basses seen in person which were all brief I think numbers 3 of them. One at a glance a few feet away, one on a Bench and one in pieces in restoration. That's all I can remember.
On the Bass you mention being a Rogeri, I don't know if it's real or not. He saw my Bass and said in Italian to me (email) "Beautiful Storioni". So, returning the gesture, 'beautiful Rogeri he has'..
On my Bass is does sound like a Tank. Deep, thick and volume that is almost painful at 15 feet away. It fills the room so well that you can't tell where the sound is coming from as it vibrates everything around it. That is, when there aren't a bunch of open cracks like there is now. The Bass is so powerful that after gluing everything I could find (no patches, only hide glue) within a week of heavy playing, it opened itself up from its own inner air flow vibrations.
The String length is long and after playing it for awhile it feels like all my fingers and everything attached to them were just pulled apart. A 44" String length is only 1" longer from the Nut to the first Octave than on a 42". I can feel the difference between 41", 41 1/4", 41 1/2", 41 3/4" and 42" as I play Basses with all these lengths. I have to adjust each time to every Bass when switching. The Martini I have is 41 1/2" and it feels different than my Hart which is 41 3/4". Maybe there are other factors but I can tell they are different. That being said, a 44" is like a huge difference as far as finding your pitch. It's not just physical, it's musical as well.
The Storioni 'will' get a Block Cut along with a small portion of the Top, Back and Ribs in the Block ares trimmed off just like what was just done to my
Mystery English Bass. There was also some brief discussion or mention of this in MY
Cornerless Italian/Spanish Bass Thread. Read thru that if you haven't already.
String length alone from Nut to Bridge is not the only factor here. It's what notes are up at the shoulder by the Neck Block, where the D or Eb is on the G-string and where the F# and G octave is as well.
Arnold will be performing this surgery so I have no doubt it will be better than ever. The Bass will be 'fully' restored as well during the process. The Block-cut being only one of many items on the menu!