Tarantino

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Neil Garber

Also, given these dates, it's unlikely that my 1923 Tarantino is by Marino, or not from 1923. He would have been quite the prodigy luthier at age 9. However, I've seen a few references to Marino putting his label next to his father's, and my label looks defaced. I'm beginning to wonder if he tried to sell his basses as Giuseppe's and later owned up to making them ( or someone else figured it out) , or if he defaced the labels to make it appear that he made his father's instruments. This would have all been in keeping with the tradition of the Modern Neapolitan School. Sort of.

Let's see the bass and the label. Please.

A label that is pre-dated or false in a bass? More common than you think.

[Neil Garber]

Sorry, can't seem to take a decent photo of the label. It looks like what I once thought was a "3" in 1923 has faded. There is some stuff written in ink all over the label, but that was never legible. I have now seen in person or photo 4 of this pattern bass.

[Ken Smith]

Can I see the Back and Ribs as well?

The label might look old but the bass and varnish look very new in comparison.

[Neil Garber]

I have a former student coming over today with a Tarantino he is considering. Same model. It dates from the 50's. I'm going to photograph it and its label too.

[Ken Smith]

That looks like a modern bass, 1950's-60s. Same thin spirit varnish found on German basses from the same post war period. The Shamrock inlay is classic Tarantino.

How does it sound? 50 years old? 80-90 years old?

[Neil Garber]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

That looks like a modern bass, 1950's-60s. Same thin spirit varnish found on German basses from the same post war period. The Shamrock inlay is classic Tarantino.

How does it sound? 50 years old? 80-90 years old?

Difficult to say how it sounds in years, but I'd tend toward 50 years old. The marked 1955 bass my student showed me today looks older. I suppose there's no way to really know when my instrument was built.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Neil Garber

Difficult to say how it sounds in years, but I'd tend toward 50 years old. The marked 1955 bass my student showed me today looks older. I suppose there's no way to really know when my instrument was built.

Show it to Scaramelli. He might have a good idea of its age.