ISB Rochester, June 2013

[Eric Swanson]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

Terrified? Probably not unless you walk in my room with Tools..!!!!

I will be bringing (as of this date);

The Panormo school bass
The JB Allen bass
The J.T. Hart bass
The Mougenot bass
The Marconcini school bass
The Bollbach Lion bass

Robert, my booth will be a partial lesson in Bass history as well as a class in Restoration study. Two basses here were restored by Arnold Schnitzer, two restored by Robbie McIntosh, one restored by and one made by Jeff Bollbach. These are 3 of the top Luthiers around today doing 'violin grade' level restoration work. Re-restoring basses that were previously done to a lesser degree is a huge challenge when trying to correct and erase some of yesteryear's work and bring the instruments back into its original state but modified to today's standards as 4-string basses as well. Three of the basses listed above were born/made as 3-string basses. Two them still retain their original 3 gears and plates with thoughtful modifications to add the 4th string.

So Robert, you will not be bored in room 404. I can promise you that!

I think I just drooled on my keyboard...

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Eric Swanson

I think I just drooled on my keyboard...

Keyboards I don't have. lol.. Basses I do.

The Bollbach was picked for a master Class and Solo recital by Leon Bosh last year after trying all of the other basses here in my shop including the Hart and Marconcini basses. The Bollback just projected better tuned up a step 'with' orchestra Bell Cantos on each bass. Leon mentioned he was using Original Flat Chromes Orchestra gauge and tuning them up a step. When I tuned up the Bel's on each bass, I was pleasantly surprised how well they worked up a step. The Bollbach currently has Permanents on it. I tuned them up the other day and they sound and fell great in solo tuning as well.

My basses that are going to the show have a good mix of strings on them as well. Bollbach/Perm's, Hart/Bel's, Marconcini/Evah Weichs, JB Allen/Flex 92s, Panormo/Jargar Dolce, Mougenot/Flex 92s w/Stark E/C.

If any serious shoppers have suggestions for other string types they would be interested in trying on a bass, let me know and maybe I can bring some extra sets from what I have in stock.

I have other varieties of strings I use on some basses here that are not going to the show as well. The old Bohemian Lion/Flexocor Deluxe, Prague Laske/Passione, Kreutzer/Bel's w/Flex Stark E/C and Bel's as well on my Old Tirol.

So, I do try various type of strings here., I also have some Spiro Weichs as well as Helicores in both reg., solo and Ext. e/c sets.

I tried tuning the Evah Weichs up to solo on the Marconcini and they work fine as well being a soft set to begin with.

There is also a possibility that I will have a few more basses at the booth fresh out of repair/set-up from one of my Luthiers is he can make the trip up. I think my booth space is rated comfortably for 10 basses. That might be my number for this show.

[Ken Smith]

If all goes well, a few more basses will be at the booth via Pittsburgh from Mike Magee's shop, hand delivered.

The 4 additional basses will be the Uebel, Hofner 5er, Panormo 'copy' and an Italian bass not yet listed by Mario Bandini.

The Uebel and Hofner have been in the shop in the past and shown to customers as well as having been used by me on some gigs. The Uebel was a longer string length when I first got it so a new neck was made and the bass was restored. I personally felt that the bass should be about 1/2" longer than it was restored to so I had Mike re-set the neck. In addition to that work, he added a single E latch C-extension. The Hofner was also worked on previously, getting a new fingerboard and bridge for the most part. After re-working the bridge for personal preferences and then playing it for some time, I felt that the Neck should be moved out and re-set for optimum playability. The work on these two basses are now complete and play and sound better than before which was quite impressive to begin with.

On the Panormo copy, that bass came in at first with a severely damaged Top at the hands of Fed-ex freight. The agents for the maker in Hungry visited me shortly after with some other basses and offered to take it back to the maker and have a new top made as well as a restoration of the other areas that were damaged. A few months later they returned with more basses for me, one of them being the restored Panormo copy. So the bass made in 2011 has a top from 2012. Two years in the making actually but, being that it has never been played other than brief testing, the bass was actually just completed by Magee with a new re-set as well as all of the other needed set-up components. Started in 2011 and completed in 2013, made in Budapest 'twice' and completed in Pittsburgh. Mike also added a chromatic C-extension to this bass so it's ready for Orchestra work. The sound is awesome and it does not at all sound like a new bass.

The 4th bass possibly coming if completed in the next few days is an Italian Bass c.1980s (I forget the exact year) and just fully restored. There were a few minor cracks and splits on the Top, Ribs and Back. Most of them hiddin within the varnish and figure of the wood. The Ribs and Back are of highly figured Italian Poplar from the Lombardi region. The Lombardi is a fantastic sounding bass. So, this will be the 4th additional bass if ready in time to make the trip. That will make 10 basses which my exhibit space is actually 'zoned' for.

So, to whom ever is coming, there will be plenty of fully restored and fully set-up basses to try.

Leon Bosch is performing at this ISB as well and has reserved the Bollbach Lion as his bass of choice to play at his recital. Chris Brown will also do a performance there but I do not have all the details other than one piece (or thee piece) is written for 4 basses. I have been asked to play one of the parts and one of his students will also borrow a bass from my display so there will be 2 more of these basses on stage at on this venue.

[Ken Smith]

I have all the basses packed and will be leaving the office soon. I will return on June 10th.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

I have all the basses packed and will be leaving the office soon. I will return on June 10th.

Ok, I am back, sort of. Not yet in the office but back. I hope to be back in full swing by Wednesday. I will be catching up on work Monday and Tuesday.

I have plenty of stories to tell as time allows.

For one, Leon Bosch gave a great concert/recital. In the audience was Stefano Sciascia, Enrico Fagone and Eugene Levinsion. I had dinner with Leon (and our wifes as well) and discussed his introduction. Usually they just mention the name and then they walk in. In Leon's case, some people don't know him and almost no one knows what he does with the discovery of music that has been hidden from the world or never performed on Double bass. From that discussion, we agreed that I would be the best person to introduce him. The announcer basically just introduced me to introduce him. The applause for my introduction was a bit more then I had expected, much more. When Leon and his Pianist entered, I said, "maybe they are just glad I stopped talking".. lol

Leon used the Bollbach Lion. The following day, I put Leon on the phone with Jeff Bollbach. Jeff was quite pleased as was Leon to meet the maker (by voice) of a bass he truly admires.

A few days before the show I received an email from Chris Brown, long time principal bassist with the Minnesota Chamber Orchestra (and just retired) and also the author of a book on historical bass bows. At the Penn State ISB in 2009, we ended up displaying in the same room with his collection of Bows and 6 of my basses. For this show, we both requested a shared display location as well. In that email, Chis asked me if I would like to play a part in his recital of a bass quartet. One piece by Charles Ives (the Indian) was arranged for 4 double basses, Voice and Piano. During the rehearsal a day before, he showed me another part we can do with 4 basses as well. Then, there was one more with for 2 basses (Vocal and piano). On all 3 pieces, I was the Pizz guy playing the continuo part but some bowing on one piece and more of a jazz part on one of the other three. So, I was playing at the convention as well. That was fun. Chris has a beautiful old Italian bass and two of the other players borrowed basses from my display, the Panormo school and Panormo copy basses. I played on the Hart. I received a great compliment from Stefano Sciascia who had his sound check right after ours the morning of the concert. The Hart cut thru the other three basses and I was not playing hard at all. One other bassist I know, a principal player of an orchestra down south said that the Hart sounded fantastic. So, I think after that, I have to hold on to it.

Also, Sciasica played my Italian Marconcini school bass in the beginning of the week and on the last day came and played it again. He loved the bass and told me "don't sell this bass!". He was quite impressed by the bass but the people watching him play, including me were quite impressed bu his touch and romantic trial of a bass which he seemed not able to stop playing for about 15-20 minutes. I missed his recital because I had to get back to the room right after packing up but having him play for a few of us just a few feet away was something that I considered better than a rehearsed program.

There were many great players there of all ages and just minutes before I started packing the basses to return home, in walks Steve Bailey and Vistor Wooten to play on some of the basses. That was a surprise..

[Shawn Charniga]

Chris Brown is a great guy; glad to hear he's doing well. He was very helpful to me when I was trying to find a more appropriate home for a period bow I ended up with.

[Ken Smith]

Originally I had listed the 6 Basses I was bringing to the show with a possibility of a few more coming via Luthier Mike Magee in Pittsburgh.

On Monday afternoon, the day before the opening of the exhibits, Magee drove up with 4 more basses;

1 - The Hofner with the neck re-set for easier playability, new bridge that's taller and some set-up tweaks. This 5er is a breeze to play on. Set-up for Orchestra playing with Pirastro Permanents with a low B (or C if one prefers) and tuned in 4ths up to G.

2 - The Uebel with the neck re-set as well to access the upper notes over the shoulders better as well as an added E capped C-Extension. The Top was also removed and some touch-up repairs done to clean up the restoration from about a year earlier. The set-up was also tweaked on this bass.

3 - The Panormo copy with a full set-up, neck re-set and a chromatic C-Extension. This bass looks and sounds like a Monster.

4 - A new acquisition from 2011 made by Mario Bandini in 1980. A beautiful looking and sounding Italian bass. This was also restored internally as well as a neck re-set and a chromatic C-Extension.

So, all of these basses are back at my shop now and awaiting visits from interested customers. Very few basses actually sell AT the Shows directly. In 2009 I brought 6 basses and sold 5 of them within a few months of the show. Most of them related in one way or another from being at the show. I sold some Bows as well from the last show and also this show as well. There seemed to be quite a bit of Bow traffic at the Show than bass traffic in the sales from what I saw and heard.

I do want to make a mention that I now have 3 new C-Extensions from the shop of Mike Magee in Pittsburgh and they are very nicely made. At the show, I had C-Extensions from 3 different Luthiers and they were all made in a similar manner but different with the personal touch and styles from each individual Luthier. They were each made for a different bass so no two extensions are alike, even from the same Luthier.