Pfretzschner & Morelli

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Peter Weil

I was intrigued by Ken Smith's mentioning of a Morelli he had restored. The pics are no longer on this site, but I found them on the way back machine. I've got a 7/8 Pfretzschner/Morelli with a big, beautiful sound -- I got it at Chuck Traeger's shop way back when I was too young and naive to know what I was doing (except I knew it sounded great). Ken's (former) bass and mine are very similar. The dimensions are virtually identical (string length is nearly 44 inches, upper bout width about 20.8, etc.); the only clear difference I can see is that mine doesn't have the ebony at either side of the neck heel. Mine has a stamp "G. A. Pfretschner, Markneukirchen", a label that reads "Andreas Morelli, 1924", and what's presumably a repair label that says "Andre Fantoni, 27 West 46th Street, New York 36, N.Y." I've been playing jazz on this instrument as a weekend warrior type, but it's kind of a beast to play. I love the sound, but now I'm looking to get something smaller and more playable. I'm not sure what I'll do with this one.

http://www.kensmithbasses.com/double...lli/index.html (link corrected, post restoration)



Hi, 3 things here to mention.

1, the Ebony up at the neck heel 'platform' is from the restoration where I had the block cut down to shorten the string length. The neck was long and an, 'Eb' neck. To graft in a new shorter 'D' neck, that would have raised the cost a few thousand $$ so we left it as-is. Arnold Schnitzer did the restoration.

2, Your bass has the stamp inside as well as the Morelli label. The labels were put in here when the bass was sold from the importer but the stamp I am not sure where it was branded, USA or Germany. Both names are Fictitious. Usually, only the Violin cornered basses were branded and/or labeled Morelli, not the Gamba models. Your bass has both names inside which clearly connects the Importer as selling both name. Very interesting.
2, I knew Fantoni very well. I met him when I was in HS and hung out in both his 42nd st. shops, 27 and 37 where Paul Biase took over the business. In a way, Fantoni was a mentor to me so I enjoy hearing his name mentioned.