Hal Robinson

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Abe Gumroyan

The instrument that Torello left behind may have been the one I saw in this photo archive from Curtis. Very large, violin cornered instrument, amber in color and just plain beautiful. Has a da'Salo/Maginni flavor to it. Even from the picture it seems like the Bass has insanely deep ribs. Perhaps it was never cut down ? I have heard from many sources that Torello brought over many fine instruments to the US, Particularly Gagliano & Busan. 3 out of the 4 authentic Busans that I have seen personally were brought over by Torello. These basses belong to Tim Pitts, Ralph Jones, & Jeremy McCoy. The 4th Busan I speak of belongs to Joe Guastafeste. I believe the Gaglianos are in the possesion of the estate of Oscar Zimmermann. Roger Scott also purchased his Vangelisti bass from Torello as well.

That's a nice bass and a recent picture because of the Evah Pirazzi strings which I was told by a Curtis student that he recently switched to.

I don't know about the Basses Torello brought over or which are authentic but I do know this, many more basses are not what they claim to be than are.