The Great English Double Basses

[Ken Smith]

Laminated to the bottom Rib at the tail-block is a business card/label under the Varnish. This is actually a separate piece grafted/spliced wood to the bottom Ribs at the Block and looks to be a very old repair. The business card is under some very dark varnish and hard to read but seems to say;
__________________________________________________ _____

Messrs. Bird & Sons
56 Berwick St. 1 Door from Oxford St.
for instructions .............................
50 Double Basses on Sale from 8 to 100 guineas
The Double Bass and 40 Music Stands can be had on hire
Professional Gentlemen have a double bass at a moderate price
__________________________________________________ _____

When I told this news of the "J.HART" stamps to Duane Rosengard he responded by saying how rare a find this was. 'Olde' Bird as he was known had personally introduced Samuel Allen (19th century English Bow maker) to W.E. Hill himself! Allen actually set-up the Hill Bow making shop and was one of his top Bow makers. Bird was a 19th century dealer and connoisseur of fine Double Basses in the 19th century.

This Bass was apparently at one time in the possession of 'Bird & Son' as the outer laminated label suggests.

Some of the names we discussed in the old TB thread included; Forster, Hill, Panormo, Dodd, Fendt, Lott, Gilkes, Kennedy, Betts, Tarr, Cole, Devereaux, Baker, Furber, Smith, Allwood, Davies, Wilkins, Brown, Gough, Briggs, Corsby and maybe a few others.

Some of these I introduced and some by others looking for help with IDs on Basses they were looking at.

Please re-introduce those here with 'only' the most current info and get a few names and pics on record of these great English Basses.. Once known as 'The Poor Mans Italian'..

[Ken Smith]

I took some pics a few days ago while visiting Arnold. Here is a couple of them;

More can be seen here on the Hart page. Or, is it a Fendt? The Jury is still out on that by the way.

[davidseidel]

Furber got a mention in your history pages Ken so here are afew pics of my attributed to Furber bass.......

[Ken Smith]

Dave, that's a beautiful Bass. When I was researching John Betts concerning a Bass I had here from London, John Furber was listed as one of his makers or 'out workers'. It's still unclear to me if Furber actually worked inside the Betts shop on his own supplying Betts or a combination of both. Later on, Tom Martin tells me my Betts is actually a Dodd. I believe it was T.Martin that ID'd your Bass as well, no? Either way, it held a similar value if not more. I sold it in less than a year to a professional Symphony Bassist. Next to my Gilkes and Storioni, it was one of the best Basses I have played. I am sure your English Bass is right on par with it.

I hope to be able to try your Bass one day. It looks beautiful.. Enjoy it..

[Ken Smith]

The Hart is done now and resting beside the Gilkes..

[Ken Smith]

I took the Hart out this morning for a dress rehearsal. It's only the 2nd time I've taken it out. Instead of playing the Martini as originally planned, I will use the Hart tonight for the Concert.

In a big hall like this I can really hear the tone and smooth sweet low end 'booom'' the Bass has. The Pizz is nice and the Arco even nicer. The low notes on the C-extension are so smooth and thick sounding yet easy to bow and as loud as any note on the Bass. This Bass is so even sounding I can't find words to better describe it.

I think I have found a new 'Concert' Bass to use. The Martini is fine and the Gilkes is fantastic. This Bass has them both beat combined hands down I think. The Gilkes seems louder I think when you play it but a different type of tone. The Martini seems to have some lower end floor-type spread in the sound. The Hart though is fairly loud, deep, clear, smooth, easy to play and did I mention beautiful to look at?

I used the Hart last week at a rehearsal and it felt bigger against my body than the Martini which I was more comfortable with. Today I had a 3-hour rehearsal and the Hart fit me like a glove on stage.

[Ken McKay]

Absolutely fantastic!!!!!

Nice restoration and congratulations on your new/old bass.