French Basses

[Tom Derthick]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

Tom, it looks like you have a clutter room there with all those Basses. Maybe the Bernardel can come and visit me here where there is more room to play, huh?..

By the way, your profile doesn't tell us where you are located in the world. Is this Bass still in France?

Would you mind posting all the usual measurements? It looks quite large from your photos.

Pat McCarthy just did the very crazy detailed measurements for Duane Rosengard, who photographed this bass in May while still in pieces. I should have gotten a copy...here are the rough specs:

body length 44"
lower bout 26"
upper bout 20.5"
rib depth 8.75"
mensure 40.125" (1021 mm.) !!

The bass has been in California for about 100 years, in the Pasadena area till 1997, and in Sacramento with me since then. Don't worry, one of those basses in the background is a borrowed instrument being returned this week...the other is my 'picnic bass,' a mid 1800's Hungarian bass made of two instruments (top and rest of bass do not match), so no overcrowding here! Call me when I retire in 20 years or so! Of course, if you get tired of humid summers, you can always visit the bass in sunny California...most folks never leave. (36 million of us can't be wrong, right?)