Gamba Italian Basses..

[Maury Clubb]

I think your ****ysis is spot-on, particularly regarding the difficulty of attribution (I experienced it 1st hand) and the gears. It appears 1800-1850 was a big period of change for double basses. I would like to see picture of other basses by this maker. BTW, the playability, volume range, depth and complexity of tone with this bass are amazing (maybe like your Storioni?)

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Maury Clubb

I think your ****ysis is spot-on, particularly regarding the difficulty of attribution (I experienced it 1st hand) and the gears. It appears 1800-1850 was a big period of change for double basses. I would like to see picture of other basses by this maker. BTW, the playability, volume range, depth and complexity of tone with this bass are amazing (maybe like your Storioni?)

Well, the power and low end fundamental of the Storioni borders on painful. My eardrums close up when I play or listen to that bass played within 5-20 feet away. I know someone who recently bought a huge attributed Montagnana Bass. That Bass is known as a powerhouse. He recently played my Bass as mentioned it was similar but with the shoulders sloped he could get around it better and play the 44" length as well.

I would love to play your Bass, anytime any day.

By the way, my Loveri was just restored by Jeff Bollbach and sounds quite a bit better then before. It is also much prettier to look at as well.



Are the words Gamba and Gumba related at all? I wonder..

[Nick Hart]

Well Ken, Gamba means leg and Goomba is a southern Italian, quite like myself, so I guess we can draw the comparison of a leg to the boot shape of Italy?

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Nick Hart

Well Ken, Gamba means leg and Goomba is a southern Italian, quite like myself, so I guess we can draw the comparison of a leg to the boot shape of Italy?

My Loveri is Italian and from Southern Italy. Does that make it a Goomba Gamba?

[Nick Hart]

Yes it does!

[Ken Smith]

I played the Loveri in 2 orchestras to give it a good run and see what it can do. It sounds great but personally I need a C-Extension for what I do. Having several larger bodied Italian and English Basses with Extensions already I have opted to send the Loveri off to market to find a new home. It will be showcased up at Arnold's shop in Brewster, NY.

[Ken Smith]

Ok, below you will see 2 Basses. One we know is a Carlo Loveri. The other has nearly identical F-holes. Please look for your self and tell me what 'you' see!



Maybe someone here has some 'photoshop' skills and can size and overlay these on top of each other to see how close they are.

On the Loveri, all Bouts have been cut and reduced in size so the relationship to the outer edges are not original but close as only the upper Bouts were cut severely. On the other Bass the C-bouts and Lower bouts are original but with some edge wear. The upper bout has been cut as well just above the cornerblock but only slightly. Have a look at them side by side!