J.F. Lott Snr. (John Frederick Lott, 1776-1856)

[Ken Smith]

Does anyone out here have any personal experience with Basses made by J.F. Lott Snr.?

Today I played a beautiful Bass known as a Lott that was restored at Robertsons around 7 years ago in 2000 reportedly by Daniel Hatchez.

I currently have this Bass in my possession for a day or so to evaluate. I will take some pictures tomorrow but must get permission from the current owner before I post them here.

This Bass is very close in looks and dimensions to the Bass pictured in the book 'The British Violin' (1998). This Bass has a 4-piece Top of mixed grain Spruce and a 2-piece FlatBack of slab cut Curly Maple with matching Ribs partially quartered. Unfortunately the Scroll has been replaced some time ago but still a very workable head/neck for this fine old English Bass.

The Bass has some type of vertical Label on the inner/lower C-bout Rib reading from Back to Top on the G-string side and written in script in olde black ink 'J. F. Lott' from what I could read.

I know he made Basses along with Fendt (from whom he learnt his trade) for Thomas Dodd. In the British Violin Book it states that the Bass pictured is without the external Rib Linings which were used on Basses he made exclusively for Dodd. Therefore the Basses without these Linings must be those he either made for his own brand or for other shops or makers. I was told by another professional in the field that he has personally seen 3 or maybe 4 Basses labeled Simon Andrew Forster from which all of them were the work of J.F. Lott but made for Forster possibly in the white.

The Varnish on this Bass looks so close to that of my Gilkes on both the Back and especially the Ribs as the Rib material is very similar in cut to the Ribs on my Gilkes. The Top unfortunately has been over varnished at some point and has lost its golden hue that we so often see on these London Basses.

Although the Gilkes has much more power that this Bass which has seen a lot of action in its nearly 200 year life, the Lott has a sweet lush Italian type color to the sound.

Connection? Right now in my rack side by side is both the Gilkes and the Lott. S.A. Forster was trained in his Fathers shop (William Forster III) by none other than Samuel Gilkes who worked with Forster and shared in the training of his youngest son Simon Andrew. The Dodd Shop ended in 1823 where Lott had worked. The Forster Shop ended in 1819. Gilkes died in 1827 and some time after 1819 Lott is selling Basses to S.A. Forster for his own brand.

Somewhere around 180ish years later, the Gilkes and the Lott sit side by side for only a day with Varnish so similar it could have come from the same can! Probably not though since the 'London Gold' type formula was quite common on Basses made by several other Londoners of the period.

So, what's your thoughts on this? For what it's worth, I can't make this stuff up, it just seems to happen to me (like owning a rare Bass by John Hart, pupil of Gilkes as well.)

[Ken Smith]

While reading in the book 'The British Violin' (1998) I have found new information that John Lott, a Chair maker (maybe?) from Gottingen, Germany married Ann Waring at St. Georges (London) in 1775. This is actually the Father of J.F.Lott I (Violin/Bass maker) who was born on April 26, 1776 and christened on June 16th in London. J.F. Lott I is actually of British birth and not from Germany as previously believed! The father was born about 1755 and maybe in Germany as the records are not totally clear. One thing that is clear, there are actually 3 generations of John Lotts, not two! Only two of them were makers though.

I read this casually about a year ago when I first got the Book but now that I have a Lott Bass in my office, I am looking quite a bit closer at the written words!

[Ken Smith]

While reading once again in the same book it mentions that Lott made internal 'stepped' linings ("The hardwood linings are of a distinctive stepped or doubled profile", 'The British Violin', pg. 140). I am happy to report that despite all the restoration work previously performed on this 'well played' Bass over the years, this 'Stepped Lining' is still intact on the center bout Rib/Back joint from block to block. The other linings look just as old as to my eye so this might be the way he made this particular Bass or maybe it was an early experiment on his earlier models. This Bass looks to be a bit older than my Gilkes of 1814 but being Lott's actual dates, it can't be too much older. I would guess maybe 1810 or so while still working for Dodd possibly.

Next week I will get this Bass up to Arnold in NY and maybe to Duane Rosengard as well earlier in the week to look at and see what they think of this and it's various restorations and points of originality.

The Wood of the Back and Ribs while both Curly Maple/Sycamore do not match in grain pattern or style at all. This is also a feature of Lott Basses as well according to the same reference ("The wood of the back seldom matches that of the ribs, which in this instance are of deeply flamed half-slab maple, since Lott made use of sawn veneer for the ribs, which consequently can be relatively thin and vulnerable.")

[Abe Gumroyan]

I played Art Davis' 1810 John Lott @ LA Bassworks with Art's Vigneron bow. All I have to say is WOWWWWWWWWWWW

[Matthew Tucker]

Found this

http://ezinearticles.com/?John-Lott-...ass&id=4259391

and this

http://johnlottjunior.webs.com/

and this

http://johnlottjunior.webs.com/doublebassistarticle.htm

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Matthew Tucker

Found this

http://ezinearticles.com/?John-Lott-...ass&id=4259391

and this

http://johnlottjunior.webs.com/

and this

http://johnlottjunior.webs.com/doublebassistarticle.htm

I have read the original article on that Bass but I do not agree it being made by Lott Jr. aka Jack Lott. That bass looks exactly like a regular John Lott bass. Tom Martin wrote that article and unless it is signed inside by Jr., I doubt it is by him. Jr. was famous for forging Violins by Strad and Del Gesu and also did other things. Look for an article called 'Jack of all Trades'.

On that Stamp in the Back, it is not what is in my Bass at all but then again, my Bass is an early John Hart and not Hart & Sons. I don't know of any mark being made that says 'Harts'. The firm was known as Hart & Sons and that was the mark. If you look at the back of my Dodd Bass, you will see a similar type stamp on the back but different letters, too blurred to read though. It came to me as a Betts bass and then attributed to Dodd BY Tom Martin and more recently another London dealer said he thought it was by Craske. I think that is an 'inked on' stamp that could have been used by dealers. Possibly as rental instruments as many dealers loaned out basses for visiting Orchestras. My Hart had a business card laminated to the block area rib stating they have basses and music stands for rent and that dates over 100 years ago. If you show anyone that bass without the article written, they will tell you it's a typical Lott. Also, as I mentioned, Lott Snr. the Luthier was actually Lott Jnr. himself as his father the non-luthier also John Lott was married in 1775 in the same church a year before the son was christened in 1776. This is how they discovered J.F. Lott as being of British birth.

So, copy that bass as well if you like. It IS a Lott in my book and not by Jack or Jnr. Also, J.F. Lott, the first London maker by that name (b.1776) made basses for other shops by trade. The 5 basses bearing the label of Simon Andrew Forster are J.F. Lott basses, maybe not the Scroll or the Varnish but the Carcass is Lott. Lott Snr. as we will call him was a Bass Maker and made the basses for Dodd that had the outer linings. Lott Jnr., Jack Lott was mainly a Violin maker and according to Whithers where he worked, Jack made only one bass for a Quartet, period. After reading all the stories and seeing the instruments by both makers you can draw your own conclusion. A Jack Lott Bass (Jnr.) is rare as there is only one bass recorded. John Lott made many many basses so they are less rare or somewhat common in comparison. Perhaps the Jr. attribution was financially motivated. Of the 3 Hart basses I have seen with my own eyes (only 1 in person, mine), if this was made for the Hart's then I know 3 different actual makers. John Hart, the early ones (4 of them known like mine), William Valentine, his 'half brother' and bass maker of record (1846 is the one I know), and now this bass from 1845 that looks like a regular Lott bass and has a different stamp on the back.