Ken's Corner (Bass Forums Sponsored By KSB)

Go Back   Ken's Corner (Bass Forums Sponsored By KSB) > Double Basses > Double Bass Talk in General

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 05-17-2013, 12:41 AM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Lightbulb ISB Rochester, June 2013

I will be displaying at the ISB in June, less than 3 weeks from now.

I plan on having about 6 premium double basses on display and a few nice bows.

I will be in room 404. Please come and visit.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 05-18-2013, 10:43 PM
Eric Swanson's Avatar
Eric Swanson Eric Swanson is offline
Senior Posting Member
 
Join Date: 11-12-2007
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 199
Eric Swanson is on a distinguished road
Default

Good to know; thank you!
__________________

Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 05-21-2013, 10:28 AM
Robert J Spear Robert J Spear is offline
Junior Posting Member
 
Join Date: 07-12-2011
Location: Ithaca, NY
Posts: 16
Robert J Spear is on a distinguished road
Default

Greetings, Ken, All-- Stop down and see me at my humble booth in room 120. Look for Singing Woods Violin Shop. You'll be amazed! You'll be terrified! But you won't be bored!
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 05-21-2013, 12:20 PM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Wink

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert J Spear View Post
Greetings, Ken, All-- Stop down and see me at my humble booth in room 120. Look for Singing Woods Violin Shop. You'll be amazed! You'll be terrified! But you won't be bored!
Terrified? Probably not unless you walk in my room with Tools..!!!!

I will be bringing (as of this date);

The Panormo school bass
The JB Allen bass
The J.T. Hart bass
The Mougenot bass
The Marconcini school bass
The Bollbach Lion bass

Robert, my booth will be a partial lesson in Bass history as well as a class in Restoration study. Two basses here were restored by Arnold Schnitzer, two restored by Robbie McIntosh, one restored by and one made by Jeff Bollbach. These are 3 of the top Luthiers around today doing 'violin grade' level restoration work. Re-restoring basses that were previously done to a lesser degree is a huge challenge when trying to correct and erase some of yesteryear's work and bring the instruments back into its original state but modified to today's standards as 4-string basses as well. Three of the basses listed above were born/made as 3-string basses. Two them still retain their original 3 gears and plates with thoughtful modifications to add the 4th string.

So Robert, you will not be bored in room 404. I can promise you that!
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 05-21-2013, 05:43 PM
Brian Gencarelli's Avatar
Brian Gencarelli Brian Gencarelli is offline
Posting Member
 
Join Date: 01-22-2007
Location: Simpsonville, SC (near Greenville)
Posts: 121
Brian Gencarelli is on a distinguished road
Default

I so wish I could be there... however, we are in exams that week and I can't get out.

Wish all the best to everyone and maybe next time!

Brian
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 05-22-2013, 09:54 AM
Robert J Spear Robert J Spear is offline
Junior Posting Member
 
Join Date: 07-12-2011
Location: Ithaca, NY
Posts: 16
Robert J Spear is on a distinguished road
Default

Hi, Ken-- There will certainly be no overlap! I think the oldest bass in my booth will still be a 21st-century instrument. Unfortunately, my assistant will not be able to be with me the entire time, so I'll be running my booth solo. That will greatly impact my ability to visit other booths and annoy their owners, but I will do my best. After all, what are friends for? I will definitely try to get up to the fourth floor first of all.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 05-22-2013, 12:00 PM
Eric Swanson's Avatar
Eric Swanson Eric Swanson is offline
Senior Posting Member
 
Join Date: 11-12-2007
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 199
Eric Swanson is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Smith View Post
Terrified? Probably not unless you walk in my room with Tools..!!!!

I will be bringing (as of this date);

The Panormo school bass
The JB Allen bass
The J.T. Hart bass
The Mougenot bass
The Marconcini school bass
The Bollbach Lion bass

Robert, my booth will be a partial lesson in Bass history as well as a class in Restoration study. Two basses here were restored by Arnold Schnitzer, two restored by Robbie McIntosh, one restored by and one made by Jeff Bollbach. These are 3 of the top Luthiers around today doing 'violin grade' level restoration work. Re-restoring basses that were previously done to a lesser degree is a huge challenge when trying to correct and erase some of yesteryear's work and bring the instruments back into its original state but modified to today's standards as 4-string basses as well. Three of the basses listed above were born/made as 3-string basses. Two them still retain their original 3 gears and plates with thoughtful modifications to add the 4th string.

So Robert, you will not be bored in room 404. I can promise you that!
I think I just drooled on my keyboard...
__________________

Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 05-22-2013, 12:31 PM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Thumbs up

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric Swanson View Post
I think I just drooled on my keyboard...
Keyboards I don't have. lol.. Basses I do.

The Bollbach was picked for a master Class and Solo recital by Leon Bosh last year after trying all of the other basses here in my shop including the Hart and Marconcini basses. The Bollback just projected better tuned up a step 'with' orchestra Bell Cantos on each bass. Leon mentioned he was using Original Flat Chromes Orchestra gauge and tuning them up a step. When I tuned up the Bel's on each bass, I was pleasantly surprised how well they worked up a step. The Bollbach currently has Permanents on it. I tuned them up the other day and they sound and fell great in solo tuning as well.

My basses that are going to the show have a good mix of strings on them as well. Bollbach/Perm's, Hart/Bel's, Marconcini/Evah Weichs, JB Allen/Flex 92s, Panormo/Jargar Dolce, Mougenot/Flex 92s w/Stark E/C.

If any serious shoppers have suggestions for other string types they would be interested in trying on a bass, let me know and maybe I can bring some extra sets from what I have in stock.

I have other varieties of strings I use on some basses here that are not going to the show as well. The old Bohemian Lion/Flexocor Deluxe, Prague Laske/Passione, Kreutzer/Bel's w/Flex Stark E/C and Bel's as well on my Old Tirol.

So, I do try various type of strings here., I also have some Spiro Weichs as well as Helicores in both reg., solo and Ext. e/c sets.

I tried tuning the Evah Weichs up to solo on the Marconcini and they work fine as well being a soft set to begin with.

There is also a possibility that I will have a few more basses at the booth fresh out of repair/set-up from one of my Luthiers is he can make the trip up. I think my booth space is rated comfortably for 10 basses. That might be my number for this show.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 05-31-2013, 01:05 AM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Lightbulb more basses..

If all goes well, a few more basses will be at the booth via Pittsburgh from Mike Magee's shop, hand delivered.

The 4 additional basses will be the Uebel, Hofner 5er, Panormo 'copy' and an Italian bass not yet listed by Mario Bandini.

The Uebel and Hofner have been in the shop in the past and shown to customers as well as having been used by me on some gigs. The Uebel was a longer string length when I first got it so a new neck was made and the bass was restored. I personally felt that the bass should be about 1/2" longer than it was restored to so I had Mike re-set the neck. In addition to that work, he added a single E latch C-extension. The Hofner was also worked on previously, getting a new fingerboard and bridge for the most part. After re-working the bridge for personal preferences and then playing it for some time, I felt that the Neck should be moved out and re-set for optimum playability. The work on these two basses are now complete and play and sound better than before which was quite impressive to begin with.

On the Panormo copy, that bass came in at first with a severely damaged Top at the hands of Fed-ex freight. The agents for the maker in Hungry visited me shortly after with some other basses and offered to take it back to the maker and have a new top made as well as a restoration of the other areas that were damaged. A few months later they returned with more basses for me, one of them being the restored Panormo copy. So the bass made in 2011 has a top from 2012. Two years in the making actually but, being that it has never been played other than brief testing, the bass was actually just completed by Magee with a new re-set as well as all of the other needed set-up components. Started in 2011 and completed in 2013, made in Budapest 'twice' and completed in Pittsburgh. Mike also added a chromatic C-extension to this bass so it's ready for Orchestra work. The sound is awesome and it does not at all sound like a new bass.

The 4th bass possibly coming if completed in the next few days is an Italian Bass c.1980s (I forget the exact year) and just fully restored. There were a few minor cracks and splits on the Top, Ribs and Back. Most of them hiddin within the varnish and figure of the wood. The Ribs and Back are of highly figured Italian Poplar from the Lombardi region. The Lombardi is a fantastic sounding bass. So, this will be the 4th additional bass if ready in time to make the trip. That will make 10 basses which my exhibit space is actually 'zoned' for.

So, to whom ever is coming, there will be plenty of fully restored and fully set-up basses to try.

Leon Bosch is performing at this ISB as well and has reserved the Bollbach Lion as his bass of choice to play at his recital. Chris Brown will also do a performance there but I do not have all the details other than one piece (or thee piece) is written for 4 basses. I have been asked to play one of the parts and one of his students will also borrow a bass from my display so there will be 2 more of these basses on stage at on this venue.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 06-01-2013, 05:33 PM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Arrow ok..

I have all the basses packed and will be leaving the office soon. I will return on June 10th.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 06-09-2013, 04:54 AM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Thumbs up back..

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Smith View Post
I have all the basses packed and will be leaving the office soon. I will return on June 10th.
Ok, I am back, sort of. Not yet in the office but back. I hope to be back in full swing by Wednesday. I will be catching up on work Monday and Tuesday.

I have plenty of stories to tell as time allows.

For one, Leon Bosch gave a great concert/recital. In the audience was Stefano Sciascia, Enrico Fagone and Eugene Levinsion. I had dinner with Leon (and our wifes as well) and discussed his introduction. Usually they just mention the name and then they walk in. In Leon's case, some people don't know him and almost no one knows what he does with the discovery of music that has been hidden from the world or never performed on Double bass. From that discussion, we agreed that I would be the best person to introduce him. The announcer basically just introduced me to introduce him. The applause for my introduction was a bit more then I had expected, much more. When Leon and his Pianist entered, I said, "maybe they are just glad I stopped talking".. lol

Leon used the Bollbach Lion. The following day, I put Leon on the phone with Jeff Bollbach. Jeff was quite pleased as was Leon to meet the maker (by voice) of a bass he truly admires.

A few days before the show I received an email from Chris Brown, long time principal bassist with the Minnesota Chamber Orchestra (and just retired) and also the author of a book on historical bass bows. At the Penn State ISB in 2009, we ended up displaying in the same room with his collection of Bows and 6 of my basses. For this show, we both requested a shared display location as well. In that email, Chis asked me if I would like to play a part in his recital of a bass quartet. One piece by Charles Ives (the Indian) was arranged for 4 double basses, Voice and Piano. During the rehearsal a day before, he showed me another part we can do with 4 basses as well. Then, there was one more with for 2 basses (Vocal and piano). On all 3 pieces, I was the Pizz guy playing the continuo part but some bowing on one piece and more of a jazz part on one of the other three. So, I was playing at the convention as well. That was fun. Chris has a beautiful old Italian bass and two of the other players borrowed basses from my display, the Panormo school and Panormo copy basses. I played on the Hart. I received a great compliment from Stefano Sciascia who had his sound check right after ours the morning of the concert. The Hart cut thru the other three basses and I was not playing hard at all. One other bassist I know, a principal player of an orchestra down south said that the Hart sounded fantastic. So, I think after that, I have to hold on to it.

Also, Sciasica played my Italian Marconcini school bass in the beginning of the week and on the last day came and played it again. He loved the bass and told me "don't sell this bass!". He was quite impressed by the bass but the people watching him play, including me were quite impressed bu his touch and romantic trial of a bass which he seemed not able to stop playing for about 15-20 minutes. I missed his recital because I had to get back to the room right after packing up but having him play for a few of us just a few feet away was something that I considered better than a rehearsed program.

There were many great players there of all ages and just minutes before I started packing the basses to return home, in walks Steve Bailey and Vistor Wooten to play on some of the basses. That was a surprise..
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 06-09-2013, 05:56 PM
Shawn Charniga Shawn Charniga is offline
Posting Member
 
Join Date: 09-11-2012
Location: upstate New York
Posts: 31
Shawn Charniga is on a distinguished road
Default

Chris Brown is a great guy; glad to hear he's doing well. He was very helpful to me when I was trying to find a more appropriate home for a period bow I ended up with.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 06-10-2013, 01:54 AM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Lightbulb More Basses at the ISB show.

Originally I had listed the 6 Basses I was bringing to the show with a possibility of a few more coming via Luthier Mike Magee in Pittsburgh.

On Monday afternoon, the day before the opening of the exhibits, Magee drove up with 4 more basses;

1 - The Hofner with the neck re-set for easier playability, new bridge that's taller and some set-up tweaks. This 5er is a breeze to play on. Set-up for Orchestra playing with Pirastro Permanents with a low B (or C if one prefers) and tuned in 4ths up to G.

2 - The Uebel with the neck re-set as well to access the upper notes over the shoulders better as well as an added E capped C-Extension. The Top was also removed and some touch-up repairs done to clean up the restoration from about a year earlier. The set-up was also tweaked on this bass.

3 - The Panormo copy with a full set-up, neck re-set and a chromatic C-Extension. This bass looks and sounds like a Monster.

4 - A new acquisition from 2011 made by Mario Bandini in 1980. A beautiful looking and sounding Italian bass. This was also restored internally as well as a neck re-set and a chromatic C-Extension.

So, all of these basses are back at my shop now and awaiting visits from interested customers. Very few basses actually sell AT the Shows directly. In 2009 I brought 6 basses and sold 5 of them within a few months of the show. Most of them related in one way or another from being at the show. I sold some Bows as well from the last show and also this show as well. There seemed to be quite a bit of Bow traffic at the Show than bass traffic in the sales from what I saw and heard.

I do want to make a mention that I now have 3 new C-Extensions from the shop of Mike Magee in Pittsburgh and they are very nicely made. At the show, I had C-Extensions from 3 different Luthiers and they were all made in a similar manner but different with the personal touch and styles from each individual Luthier. They were each made for a different bass so no two extensions are alike, even from the same Luthier.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 06-13-2013, 12:04 AM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Cool ISB Pic..

I just got an Email from Leon Bosch showing a picture of me doing the introduction for his recital. I was explaining from the looks of my hands, his string height on his personal basses. 11mm/G to 13mm/E with orchestra strings and then tuned up a whole step for solo playing. The Bass he borrowed from me was only slightly raised to 6-7mm/G which he took a few days to get used to.



Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	1017219_531265200267100_266501624_n.jpg
Views:	570
Size:	81.2 KB
ID:	2755  
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 06-13-2013, 01:53 AM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Default and..

Here's Leon talking to the audience in the middle of the recital.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	971077_10151435785291555_960642842_n.jpg
Views:	576
Size:	49.5 KB
ID:	2756  
Reply With Quote
  #16  
Old 06-13-2013, 01:58 AM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Thumbs up and..

Here is Leon picking out his Bass for the recital.

From Leon Bosch's Facebook post.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	969338_10151421816911555_1459825342_n.jpg
Views:	632
Size:	83.1 KB
ID:	2757  
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 06-14-2013, 02:42 PM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Thumbs up more pics from another great..

I just got a beautiful email from Stefano Sciascia, the great Italian bassist, soloist and professor with some pictures his wife Laura took of him with my Italian Marconcini school bass, nick named 'Scallopini' for its rare outer corner blocks.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_2112.jpg
Views:	678
Size:	1.97 MB
ID:	2758  Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_2116.jpg
Views:	638
Size:	1.62 MB
ID:	2759  
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 05-10-2014, 09:36 PM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Lightbulb ISB Rochester, June 2013

Update from last years ISB's display of basses I brought..

JB Allen - SOLD

J.T. Hart - SOLD

Bollbach Lion - SOLD

Hofner 5er - SOLD

Panormo copy - SOLD

Uebelavailable

Mario Bandini - SOLD

G.Mougenot - SOLD

Marconcini school ..still available..

Panormo school ..still available..

Being that these were all special one-of-a-kind basses with full restorations and/or modifications, batting 500 in less than a year is a good average I think. I have also sold several others basses in this same period that were not at the show or that were never listed on the website or forum either.

*Prices on some of these basses have been adjusted to reflect current market conditions.

Last edited by Ken Smith; 08-24-2016 at 08:27 PM. Reason: - SOLD
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:19 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © 2007 - Ken Smith Basses, LTD. (All Rights Reserved)