#1
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"Ode to Sartory"
The Thread title came right from the lips of the maker. After waiting nearly 3 years I just received my custom made Sue Lipkins Bow.
Over the last 2 years I was lucky enough to acquire 3 pre-owned Lipkins Bows (of which I have sold off two of them) as well as Sue's 2006 VSA competition entry Bow which I currently use personally. About a year ago while patiently waiting for my 'ordered' Bow, Sue asked if I would like a Sartory Model Bow. She mentioned that she had made a replacement Sartory Frog to replace a broken one and had made special tooling and could make another for me if I wanted. Sue knows that I played a Sartory for most of my professional playing days and offered to replace in a way, my old Sartory. Sue herself owned a Sartory when she was out playing Bass and knows this maker very well. Long story short, the Bow arrived today and is nothing short of spectacular. It looks, feels and sounds like a Sartory. The wood is not as fancy looking as many of the Lipkins Bows usually seen and the Pearl slide and Dot is not Flamed like she usually makes. All of this simpler style to imitate an original Sartory model Bow. Why did she go to the trouble? Well, when I called her about 3 years ago to introduce myself and place my order she mentioned that we had met many years ago when she was in Juilliard. Someone had mentioned that I sold Basses and Bows and she came over to look for a Bow. Sue told me that she bought her 'first good Bow' from me, a French Bisch. At that point I thought I might get a better deal from her on my order but I was quoted $500. 'more' than the last guy because 'that list' was filled up and I will be on the next price schedule...lol Anyway, she made this fantastic 'one-off' Bow for me so I thought I would mention it. If you wanna see some pics, I can post them in a day or so as soon as I find some time. Back to practicing now. Gotta warm up the new Bow a little.. |
#2
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Sure, if you don't mind!
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#3
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Pics..
Ok, first off this is my personal Bow and not for sale. Also, this is not an ad for Sue. She doesn't need the attention. She's booked I'm sure for longer than she can estimate.
Presenting the Lipkins Sartory; |
#4
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That sure looks sweet there Ken. One of these days you are going to post a piece of gear that will get me driving to Pennsylvania so I can hear what I am looking at.
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#5
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One of these days?
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I have other better than average good Basses and Bows besides the ones listed above but if my 'A list' hasn't gotten you on the road yet, I don't think anything else will.. |
#6
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I'm holding out for the restored "Mystery Bass"
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#7
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holding out?
Lol.. Ok, but breathe normally in the mean time...
Today I had the pleasure of playing a beautiful 18th-19th Century Italian Bass. It was formerly played by the Principal of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. He retired from music and sold his Bass several years ago. He has 4 young daughters that all play Violin and have each won many competitions to perform with various Orchestras as soloists. I have had the pleasure of playing behind each of his daughters in the last 3 years in one of the Orchestras I play in. At the last concert with his youngest which was on the day of the Homer Mensch Gagliano auction, I went up to him on the way out and asked if he had known Homer. In the conversation he told me who now owns his Italian Bass which was once called a Maggini but is not however. Today that person walked in here by invitation and showed me the Bass. We got to compare it to my Storioni, Hart, Martini and Gilkes all side by side. The current owner allowed me to photograph and measure his Bass so that I can present it on my Double Bass Page for display purposes only. It will be up in a few days when we find the time to get the page made. I will post some pics here as well in the Italian Bass section. On the Sartory thing I let him try a blind fold test on all of my good Bows. When he played the Lipkins Sartoy his guess was Peccatte as the maker. He had never played a Sartory before but Sartory worked in Paris for Charles Peccatte before setting up his own shop in 1893. Good guess he made guessing the Bow was from Sartory's master. I believe his Bass teacher in the NY Phil. played a Peccatte Bass Bow as well and that's the impression the Lipkins gave him. He was playing the Hart Bass. I told him the strings were older than the Bow and he looks very surprised. We had 3 Lipkins Bows out and he only knew about one of them. Talk about a 'blindfold test' huh? Ode to Sartory? Well, Ode right back to Sue Lipkins! Oh and his Bow was a Fetique who worked in Paris with Charles-Nicolas Bazin. Of all my Bows he liked my Bazin the best maybe because it was made by the master of his Bow's maker and liked the feel. Today was a GOOD Day for me Bass-wise.. |
#8
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Every time I see and hear about Lipkin's bows I feel more and more inclined that I should try one out and seriously think about getting a new primary bow.
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#9
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on line now..
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#10
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well..
Come and gone my friend. In the hands of an Orchestra professional now.
On the topic at hand, I have been playing this bow daily now and like a new bass, it has been breaking in and improving the more I play it. The balance was perfect from day one. The sound and smoothness has been maturing the more I play it. Now it needs a re-hair but I can't let it out of my hands. |
#11
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What a lovely instrument! That design at the heel reminds me of pictures of the solar system. How many circles are in that oval? Are they in any sort of pattern?
Thanks for sharing this bass, Ken... |
#12
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? circles ?
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This one you mean? By the way, the Hart is the main bass I play and the Lipkins-Sartory is its mate! If this is the 'circle' thing you are referring to I can explain about the circles. The bass had a hole filled with dried red wax about 1" in diameter. At first I thought it was from a previous neck repair but when the back came off there was no hole on the inside. After the bass came back from restoration I received an email from England about a bass that was a twin to mine that was played for 30 years in a London Symphony but it wasn't my bass. This one had the empty hole as well. To top that off, he knew of 2 others that were the same as well BUT had inlaid emblems in the hold still intact. One was an ebony crucifix and the other a Madonna with a child. These 4 were made with that purfled design around the open circle with a wax head seal in the middle. I had a simple coin made as shown but by the time the hole was fully clean and round it was a little bigger. Jed Kriegel who was Arnold's assistant at the time made an Ebony disc and inlaid the coin in the ebony and the pair in the bass. |
#13
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I think Eric's referring to the Italian bass owned by the former HK Philharmonic principal bassist.
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#14
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oops..
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I posted that bass HERE on 12/07. It took Eric over two/2 years to reply.. Can you blame me? I have no idea what bass he was talking about as you can see now.. lol Ok.. back on topic... I love my Lipkins/Sartory. After a 2 hour rehearsal earlier with one Orchestra I'm subbing in for the season I spent most of the evening practicing for next weeks concert with my main Orchestra, Beethoven 3rd. I caught parts of the Super Bowl on-line while having some dinner in the office between practicing... Althought I switch back and forth 'insanely' between the Martini and the Hart (that's another subject alltogether), I always play that Lipkins bow. I do try the others I have but it's always back to the best bow I have.. |
#15
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I visited Ken a couple of weeks ago and had a chance to try this bow, thanks to Ken's tremendous hospitality. It was revelatory.
The bow felt glued to the string, seemingly played itself, yet bounced effortlessly if I simply thought about it. It was sort of like, "Oh, so that's what a bow is supposed to feel like." This Lipkins Sartory copy is easily one of the nicest bows I have ever played. Thanks, again, Ken, for that eye-opening experience. I am on Sue Lipkins' wait-list, now. I am sure that it will be worth the patience. |
#16
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Lipkins Sartory copy
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Sue will make for you what you ask for in most cases. I have had 7 of her bows. This was the only one that was made specifically for me. Having played several of her models she offered to make me something different knowing that it was the Sartory that I lived with for most of my professional career in NY. I can't say enough good things about her bows or her dedication in making the best fit for you and your bow. |
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