William Tarr (b.2/21/1808 ~ d.7/10/1891)

[Ken Smith]

At this time I would like to highlight the Manchester maker William Tarr. Although we have talked about him on occasion I feel that now is a good time to put this maker in the spotlight.

I posted a few days ago on the English Basses general thread about 'a whopper landed'.

This Whopper is not a burger. It is a 4/4 bass by William Tarr from Manchester, 1929 #8. Tarr is recorded as producing 206 basses, mostly Gamba models. This bass has Violin corners and a flatback as with all W.Tarr basses that I know of.

It is written that at one music festival in Dublin where the Gentleman's Orchestra of Manchester performed, all of the 9 basses were made by Wlm. Tarr. This later became the Halle Orchestra. This and the other basses are known as the Halle Tarr basses. Full sized violin models.

In 1959 this bass was cut down a bit by maybe 2" or more in length and an inch or so in the width of the bouts. Recalling the measurements I took last night, the lower bout is currently 29" or so, the upper is 23"+ and the center almost 17 1/2". This was a HUGE bass but, with the flatback and the upper angle break, quite playable.

The Neck stand looks 100% original, out maybe 20mm. The joint is a wide slightly dovetail but mostly a hidden mortise with only maybe 1-2mm of difference between the the Top and the Neck as far as dovetail taper goes.

The Gears, original Manchester Tarr Gears, not unlike Baker's in construction but a different design. In fact, the Gears Arnold used for the copy of my Cornerless are actually Tarr copies but mis-named by the dealer that sells them. Once i get pics up in a few weeks, all of this will be clear.

Using a UV light, magnifier and flashlight, I cannot find a graft in the Neck/Pegbox joint. The Scroll is the real deal, Early Tarr. The FFs are about the most beautiful Norther English FFs I have ever seen. Long, wide, slightly slanted and beautifully cut. The Top is 'highly arched.

The sound, fasten your seat belts. This IS an Orchestra Bass. Deep Organ lows, smooth and sweet mids and LOUD.

I have seen one other Tarr like this but still full sized, not Cut. I do not know for sure is that one was a Halle bass but surely the same exact model, 4/4 violin flatback.

Both the Top and Back are made in 4 pieces. One main book-matched piece and narrower split and matched wings that are cut thru in the C bouts. The Corners are very subtle on these models.

This model is the King of the Northern English models.

Now that I have had this bass here a few days I have discovered a few things between the instrument itself and reading up on the maker W.Tarr.

First off, depending on which Violin Books you have or have read you might or might not get his correct dates. The books with the correct dates are all out of print now. These are books by George Hart, W.M. Morris and Jalovec. It seems there are some incorrect dates in Henley, Plowright and Harvey. One book has him making his first bass in 1834 but Hart has him listed as 'by' 1829 (at 21 yrs old). That is the supposed date of this bass.

In Elgar, a bass-only book he mentions that Tarr made both Viol and Violin models of which Elgar claimed to prefer the Viol. Maybe it was the size because of the two violin models I have seen now (1 pictured) and one other I have heard about, they are all full 4/4 model basses. The Viol model seems to be more of a full 3/4 or 7/8ths sized model as we call them today.

This particular bass I have here (#8 from 1829) is basically all original in its parts from what I can see. It was cut down about 52 years ago and the back shows purfling only in the c-bout area. On the top, the purfling was replaced in both bouts with similar looking material but not exact looking with a magnifier.

Now, looking inside the Back which is well oxidized in color and in fantastic shape as well I see that there are no cross braces in the bouts other then the center brace and the angle bend. Also, there are no scars or discolorations of this Back ever having braces there either. Maybe this accounts for the near mint condition of the Back.I do notice however that the center and outer flank joints have been re-glued at least once in some spots so maybe that's a sign of where the movement occurred. Also, this Bass has lived in the same UK climate all of its life up until 5 days ago when it was brought over to the States.

I know of a few other players that have Tarr basses in the Viol model and they seem well loved, all professional Classical/Orchestral players.

So, this is now the official place for discussions on Basses by Tarr who was also assisted at times by his sons Thomas, Joesph and Shelly. There were also at least two other makers of note that worked for Tarr and they include Cole and Briggs. Like in the case of Prescott being the most prolific Yankee bass maker, Tarr is the head of the Manchester bass makers as well.

Welcome to the official Tarr School on-line discussion thread.

[Ken Smith]

Here are a few pics we just took of the Bass but not the Pics we will use for the web page. Just a quick preview using our email camera skills.

[Adrian Juras]

Gorgeous bass!

[Anselm Hauke]

nice bass!

[Eduardo Barbosa]

WOW! I never seen a bass so big!
even the bigger ones I've seen don't come close to that one!
I wonder what it feels like playing that beast. Can't even imagine what it sounds like!

[Ken Smith]

It's a beast but very playable. If not for the lack of a C-Extension presently I would use it next week on my Concert. I will be bringing it up to Arnold shortly for some set-up tweaks and possible a C-Extension to make it Orchestra ready, American style.

[Anselm Hauke]

Originally Posted by Anselm Hauke

nice bass!

you can be happy that you did not get this one:
http://www.thomasmartin.co.uk/sale_w...ouble_bass.asp

[Nathan Parker]

Man, these basses look amazing. I would love to give one a whirl one of these days.

So, my question is, why are they getting smaller? They all seem to have been cut down. What has changed since they were made that everyone reduces them in size?

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Anselm Hauke

you can be happy that you did not get this one:
http://www.thomasmartin.co.uk/sale_w...ouble_bass.asp

To my eye and from the basses I have seen from Tarr, Briggs and Cole (mostly in pictures) I would have to push this one into Briggs's corner more so than Tarr.

The Slant of the FFs' looks more Briggs and nothing like Tarr but slightly Cole but not. The Scroll is more like Briggs as well. The Gears are Tarr style but that is more than likely what was available then up there in Manchester.

I have seen this on Martin's restoration page as well and yes, I am glad it's not mine. I would not buy something like this across the pond unless it was to die for and affordable or under market, whatever that price would be!