Ken's Corner (Bass Forums Sponsored By KSB)

Go Back   Ken's Corner (Bass Forums Sponsored By KSB) > Double Basses > This Old Bass > Italian Bass School

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #21  
Old 08-23-2011, 01:13 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
Cool thanks..

Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthew Tucker View Post
Well ... I'll stick my neck out and say no, I don't see enough similarities between the photo pairs to think the basses are from the same model or form or maker's hand. Yes there are some similarities but enough differences as well to cancel them out, in my mind.

That long head is interesting; its length and line doesn't seem to match the body it is attached to! (and no I realize it's not attached to the cornerless below it!)
Both basses above, head and body are made by or attributed to members of the Marconcini family. I have pictures on file of another bass by a Marconcini as well, Giuseppe supposedly. Mainly they worked in Ferrara but one of them, Luigi, worked first in Bologna and then in Ferrara. I see only similarities myself but Luigi built lutes and Viols besides Violins and Basses. I was just on a hunt when I found these when looking for makers in Bologna that made Guitars and Basses as that's what my bass looks like, a combo of the two.

The Bass I examined that was stamped 'Lod Parisini' on the tuner plate is a puzzle as well. Was he the bass maker, the gear maker, an owner of the bass like with the name 'Dragonetti' we have seen on some plates? So, without confirmation on even Parisini being the maker of that bass, I am still looking. Bologna is what some thinks it resembles in style and the list of possible makers for style and period is short.
Reply With Quote
  #22  
Old 10-17-2011, 12:17 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 the Page..

Ok, we are working on the Page for the Scallopini. We have a basic page in the works but not yet linked for the public. Should be ready shortly. The Pictures did not come out as good as I would like in the color mainly. We will either work on the color of the pictures or take new pics and replace them.

In the mean time, Click here to see it. You will also notice that I have the bass attributed to the 'Marconcini School'. From all of my research to date including the pictures I have seen of Basses from Marconcini, I think this is a close match in the period of that Bologna/Ferrara style.

I welcome any comments from the readers here. I would love to know who really made this bass. It is a one-of-a-kind from what I have seen.

Here we go again, another 'Name that Bass' thread..
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 10-18-2011, 08:22 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 Labels..

Here are the labels in the Bass. One is from a repairman and one, the old 16th century Lute maker Antonius Bononiensis which I believe is false for this bass and period;
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_2133.JPG
Views:	674
Size:	78.5 KB
ID:	2214  
Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 10-18-2011, 08:58 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
Cool Added center brace..

Here is a picture of the Center Brace during the restoration. You can also see some scored lines in the Rib and Lining. This is how the Bass was made, scored and then bent with the Linings in place. Also, here is a side shot of the Bass showing how nicely the Top pressing came out along with the Varnish touch up and polishing. The Bass sounds beautiful by the way and is a joy to play on.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_2716.jpg
Views:	728
Size:	100.2 KB
ID:	2216  Click image for larger version

Name:	!cid_28DEC79E19A54401A183F37CF0EC8FC1@Ken.jpg
Views:	698
Size:	59.8 KB
ID:	2217  

Last edited by Ken Smith; 10-18-2011 at 09:06 AM. Reason: I posted these pics before, oops.. lol
Reply With Quote
  #25  
Old 11-05-2011, 11:04 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 Scallopini in use..

Ok, I took the bass out several nights this week, Wednesday through Saturday. Wednesday was a full Orchestra rehearsal, 4 basses in the section that night. The Bass did just fine. The other nights, Thursday-Saturday were Chamber Orchestra with Concert tonight, Saturday. The Bass did just fine and I have done almost nothing to the set-up since the restoration except put new strings on the bass, Belcantos. I might adjust the set-up in the future but for now, I am just getting used to the bass.

Powerful sounding bass for the venue I played and the tone, superior to most basses I have. Since this needs some break-in time, I will play it as much as possible. If I HAVE to bring a C-extension bass, I will but otherwise, I will bring this bass out and give it so play time.
Reply With Quote
  #26  
Old 01-03-2012, 03:25 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 Marconcini?

Ok, we just took some new pics for the webpage of this bass.

http://www.kensmithbasses.com/doublebasses/marconcini/
Reply With Quote
  #27  
Old 01-04-2012, 03:39 AM
Matthew Tucker's Avatar
Matthew Tucker Matthew Tucker is offline
Senior Posting Member
 
Join Date: 02-19-2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 427
Matthew Tucker is on a distinguished road
Send a message via Skype™ to Matthew Tucker
Default

Nice pics there again. Interesting that the linings were bent with the ribs. Sounds like hard work!

Any clues on how the scallops were carved? I'm guessing in situ, but I can't see close enough to tell. Since they are so unique on this bass, suggest you include a closeup of one of them as an extra photo!

I note you have put a very wide bridge on this bass, it looks as if it overlaps the FFs by at least half an inch, or more, on either side. In the past, you have been adamant that this is a bad thing and causes belly to sink at the ffs. Any comment on the situation here?
Reply With Quote
  #28  
Old 01-04-2012, 11:29 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

Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthew Tucker View Post
Nice pics there again. Interesting that the linings were bent with the ribs. Sounds like hard work!

Any clues on how the scallops were carved? I'm guessing in situ, but I can't see close enough to tell. Since they are so unique on this bass, suggest you include a closeup of one of them as an extra photo!

I note you have put a very wide bridge on this bass, it looks as if it overlaps the FFs by at least half an inch, or more, on either side. In the past, you have been adamant that this is a bad thing and causes belly to sink at the ffs. Any comment on the situation here?
On the Pics, you can click and blow them up a bit to see the Scallops better. I can't tell if they were carved totally after gluing to the Ribs but anything is possible. No two Scalloped blocks are alike within the eight of them. The work is quite nice and easy on the eyes as well.

On the Bridge, the width of Legs of the feet measure exactly the same (just under 130mm) as the width of the upper F's eyes. The tabs of the feet do spread out a bit past that as you have pointed out but nothing in the area of concern. The Bass side bridge Leg is right on top of the strong new Bass-bar. If the Legs themselves were wider than the F's upper eyes, this would be a concern. The Top has a fairly big 2-piece book-matched breast patch covering most of the lower bout and reaching up thru the F-holes as well. Quite impressive 'fitting' work from what I have seen. Have a look below. I guess you have to see a bass like this in person. It is quite loud and deep but does not have quite as much of the depth spread of the larger Storioni, just some extra low boom over it.

The Bass-bar and some other cleats had not been done yet when this was taken. Both the lower and smaller upper breast patches shown here with a complete half-edging as well.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	!cid_A57CD331E17144AC8F0B1FDCF869815A@Ken.jpg
Views:	746
Size:	101.6 KB
ID:	2315  
Reply With Quote
  #29  
Old 02-03-2013, 09:38 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 Scallopini in action again..

I rehearsed this past Monday with the Kreutzer bass I had used all last week but it didn't seem to fit the program we were doing, Mahler (Das Knaben) and Mozart 36. The Orchestra was scaled down, only 24 in the strings (8/7 violins, 4 violas, 3 cellos and 2 basses). The next rehearsals were Thurs. and Fri and the Concert last night on Sat. So I brought the Scallopini and heads turned around me as I was between the Violas and Cellos (they were switched from normal position with the Violas outside).

At first I was worried it wouldn't be loud enough as the bass next to me was a 7/8 (or 4/4) Pollmann Maggini model from the '80s. Big bass, loud sound. The Scallopini held up just fine and the tone is beautiful and full, especially the mid and upper register. This bass holds up as well as any 3/4 despite is slightly smaller size. I can only imagine how much more sound will come from the bass when all that new repair wood inside breaks in and ages. I won't be around in 50 years to hear it but someone will.
Reply With Quote
  #30  
Old 12-10-2013, 12:15 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
Arrow 30 month tweak..

Ok, some updates on this Scallopini. First off, after about a year or so (can't remember exactly) I decided to change a few things to suit my tastes. It had now been here long enough for me to know I needed to 'tinker' with it some. Back then, I put a new/longer tail wire to lengthen it some to get it closer to the bridge to maybe help with a wolf tone on the A. I don't know if that helped much but, I had to change the bridge arch and widen the spacing. It was about 1" or so, 25.5 - 26mm. My norm had been 27-28 or even 28.5 depending on the bass. This bass has a fairly wide fingerboard taper as the neck is a bit wide in the block and there was quite a bit of ebony outside the G and E strings as if, this was too wide for that set-up. The good news was that with widening the spacing, it would actually fill in that wide FB quite nicely and with ease.

The bass with Belcantos also sounded great but felt a bit loose when playing it so I tried some other strings and it seems that you can use just about anything on this and it will work. Currently, it has Orig. Flex on the G/D and Permanents on the A/E. The bass was sounding and feeling tight as we get into its second winter. So, I thought it should go up on my bench and get adjusted for these heavier tensioned strings.

I had already widened the spacing to 28mm and re-arched the bridge over a year ago and that was fine. I then looked at the soundpost and moved it back up into a more normal position as it was low and centered so I moved it just slightly closer to the bridge and slight outwards from the center. The fit of the post was also good being that it has a new flat brace on the back and a new healthy breast patch in the top so there were no bumps inside the top to hinder the re-set of the post.

Then I thought, why not bring the TP back down almost to were it was when it was restored, 2 octaves and a 5th (instead a 4th) being the lower bout is short, I figured that maybe the extra length might open the bass a bit as it was tight with these strings. A completely different set-up than with Belcantos. Also, I tuned the wolf weight to D on the A-string after length just to see.

I heard some buzzing while practicing right after and thought something came loose. Nope, it was the 8ft florescent lights 10ft up and the metal cabinet/closet in my office all vibrating from the power of the bass. Also, on the G and D it makes the other basses in the room ring out as well, more so than the other larger basses I have here.

So, what ever I just did and had done in the past, the bass is working. With Bel's on it before with the old adjustments, it also worked but I think I could have tweaked it a bit back then as well.

So, after 2 1/2 years, the bass is just barely breaking in. One thing for sure is that it seems flexible to sound good with any kind of string you put on. I have used that I can remember, Flexocor 92s, Belcantos, Passiones, Original Flex with 92E, Original Flex with Permanents 1/2 n 1/2 and even Evah Weichs as seen at the ISB last June. This is a flexible bass as far as strings go. Not many basses would be so friendly as this one has been with all those string changes.
Reply With Quote
  #31  
Old 12-16-2013, 09:38 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 with Maestro Sciascia and 2 copys..

Here are two pics from the ISB with the great Stefano Sciascia with the Marconcini. Also pictured, 2 of the 3 modified copies I had made in Europe and just recently completed in set-up by Mike Magee (pics from his shop). The first copy is being re-built by Mike and will be ready some time in the near future. The first copy was done from measurements and pictures taken from the website. The other two were commissioned after I evaluated the first bass and made some modifications to slightly increase all of the measurements. As you can see, these have actual violin corners, unlike the original 'scallopini' design.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_2112.jpg
Views:	1404
Size:	1.97 MB
ID:	2894  Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_2116.jpg
Views:	660
Size:	1.62 MB
ID:	2895  Click image for larger version

Name:	photo.jpg
Views:	772
Size:	144.4 KB
ID:	2896  
Reply With Quote
  #32  
Old 04-10-2016, 05:05 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
Cool Now with Extension..

Here is the Marconcini with a beautiful C extension and new antiqued gears as well. NOW I can use it regularly in Orchestra. The sound is as good or better than any.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	12106721_981879358539013_1848100693784540172_n.jpg
Views:	591
Size:	39.0 KB
ID:	3263  
Reply With Quote
  #33  
Old 04-12-2016, 07:30 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

It looks lovely! Who made the extension?
__________________

Reply With Quote
  #34  
Old 04-13-2016, 03:13 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
Cool

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric Swanson View Post
It looks lovely! Who made the extension?
Made at AES, Arnold's Shop.

Doing a Pit job this week where I usually use the Kreutzer BUT, I brought the Marconcini in last Saturday for the first rehearsal and on the break leaned it on the outer Pit wall against the Amp. So, I am using it in the Pit tonight, Friday and 2 shows Saturday.

I am parked along side the piano to my back left and the drums on my direct left with the trumpets in front of me. Two or three times my bass or bow (Fuchs) hit the Ride Symbol by accident in a perfect spot in the music and tempo. I told the drummer to 'write that in'! .. lol

Two years ago I used the Marcucci in the pit for another show as well but last year I went back to the Kreutzer in the Pit for safety purposes. I told another Luthier I was using the Marconcini and he said ' In the PIT?' .. lol.. I think the feel and sound is worth the reward to be nervous here and there with movement in and out of the Pit.
Reply With Quote
  #35  
Old 06-20-2017, 11:19 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

Hey, after Gary Karr played my Bass at the ISB and told me how good it was, I think I need to listen to him!
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	Gary Karr.jpg
Views:	579
Size:	84.8 KB
ID:	3508  Click image for larger version

Name:	A.Proietti bow.jpg
Views:	549
Size:	71.7 KB
ID:	3509  
Reply With Quote
  #36  
Old 06-20-2017, 11:42 PM
Matthew Tucker's Avatar
Matthew Tucker Matthew Tucker is offline
Senior Posting Member
 
Join Date: 02-19-2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 427
Matthew Tucker is on a distinguished road
Send a message via Skype™ to Matthew Tucker
Default

Gary Karr? What would he know ...

;-)
Reply With Quote
  #37  
Old 06-21-2017, 08:02 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
Wink

Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthew Tucker View Post
Gary Karr? What would he know ...

;-)
lol.. your guess is as good as mine..
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 2 (0 members and 2 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 07:12 AM.


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