The Restoration Earlier this year, Max Zeugner of the New York Philharmonic brought his early 19th Century double bass for restoration. The instrument was built in Florence by Cassini, and among the many things going on, the six piece top had lost much of its arch. Lots of tender care has been given in the restoration. A plaster cast was made, and with breast patches, careful repairs, removal of old problematic repairs, and doubling of the edges, it has come back to what we believe the maker intended. https://youtu.be/AvSQ6TxLSqc https://youtu.be/TtX063hZ998 Unrestored Cassini top left, getting intensive interior work The Recreations…
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Finally a book for grade-schoolers that centers on the double bass! Do you know a young person who may be interested the largest member of the violin family? This new book from (UB's own!) author Antonia Aviles is both an introduction to the bass and a fun story about trying something different. There's a lot of factual information about the bass delivered with great illustrations for the musical kid in your life! Buy it directly from Upton Bass here! Also available on Amazon. Antonia Aviles, Author It is show-and-tell day at school and Catalina is nervous about sharing her knowledge…
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The Brescian Model Double Bass was being designed and prototyped at the same time we were raising our post-and-beam workshop in 2012. From the original Upton Hawkes pattern, our gravitational pull was always towards giant Italy-via-England contrabasses – violin patterns with broad proportions built enormous for lavish orchestra sections. The Upton Brescian Model was our new push to create a wide-ribbed bass in this classic style, while applying all of our invention in construction and ergonomics. When we think of a ‘Brescian’ style (from Northern Italy), we reference the masters such as Gasparo da Salo, Maggini, and Rogeri. Vincenzo Panormo…
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This big crazy Alcoa has been hanging at the shop, now fully sorted with a fresh setup and for sale on our vintage page! Shiny underneath, with weathered paint. Very few come through in original condition – it’s pretty cool! Many have been stripped and polished to hot rod chrome, they definitely have a cult following. patina of Luke Skywalker’s landspeeder Eric wrote on aluminum bass history, going back to 2005. These Alcoas actually were prewar, and may have been built for Interlochen music camp so they were easily stored. The Alcoa basses differ from the Pfretzchner versions in that…
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