Oreste Martini (1893-1957) learned his craft from the great Mantuan maker Stefano Scarampella. After his tutelage under master Stefano Scarampella, beginning at age 14, Martini was producing his own instruments by his early 20s. He began his career with a focus on double basses (reported to be a double bassist himself) but went on to craft many violins, violas, and cellos (He is credited with more than 300 violins, 10 violas, 50 cellos, and 45 basses). While other pupils copied Scarampella's works, Martini adopted his own artistic flair. He received medals for his work in Cremona, Padua, and Paris and…
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Our Featured Bass is this new Concord Model, a fully-carved, flat back 3/4 size double bass directly inspired by the instruments of Abraham Prescott. Gary Upton and Eric Roy began plans for a Prescott-style double bass in the spring of 2012. Their central goal was to build a Prescott pattern with modern ergonomics from our finest stores of seasoned spruce and big leaf maple. The result was the Concord Model, with scores of custom versions built in its first decade. Our New England flagship! This latest example features sloping shoulders (the same upper bouts as our Gary Karr Model), Busetto corners,…
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This Upton Brescian Hybrid double bass, one of the first of the new year, is built with sugar maple veneers on the back and sides with matching neck. German spruce top. Upgraded tuners and “micro-dot” inlays. Spirocores and a Rev Solo pickup for reinforcement and recording. Somebody’s new gigging partner – what a great list of choices! Brescian Hybrid German spruce top Vermont Sugar Maple veneer for back & sides with matched neck German made “Lauren Pierce” tuners, antiqued Solo “Swoop” Fingerboard Micro dot inlays Cold brown top coated varnish over intense yellow ground coats with building layers of ambers
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If you're not an active follower of us on Instagram, or waiting for your bass to be finished, you may not know what we've been up to all summer! With COVID-19 we've all been hit with varying degrees of challenges, and getting basses to folks in a safe and affordable way has been a hassle. Restrictions on the pickup are forcing higher than normal rates, and just trying to be a part of keeping people safe through social distancing practices, made us (ok, Gary led the charge!) think outside the box. Gary had a Sprinter cargo van that he used…
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