We’ve always appreciated the accomplishments of Abraham Prescott and his thriving early 19th Century New England string instrument company. Separated by an ocean from the violinmaking traditions of Europe, his large resonant basses built of native old-growth Sugar Maple have inspired classical and jazz bassists to this day.
In this holiday season we can see his handiwork all around the Upton shop! From a Busetto-cornered 1820s example (available) to our fresh restoration of this 1830s gamba-cornered instrument, previously uncatalogued! This broken attic denizen came to us with in pieces, but with complete three-string originality. After a tremendous effort by the entire workshop (and settling on four strings), we’re happy to show the world another fully-restored Prescott double bass, previously lost to the ages!
The ghostly, cobwebbed past made vibrant into the present! This bass hopefully will fall into the hands of the world’s finest bassists for centuries to come.
At Upton Bass we’ve been bringing that Prescott past into the present with our fully modern, ergonomic Concord Model which takes aesthetic and performance cues directly from Prescott designs. This year, we can add to that a fully Upton Bass-built recreation of the 4/4 gamba-cornered Tiny Martin Prescott, built directly off the original. So in addition to the 3/4 sized Busetto-styled Concord, you can now try to twist Gary’s arm for another of this outstanding full-sized version! That makes two patterns directly tied to Abraham Prescott being built into the future here at Upton Bass.
Could any of them be in your future? Talk to Gary for more information on any of these century-spanning double basses! +1 (860) 535-9399
