Abraham Prescott Archives - Upton Bass String Instrument Co.

Ghosts of Prescott Basses Past, Present & Future

Dave Anderson 9th December 2023

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…

Upton Prescott 4/4 Opus 150, The Tiny Martin Prescott

Dave Anderson 12th November 2023

This new Upton double bass is a direct tracing from the Tiny Martin Prescott, a fully-sized Abraham Prescott bass, perhaps one of the last built in the 1840s. That Prescott enjoyed a decades-long career filling Boston Symphony Hall under the bow of Leslie "Tiny" Martin. It exemplifies how a simple ingenious New England double bass is still the perfect design for a huge, remarkably clear low register. Another similar Prescott is still used by Lawrence Wolfe in the same chair. This is our first foray into copying a Prescott design that was not Busetto shape (Concord) or even violin-cornered! (Church…

Ten Years of the Concord Model Upton Double Bass

Dave Anderson 12th August 2023

The Concord Model double bass was one of our first ambitious design projects once Upton Bass moved into our own post-and-beam workshop in Mystic. It was born out of a long admiration for Prescott basses and a realization Upton Bass had to have a model paying tribute to New England stringmaking history! An homage to Abraham Prescott, the Concord would incorporate the 'Busetto' recurved c-bouts of the most famous Prescott double basses. The Concord would also carry forward ingenious design principles from the original Concord, New Hampshire Prescotts - deep ribs and high-arched tops carved thin with attached ff-holes to…

Tewkesbury and Prescott – A Tale of Moses and Abraham

Dave Anderson 8th November 2018

(...Set in New Hampshire) We are listing again an 1844 Moses Tewkesbury double bass, an instrument clearly akin to our 1845 Abraham Prescott. Beautifully restored with a low B-extension, this bass also has the low pipe-organ authority that has made Prescott basses famous. By the mid 1840's Abraham Prescott had a thriving shop in Concord, New Hampshire with 13 employees. These builders worked in assembly-line fashion, with specialists bending ribs, carving tops, carving scrolls, assembling and varnishing. Prescott also owned his own sawmill to source instrument-grade wood for his instruments. Moses Tewkesbury had worked for years in Prescott's shop and…

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Tag: Abraham Prescott

Ghosts of Prescott Basses Past, Present & Future

Upton Prescott 4/4 Opus 150, The Tiny Martin Prescott

Ten Years of the Concord Model Upton Double Bass

Tewkesbury and Prescott – A Tale of Moses and Abraham

Upton Bass String Instrumental Co.

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The Upton Report

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Mittenwald Opus 129 – What a Carved Back!

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