is this an original church bass?

[lyndon]

brad, your statement alone probably knocked 400 off the price, did you mention that auction prices are averaging something like 50% of retail, and that church basses come up at auction about as often as genuine abe lincoln signatures, the appeal of a genuine baroque instruments is hard to explain to the modern violin dealers, but they set the prices so in that sense youre sorta right........

[Brad Dorsey]

....did you mention that auction prices are averaging something like 50% of retail, and that church basses come up at auction about as often as genuine abe lincoln [sic] signatures....

No. I said nothing about auction prices versus retail prices and nothing about Abe Lincoln signatures.

[Craig Cowing]

On 1/23/2011 at 3:52 PM, baroquecello said:

Thanx everyone for the huge amount of interesting answers! I had actually thought that the instrument may be interesting, in restored state, to be used as an instrument like the one on the picture Bruce provided, for playing relatively simple bass lines in first half of the 17th century music, probably tuned like a basse de violon, (which is one step down from the cello in a=415 or 395 or so). I think quite some more artistic examples are present in some collections of musical instruments owned by museums, so a respectful restoration for the instrument in question would, I think, not be something that is out of the question, given that many examples are preserved without being used anyway. I think the usage as basse de violon could give many of this type of instruments a second productive life without damaging the original substance at all.

Did you end up buying it? How did it turn out after restoration? I'd be interested to see pics and a description. Despite the general assumption that these instruments are obsolete, I really like them. I have one from NH, 1834.

 

[Schwartzinc]

On 1/23/2011 at 1:41 PM, Bruce Carlson said:

Richard,

Here's a shot of the inside of a belly with an integral bassbar currently in the collection of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. The instrument is labelled Francesco Framonti and is described as a (contra)bassetto.

EDIT: This bassetto is thought to be very old. Much older than the one on the right attributed to Adam Kirner or Joseph Meyer illustrated in Adelmann's book.

Bruce

Bruce were you ever able to get pictures of the Framonti bassetto in the Academia di Santa Cecilia in Rome??

[Schwartzinc]

Found it! 

 

http://museo.santacecilia.it/museo/cms.item?munu_str=0_2_0&numDoc=206&itemDoc=151&selId=3sec87daa209e24501&posInQr=0&typeItem=1&flagview=viewItem#n

 

 

 

[Oscar Stern]

Yep it's a Church Bass. A Church Bass is a Large Bodied Cello that was originally used to Accompany Choirs before Churches could afford Organs &/or Pianos. I think these things should be made today (also in 5 String Versions that even have Pickups) because they do have a Special sound. My favorite feature of the Church Bass is that it has Mechanical Pegs to help it stay in tune better. It's reminiscent of those large 15th & 16th Century Cellos that have since been cut down to make them more playable when they were being modernized.