Reviews

Tell me about this instrument. This is a very decently made English instrument. It is viol shaped and has a flat back with upper angle break. The front has purfilling - the back does not. The golden-brown varnish is the original. The model and proportions look much smaller than most English instruments. Yes - the instrument has a back length of only 112.7cm. This means that proportionally the whole instrument is a fair bit smaller than the full-bodied and "grand" Brescian models - that can measure upwards of 114.0cm - so traditional of the English school of making. I am...

Gosh - the instrument looks just like a B.S Fendt. Yes - this classic English instrument with its glorious Brecian features certainly does look near-identical to those magnificent double purfilled - Maggini inspired instruments that B.S. Fendt is well renowned for. How do you know that it isn't a Fendt? On the inside back - treble side - below the central brace there is a very faint pencil inscription - J. Walker, Maker 1884. Because the inscription is so faint a past restorer has circled and copied it - again in pencil - for all to read clearly. Without this...

Instrument Identification This well proportioned English orchestral instrument was made by William Howarth in 1894. It bears his original printed label which is affixed to the treble side back - just below the central brace. Although the label is partially torn it clearly states "William Howarth Double Bass Maker April 21-94." The date and word maker being hand written in black ink. Also visible on the inside back - this time on the upper bass-side - is a fairly large character inscription in black ink "Made by Wm. Howarth - April 21/94." Another inscription with identical wording to this was...

Do you have any history on this instrument? The model and making of this stunning violin outline instrument was directly influenced by the Giovanni Paolo Maggini double bass that was and still is housed (April 2012) at the Royal Opera, Stockholm, Sweden. How do you know that? Johannes Wilhelm Adam Hegner (b-1852, d-1938) was the principal double bass player of the Orchestra of the Swedish Royal Opera between 1876 and 1907. In 1903 he commissioned this double bass directly from Alfred Nilsson Brock. It is the only double bass that Brock made. How do you know this history? Information about...