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Double Bass Tarr Basses
- Thread starter jneuman
- Start date
- Mar 1, 2002
- 4,237
- 52
- 74
- Disclosures
- Owner: Ken Smith Basses, Ltd.
Don Z... Hey Kid....... I'm only...... only..... only..... geezzzz I can't remember now...... Ask me later.......lol....
Ya know what they say, Ken, there are two sure signs of aging. The first is memory loss, and the second is ... ah... ahh.... hmm.....
- Dec 13, 1999
- 11,737
- 8,951
- 70
- Disclosures
- Chuck Sher publishes my book, WALKING BASSICS:The Fundamentals of Jazz Bass Playing.
Eric Jackson said:
Isn't that why they make Gingko Viagra? So you can remember what the f**k you were doing?
Ed Fuqua said:
That's a keeper. lol, lmfao, etc.
DonZ said:
Yeah, Christine Hoock's a bit of a blinder isn't she? Maybe she'd consider a duet with Kristin Korb?..
Peter Chandler's book contains pictures of an 1846 Tarr belonging to Bea McMahon. It's a beautifully proportioned instrument. He also sells plans for copying this bass, as well as others.
Hey I don't know if OP still wants info on Tarr basses, but there are two that I know of (three if you include the other Halle Tarr mentioned in Ken's page).
Ken Smith currently has a Halle Tarr in his shop, full details here: Tarr Bass
As well, there was another Tarr that I got to personally try out back in 2012, at David Gage's shop. I can't find any pictures of it online, but it's a smaller gamba model, which I assume was blonde when it was new but is now a more faded shade of beige. It was once owned by Ed Tait, who has been retired from the Toronto symphony for a number of years. Last I heard it was bought out by either a serious student or a young professional, though I don't remember any names.
I believe the neck of this bass had been moved either up or down to change the string length. I don't know which direction it was, nor do I know if it was eventually moved back. It now has an extension by Mario Lamarre, though, so I doubt anybody will be moving it again anytime soon.
I only played that bass for about 2-3 minutes (I was shopping for a less expensive bass). It was set up with Belcantos, hard to play in the solo register since the action was set a bit high, but in the lower register it basically played itself. It didn't sound like all that much under the ear, but I had a Zoom recorder with me and when I listened back to what I played I was astonished. This thing is a cannon, especially in the lowest notes down to C. And it's easy to get around since it's relatively small. If I had the money, I probably would have gone back and bought it on the spot.
Ken Smith currently has a Halle Tarr in his shop, full details here: Tarr Bass
As well, there was another Tarr that I got to personally try out back in 2012, at David Gage's shop. I can't find any pictures of it online, but it's a smaller gamba model, which I assume was blonde when it was new but is now a more faded shade of beige. It was once owned by Ed Tait, who has been retired from the Toronto symphony for a number of years. Last I heard it was bought out by either a serious student or a young professional, though I don't remember any names.
I believe the neck of this bass had been moved either up or down to change the string length. I don't know which direction it was, nor do I know if it was eventually moved back. It now has an extension by Mario Lamarre, though, so I doubt anybody will be moving it again anytime soon.
I only played that bass for about 2-3 minutes (I was shopping for a less expensive bass). It was set up with Belcantos, hard to play in the solo register since the action was set a bit high, but in the lower register it basically played itself. It didn't sound like all that much under the ear, but I had a Zoom recorder with me and when I listened back to what I played I was astonished. This thing is a cannon, especially in the lowest notes down to C. And it's easy to get around since it's relatively small. If I had the money, I probably would have gone back and bought it on the spot.
