Earlier this week I blogged a bit about a special bass case made for Serge Koussevitzky’s bass. Bass blog contributor Benjy sent in the following photos and information regarding this vintage bass trunk:

These pics were sent to me by a bassist friend of mine from Paris, Michaël Greenberg, who also lectures and does research on old French instruments, and who is also the author of the famous 1998 thesis on François Rabbath.

Michaël states that:

” Marc Laberte made both a replica of Koussevitzky’s bass that he subsequently sold alongside his own models, and this special case for the Maestro’s own copy. The correspondence concerning the delivery is in the Koussevitzky archive in the Library of Congress.”

Even for the size of this case, I don’t think that Koussevitsky ever had the same problems that we have all encountered in our modern continent hopping. In those days, you could most likely travel by boat. If you traveled by plane, security measures were practically inexistent. You could even escort your bass all the way to the plane’s baggage compartment to make sure that it was secure!

While we’re on the subject, check out this 1920 nostalgic catalogue on Marc Laberte and his associates, violin makers from Mirecourt, France:

http://www.luthiers-mirecourt.com/laberte-humbert_fourier_magnie-1915.htm

Page 19 says that “This 5 string bass is a replica of GUARNERIUS bass, belonging to the famous bassist Ed. NANNY. Its streamlined form allows the performer to reach the harmonics that are situated beyond the fingerboard, without any difficulty.”

You can check out Benjy’s various contributions to the blog through the bass blog articles link.

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