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Seven String & French Viols
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| Few basses were built in England alter the French style with the added low A string, but there are numerous examples of English instruments converted by the addition of a new neck, fingerboard and tailpiece. Most of the original seven-stringers are French or German. Stradivari left drawings for a viol ala francese but no such instrument survives. It should also be remembered that there were French six-string basses too. |
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Six-String Bass |
| After GUILLAUME BARBEY, Paris c. 1690 |
SL 71.5cm
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A very elegant fine example of the early French school.
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Small Solo Seven-String Bass |
| After F. RUGGIERI, Cremona 1697 |
SL 69.0cm |
| Italian viols from this time a very rare, but this one is a beauty. It is the smallest seven-string I know, but it works. |
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Mid-Size Seven-String Basses |
| After EDWARD LEWIS, London c.1680 |
SL 71.5cm |
| I know of three almost identical basses by Lewis that survive with French necks, apparently all by different hands, so they must have had the qualities the French players wanted. |
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| After PIERRE COLICHON, Paris 1691 |
SL 72.0cm |
| A slightly more robust instrument than the Lewis, and French to its very linings. |
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Continuo Seven-String Basses |
| After NICOLAS BERTRAND, Paris 1720 |
SL 74.0cm |
| With the French habit of placing the bridge low on the body even some of the smaller-bodied basses clearly were played with what seem to us very long string-lengths. This one is just all around big, a real continuo workhorse. |
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Email: john@pringleviols.com
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