This old bass recorder came my way for an opinion on whether it should become a playable bass or a standard lamp base.
Indulging a bit of idle and slightly morbid curiosity, I posted the photo to the facebook group Recorders Down Under. Text in italics below is quoted, with the lightest of editing, from the discussion there.
I started the ball rolling with an introduction and a question:
I date it at 1950, give or take 5 years. Soft wood, impregnated with paraffin wax, then lacquered – but some of the wax has oozed out and the lacquer has been removed from the lower sections. Joints? Don’t look – it would ruin your day.
How does it play? The left-hand notes are soft and breathy but not horribly out of tune, but the keys don’t seal, the joints leak, the windway is partly blocked with wax and any note that needs the right hand is …ghostly? spectral? something like that, anyway. Continue reading “The fate of a bass recorder”