Abraham Prescott

American luthier

Abraham Prescott
Born	(1789-07-05)July 5, 1789 Deerfield, New Hampshire, United States
Died	May 1, 1858(1858-05-01) (aged 68) Concord, New Hampshire, United States
Occupation	Luthier

Abraham Prescott (July 5, 1789 – May 1, 1858) was a noted luthier, particularly of the double bass, who worked in Deerfield and Concord, New Hampshire during the 19th century. Prescott built his first double bass in 1819, building 207 over the course of his career.^[1] Prescott and his apprentices also made hundreds of church basses in addition to violoncellos, violins, and keyboard instruments such as melodians.^[2]^[3]

Prescott basses are prized by professional musicians throughout the United States. One particularly famous Prescott bass was owned by jazz legend Scott LaFaro. The bass was damaged in the auto accident that killed LaFaro in 1961. It was later restored by Barrie Kolstein and is owned by Kolstein and Son, New York.

External links

The "LaFaro" Prescott at Kolstein and Son
An original 3 string Prescott circa 1820
Dean Ferrell performing on a Prescott church bass on YouTube
Locations of some of Prescott's double basses
Thread discussing Prescott era lutherie

References

^ Shrader, Erin, "Pilgrim's Pride", Strings Magazine, archived from the original on 2010-11-28
^ Wall, Edward (1987), "Abraham Prescott: Bass Viol Maker of Deerfield and Concord", Historical New Hampshire, 42: 101–117, archived from the original on 2012-06-30
^ Bush, Douglas; Kassel, Richard (2006). The Organ: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-94174-1. Retrieved 2010-01-10.