American Bass Viol

American Bass Viol Between 1785 and 1850, the main stringed instrument manufactured in America was the ‘bass viol’, also call the ‘Yankee bass viol’, and, in modern times, the ‘church bass’.  The instrument was essentially a violincello (Br. ‘violoncello’), not to be confused with the bass viola da gamba or double bass, both having been played in Europe and American before the earliest dated American bass viol was made in 1788 by Benjamin Crehore (1765-1831):  http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/american-bass-viol-50920.  A later ‘Yankee bass viol’ is preserved in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art: http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/503171 . Bass viols made in America...

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