We got started on a third “Little Dutchy” bass for Nathan Graham. The back and ribs are Big Leaf maple, and the top was very hard and stiff European spruce. He got an extended fingerboard, Sloane tuners, and a custom C extension. It was the first of our new instruments to have an extension from the beginning, not added later, and free-lances in Pittsburgh.
By 2018 a glimpse of the future had appeared in the shop, although we didn’t know it at the time: Jacob Stone, just 22 and in his last year as a bass student at Shenandoah University, played his senior recital on an early 20th-century bass that he restored under Tom’s supervision as a learning project. He had spent time in the shop on and off during the previous three years, learning to use tools, woodworking procedures and instrument treatments. After the recital, which Tom attended, Jacob started to build his first bass in the shop.
Barbara was honored and humbled to be asked by friend and client Jacques Ogg to act as the producer of a recording by the Lyra Baroque Orchestra of St. Paul, Minn. He had conducted it since 2000, expanding its scope and membership to make it a real musical force in the Midwest. He wanted them to have a recording that was professional in every way to use as a calling card and promote them more broadly. This was a farther flung project with people she didn’t usually work with (there was even someone else to tune the harpsichord!), so it felt like a step up.
Our little leisure time available continued to be devoted to Sheba, who was in her prime. We drove her formally at a big public exhibition with members of the Piedmont Driving Club, but also went on picnic drives at spectacular estates like Llangollan. Sheba’s sociable personality and good manners allowed Barbara to bring her over to offer thank-yous at the end of picnics.
