Pre-war Contrabassoon

Coming very soon, a pre-war contrabassoon badged 'Schamal, Praha'. Praha stands for Prague. It came to us from a European orchestra, having been owned by the orchestra and played professionally over many years. 

This pre-war contrabassoon has loads of character and is a great talking point wherever it goes. It has a beautiful sound and good looks too. It is a light, compact contrabassoon playing down to low C and we are in the final stages of completing a thorough overhaul including a re-pad and disassembly to re-seal all the joints, bringing it back to original playing condition. It will be available to try by the end of August.

Pre-war contras are incredibly light-weight and easy to port around. They have a free, resonant sound that is not found so much in modern contrabassoons anymore - the wood can really vibrate on pre-war contras because they are thin walled, just like on pre-war bassoons.

It only plays down to low C, but that is fine for most players who aren't professional, and saves weight.

• Standard modern keywork
• Very light weight compared to modern contrabassoons so easy to move around and hold
• A flexible and free blowing pre-war sound which is very resonant
• Good intonation, A=440Hz
• Heckel crook/bocal
• New gig bag with back straps
• Loads of character, sounds fantastic, and a great talking point wherever you take it

The Schamal family of Prague made woodwind instruments from the early 19th century up until 1928 when the company was sold. The family made contrabassoons in the 19th century but this one is later and has a very close resemblance to the pre-war Kohlert, Graslitz, so we think there is a good chance it is a badged Kohlert, or perhaps the result of a collaboration with Kohlert, rather than one of their own design. 

Owing to the size of this instrument we are unable to ship it for trial but you can try it here and then take it for a more extended trial in person.

Please get in touch if you would like more information about this contrabassoon.