The Strad News – Missing: 18th-century Italian bass worth $150,000

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An 18th-century Italian double bass worth $150,000 has been reported stolen by its owner, Brian Fountain.

Fountain is an American double bassist working as principal bass of the São Paulo Opera Orchestra. In a tearful video on social media, Fountain appeals to publicize the disappearance of his instrument.

According to the video, Fountain left his double bass in the care of Barrie Kolstein and Manny Alvarez of Kolstein and Sons Music in Baldwin, New York, in April 2022, as part of a consignment deal.

Fountain went to pick up the instrument in April 2024, having received no offers on the instrument. That month, Fountain was informed that the bass had been sold, but received no documents or contracts proving the sale. As of May 2024, Fountain has been unable to make contact with either Kolstein or Alvarez.

“They no longer respond to my messages. No one affiliated with Kolstein and Sons will tell me where my bass is,” Fountain says.

Fountain has now reported the theft of the bar to Confederate authorities in New York, believing it to be an acquisition of property by false pretenses.

The instrument has a six-piece top of medium-grain spruce with fiddle corners. The flat back is made from four pieces of light pear wood. The ribbing does not match the back and there is no outer lining. The bass has no binding in either table.

The neck, new, is made of well flamed maple. The fingerboard is ebony and the individual replacement tuning gears are brass with brass pegs.

The exterior side wings of the top as well as all the wood of the backrest are cut from the slab. The summit has a high and rapid arch. The bass is believed to have been made around 1790 in Italy by an unknown maker.

“If you are with this instrument, please know that you are playing on stolen property. This has major legal implications for you,” says Fountain.

Fountain can be contacted via Instagram @brianfountain.bass or email [email protected]