Books › British Violin Makers, 1920 › scan 302
Scan 302
British Violin Makers, 1920
4 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 242. See the scan on archive.org.
1I called upon him on August 5, last year (1919), and seemed to be almost as active and as keen as he was twenty-five years ago, when I first made his acquaintance. He certainly looks good for another ten years' work. He is a man of medium height, of rather spare but wiry figure, very shrewd and somewhat reticent and incommunicative in his manner. He seldom speaks except when spoken to, and his answers are usually brief and categorical. The enthusiast or scribbler who enters the little shop at 94 Wardour Street, with the intention of "drawing" its occupant is certain to go away a disappointed man. Tubbs is invulnerable, and criticism or praise are equally lost upon him. On one point only is it possible to rouse his susceptibility: if you confuse his name with that of any other bow maker of the name of Tubbs, you are likely to drop in for a warm time of it. He is a "character," is James Tubbs. He is a man of the good old school, plain, simple, straightforward, with a rather crusty exterior, but with a solid heart and plenty of sober sense. He is very different from the typical business man of to-day, who is essentially a man of the world, with often a slice of the flesh and the devil thrown in.
3Up to about six or seven years ago, Mr. Tubbs made at the rate of seven to ten new bows per month. He must therefore have made altogether between four and five thousand bows, of one sort and another. These are all of uniform excellence as regards workmanship and finish, though they possibly may not be of the same excellence as regards material. In so large a number it would be extraordinary if the wood were absolutely of the same high standard of perfection. But the best of these bows (and a large percentage of them have the very finest material) are, in my opinion, equal to the bows of François Tourte, Voirin, Peccate, Henry, or any other great bow maker, past or present. Opinions differ, of course, but that is my honest opinion. To appreciate the fine qualities of a Tubbs bow one must be accustomed to the use of it. One who has used a French bow for a number of years does not take kindly to
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