Lou DiLeone
Louis L. DiLeone
July 30, 1921 – December 21, 2021
Lou DiLeone lived a long and productive life. He influenced and inspired many luthiers. He generously shared his expertise with anyone who had an interest in the bass. I’m deeply indebted to him for starting me on the path I’m on and for sharing his delight in the challenges of this trade. He delighted even more in the players who came to his shop, and he introduced me to many of his friends. The bass world is lucky to have known this magnificent man.
Lou worked on basses all of his life. His father was a bassist and owned a music store in New Haven, Connecticut. He made and repaired basses in addition to selling and servicing every instrument in the orchestra. Lou grew up in the store and in his father’s workshop. His understanding of the bass and of the people who play them was deep and heartfelt. My education with Lou left me with much more than the techniques and tools of the trade; he taught me about the soul of the bass and the important role a luthier plays in a bassist’s life.
After a concert in 1993, my daughter Annika declared that she wished she could play the bass. I knew she would never learn to play unless there was a bass in the house, so I accepted the gift of a wreck of a bass and started restoring it. Geoffrey Ovington, a violin maker who lived nearby, offered to guide me, and months later I was ready to graft the scroll and set the neck. His knowledge of bass setup was limited, so he recommended that I consult a bass expert. As it happened, John Feeney was in town to play the Dvorak Quintet so Geoffrey introduced us and we talked about my project. John urged me to call Lou DiLeone, the master bass restorer who had worked on his own bass. Lou showed me how to do the graft and gave me the measurements I needed to set the neck. A few weeks later when I showed him the finished neck he said, “You should be doing this professionally, and I will teach you.” So began my apprenticeship with Lou.
Lou and I spoke the same language – of tools, jigs, wood, and glue. And we both enjoyed inventing the right tool for the job – which is ultimately a strong repair that maximizes the tone of the instrument. Employing a minimum of spoken words, Lou would often simply show me the problem he was working on and then show me the jig he made to accomplish the task.