In 1980 I had the opportunity to play some of the 38 instruments of Prof. Artemio Versari who was then the Principal Contrabassist of the Orchestra in the city of Bologna, Italy. All of these instruments were in his Bologna residence. His Wife would keep bringing me different instruments to play of which I enjoyed each one for their particular qualities. It was good for me to play as many different quality instruments as possible.

One principal reason being that I was searching for
a different instrument,
one that I would love to play for the rest of my life.
I arrived to London to perform at Ronnie Scott's and while there met Mr. Gerald Newson who was then with the
London Symphony Orchestra.
He invited me to his home where he had seven instruments in a particular room. He said to me
"which one do you like?"
There was a Kennedy.
But lying there, by itself,
was this instrument that
had only three strings -
three very old strings.