Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: edwardofhuncote on March 23, 2017, 03:41:59 PM
-
There's bound to be a few of us Alembicans qualified on the old-old-school basses... care to show yours off?
My main gig bass since 1991 is a German import (supposedly) from the nineteen-teens or twenties. It's a3/4-size bass but has a full 42" scale, F# neck with a deep "U" profile. The body is all arched laminate construction, but with some very nice flame maple veneer. It's not the loudest or the quietest bass ever, but it mics very well, and currently set up with D'Addario "Zyex" lights, whether arco or pizz, it plays like the sweetest dream you ever had. ;D
It's been from coast to coast with me, and crossed the Mississippi River four times. Only one major repair- the top began slowly collapsing above the treble foot of the bridge... after a couple years it became critical, requiring a top-off repair. I had her back up and going in less than a week, and she's been solid as a rock since.
I have a couple more uprights too, and will get to them another time, but this is my favorite. :)
-
Gregory that is a beautiful instrument. I have a Knilling Bucharest 3/4 size. Not fancy but special. I will have to setup a photo shoot, it would look nice outside next to the barn, but far too cold right now.
-
I have recently been gifted a half sized instrument that is in dire need of repair that I might be asking for guidance in the near future . ;) Thanks for this thread !
-
maybe not quite within the brief but here's mine.. NS CR5M . looks and plays beautifully and has prompted me to start a search for a suitable 5 string double bass..
Graeme
-
I like it Jacko... totally counts as an upright! ;D
I'm planning to convert an old Bohemian 'flat-back' to a 5-string one of these days... probably/possibly as a retirement project. I've had it for years, and it's in really bad shape, so a total overhaul restoration is in order. What made me hatch such a plan? That bass has a tremendous neck... should be plenty strong enough for the extra tension, and wide enough that the spacing won't be awkward.
-
@pauldo- by all means, I'd love to see that. After the weather breaks of course. ;)
I was reminded by your post, I hadn't included the size... mine is 3/4 as well, but it has really odd proportions for a 3/4. Somebody told me once it could be referred to as a 7/8ths. My old(est) bass is a full 4/4 doublebass, and it dwarfs my regular gig bass.
-
This is not my main instrument. That upright gets gigged and amplified and carried in and out of cars and venues.
THIS is my stay at home bass!!
2001 7/8 size Chandler 42" scale made with Reid Hudson wood. Hand made and beautiful. The top is carved spruce with the sides, neck and back big leaf flamed maple from Vancouver Island. Reid Hudson is a premium bow maker on Vancouver Island. (His bows go for $5000 to $7000.)
The bass is modelled after an Italian Busan from about 1750. Luthier Peter Chandler had access to one for dimensions, owned by a Toronto Symphony player. I have a copy of Peter's Busan construction plans.
To explain why I bought this bass I have to turn the clock back a bit...
Mid '80s my soon to be wife Marcia and I were holidaying on Vancouver Island and dropped in to see Reid Hudson. We were driving our '56 Continental Mark II. Thought it was a great idea to buy all the wood for a bass! It fit in the trunk too.
Actually this car was our special 'going out for dinner car' but my daily driver at the time was a '66 Corvette coupe. The double bass fit in the Corvette and I could actually fit a bass in the trunk of the Continental! We got married later and had a son who's middle name is Reid ...cause we liked it.
Fast forward to a few years ago and I still had not started making a bass with that wood. Luthier and friend of Gary Karr, Brock Radelet from Victoria phones me one day and wants to buy the wood, to build a bass for an American client. It went with him, to some very fortunate person. Reid Hudson wood went out the door.
I found this Chandler for sale January of this year. I knew the owner. I had passed on so many great basses over the years, and regretted it. I just had to check this one out. I decided to only buy if the sound was there. Yep. Reid Hudson wood comes in the door.
The bass sound is big and serious, perfect for the symphony playing I would like to do. The bottom end is growly, and has a bit of a boom tinkle sound. Perfect!
The scratched wood on the first photo has been repaired perfectly, by me!
To complement this bass I have a fine Horst Schicker bow, purchased about 1977.
-
My hat is off to you, sir. 8)
Cool story, and a sweet bass too.
-
My hat is off to you, sir. 8)
Cool story, and a sweet bass too.
Agreed, that is a beaut (both bass and story).
And the "boom tinkle sound" is worth the price of admission! :-D
Do you still own the Continental?
-
Very nice bass Edwardofhuncote!
That script on the back, I have seen that on .... Wilfer's?
Anycase, very very nice!
-
Do you still own the Continental?
[/quote]
Nope!
One day while hanging out with my three little kids, in the sun in the back yard, I realized having cars like that just doesn't make sense for this dad. I remember that moment! Ha ha!
The Corvette I bought when I was a 20 year old. Drove it daily for 13 years. Awesome gig car!
-
That purfling design is a very 'German' feature... I don't know anything for absolutely certain on that bass, as the only marking is that very faint country of origin tag in English. (which I believe dates it to post 1914 and 1921 amendments of the 1891 McKinley Tarriff Act) Reportedly, there was a huge number of musical instruments (particularly members of the violin/viol family) imported to the U.S. from Germany in that timeframe. I believe this bass is one of them.
I met a New Orleans Jazz bassist once with one almost identical to mine; his had a paper label that said "Laurel Stringed Instrument Co." but the city was illegible.
-
The Roth. Got it in Seattle in 1977.
-
Nice! ;)
-
Still need to do a proper outdoor photo shoot of my dog house. Here is a pic I found of 'the family'.
Knilling Bucharest 3/4
http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/124060.jpg
-
Thought I'd resurrect this thread as I've just bought myself a brand new upright (still keeping the Steinberger though).
it's a Strunal 5/35 3/4 size five string hybrid construction. Beautiful back and it has a really nice deep tone. Looking forward to learning my way around this beast.
Graeme
-
That Instrument Beautiful !
-
YES, a 5-string upright! Congratulations and Compliments, Graeme. :)
Is it strung with a high C or a low B?
-
It's a low B. same as all my other basses (apart from the 2 four strings hidden in the attic with my lunatic first wife ;D )
Graeme
-
That's fantastic! :D
I have plans on a five-string conversion for this old bass, currently residing in my music room. Having a wide, heavy neck makes it a prime candidate.
-
That's a chunky neck, even to my noobie eyes.
Are the wood tuner knob heads just for looks?
The back wood on that 5 looks like dark chocolate....congrats on the find!
-
That's a chunky neck, even to my noobie eyes.
Are the wood tuner knob heads just for looks?
It's huge... and stranger still, I think this bass started life as a 3-string.
Yep, the hat-pegs are functional... see, you wound the string end around the wood peg and took the slack up, then insert a locking pin and tighten to pitch using the geared part. They're still available, but insanely expensive.
https://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/1609-DELUXE_EBONY_HAT_PEG_UPRIGHT_BASS_TUNING_MACHINES_TUNERS.html
-
A 5 string makes a lot of sense if you need to go down to 'b' or 'c' vs a 4 string 'c extension'.
Modern orchestral music requires those lows notes.
Watched the Vancouver Symphony bass section up close the other night. Out of 7 beautiful basses 6 had the 'c extension' and one was a 4 string without it. Makes me sad to see these fine scrolls 'modernized'.
North Americans tend to have the extensions while Europeans choose 5 strings.
A lot of basses about a hundred plus years ago were strung with 3 gut strings. There are old 3 string bass method books out there. I recall my teacher (about 40 years ago) lamenting how many big sounding smaller basses were strangled when converted to 4 steel strings. Some folks play 3 string bass today.
The old wood tuning keys can split. Some fantastic all metal key sets are available today, quite expensive of course. Should be good for 200 years of daily use :D
Graeme, nice looking 5 string! With those sloping shoulders you should zip around the thumb positions.
My Busan copy 7/8ths bass with big round shoulders requires special tactics to get up high. I have another 5/8ths bass that has sloping shoulders plus a big sound through the thumb positions. Curious that my large bass sounds big in the low registers and light in the high registers and my small bass is just the opposite!
Cheers
-
I have one to learn on but as yet am not licensed to use it!
-
Hmm. I wonder if Alembic might have any interest in developing an upright bass pickup system. The R & D work could be piggy-backed with the (eventual) acoustic line... maybe some kind of piezo/microphone system with blending electronics? I mean, there's plenty of that stuff available already, but I bet they'd come up with something pretty special out there.
Currently I'm using an AccuSound piezo strip fastened to the bridge with adhesive, and a flexible capsule mic suspended from the end of the fingerboard. Works fine, but it's twitchy, and midrange biased. Best results are achieved by using a preamp with parametric eq, and notch filters.
*and dang it, I miss my Rane AP-13! :(
-
Here is a live recording of my 5/8ths bass the other night.
I use a Realist copper pickup most gigs these days. No pre amp. I find the amp makes a big dif to the sound. I like to use an old tube ampeg portaflex for louder dates, and a GK mb112 for smaller ones. I also have a Underwood pickup I like to use. I usually take the 5/8ths bass out for gigs and keep the 7/8ths home.
The 7/8ths would be the choice for an important recording.
Ben MacRae's Hot Five. Early swing'n jazz with clarinet, violin, django style guitar, upright bass and drums. Keep in mind this is not a 'serious' recording, it's for fun. If serious I would of used my 7/8ths bass! I recommend you listen with headphones to hear the bass.
The pickup is Realist and amp GK. This is a typical gig for me where we had no rehearsals, and I had never met the drummer or violinist before :D
Everything is one take, live and often no chart in front of me haha. Exactly the kind of gig I love.
https://soundcloud.com/jazz-capilano/2017-10-04-ben-mcraes-hot?in=jazz-capilano/sets/ben-mcraes-hot-five-phj-2017-10-04
-
I have a Gage Realist on my Englehardt bass, and it sounds pretty good, but is sort of bass heavy, and lacks the mids. Mine is the type that fits like a fork on an adjustable bridge thumb-wheel, rather than the copper foil type.
*this one- https://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/2681-DAVID_GAGE_REALIST_LIFELINE_UPRIGHT_BASS_PICKUP.html
I'll wait to stream your audio Casey, until I'm in the office or on WiFi somewhere. Gives me something to look forward to. ;)
-
I gotta say, Graeme, that is the one of the 2 most beautiful doghouse back I've ever seen! (The other is owned by a Czech bluegrass-and-jazz guy who did grad school at the local university; his had a back that'd make you swear it was the front of a fancy Alembic).
Peter
-
Do the old Dearmond units get any respect these days?
(https://www.talkbass.com/attachments/bass-pickup-mounted-jpg.396899/)
-
De Armond, I remember them, an old contact microphone that is wedged between the top and tailpiece. You could only turn your amp up to about 2 before feedback arrived...
Also the '50s Ampeg microphone thingie that went into the endpin haha. Nothing worked until Polytone came along.
I used a Polytone pickup on the bridge for many years. I asked Ray Brown about the Polytone and how he liked it. He looked at me curiously and said 'they sponsor me so I use it' ::)
Underwood does a good job, miles ahead of the early stuff. Realist is good.
You have to start with a great sounding bass. The amp and speaker makes a huge dif too.
Of course how you play is the most important.
Speaking of Ray Brown, he always sound great but often used an inferior borrowed bass. I know this as I have played his borrowed bass. He had a fine old french bass at home in LA but did not like to take it on the road. All in the hands as they say.
-
Casey, that recording sounds great. I remember Vancouver fondly - when I lived out West Rene Worst was the young guy to beat - is he still around? I also remember playing the Brandenburgs, or some of them, at Capilano College when I was in the University of Victoria string ensemble in 76 or 77. Your recording brought back some memories for me.
I used a Don Underwood pickup that I bought from Don directly by mail in '77 or so until it gave up the ghost - I liked it, so I bought another one. Still does the job, although I usually use my NS electric upright these days. I remember the De Armond system well - and not fondly! I also remember a system that was actually built into the bridge...but I can't remember the name.
-
The Hot Five recording was nice.
-
Not a great photo, but these are my uprights:
Yamaha SLB-200 and 1968 Kay M3
(http://awaywithwords.us/010a.JPG)
-
Looks like that Yamaha has lost some serious weight!! (Which is my way of joking that I know NOTHING about uprights.)
-
Oooh, I like that old Kay! :)
I posted this on a shop thread a couple years ago, but here is my Dad's '51 Kay M1B, in the hands of its original owner, Buddy Yearwood. Cousin Buddy (my 2nd Cousin) was a weekend warrior like me back in the 50's and 60's, playing all over east-central North Carolina with a variety of country acts of the day. When he retired from playing, the old Kay was strung down and stored in a closet, until finally my Dad got him to part with it. These days, my Ol' Man is gigging it pretty regular. ;)
-
Thanks guys,
The Yamaha is a pretty nice EUB. Sounds great. 3/4 scale. "Semi-hollow" by their specs because of the large chamber under the bridge. Onboard preamp. Breaks down to a reasonable size. Carries easily. I don't play it much these days. I'll get bored and break it out again. The Kay is what I play now. It's a 1/4 size bass. Easier for me because I've always been an electric bassist and the neck and string spacing are more suited to my hands. Has a beautiful voice, but when I show up for bluegrass jams, I have to put up with about 5 minutes of ribbing from the other players because of its smaller size (where's the rest of it?). After they calm down, they always admit that it sounds pretty dern good. I put a Barcus-Berry transducer on it some time ago and later found a Schatten mini-pre...not the "premium" setup for electrifying an upright, but to my ears, that setup sounds as good as a lot of other more expensive setups. In fact, I haven't heard anything that sounds all that great for electrifying an upright.
-
Kays bring back memories for me.
It was my first upright, used it on my first jazz gigs, '72-74. I bought the bass for about $150 and took it home on the public bus haha! I recall the bus driver stopped the packed bus on Granville Street downtown Vancouver. Granville is the main street in a city of 600,000 people. I was a 17 year old with crazy long blonde hair (like Jack Casady) he looked at me, paused for a second and I could read his mind. He was thinking 'do I let this long haired kid on my bus with that thing' and then with a nod ...'hop on'. No words spoken but that is what he was thinking for sure :)
It was a nice clean and good sounding Kay. Should of kept it. In those days 2 or 3 gigs could pay for an upright.