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.alembicguitars.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.
-
I went looking for this old thread to find a picture. My (2nd) Cousin Buddy's old blonde Kay bass has since gone to a new home with a young married couple I play in a band with. (so now I don't have to carry a bass when I visit...) I wanted them to have its whole story.
While I'm here;
I can't even imagine the strength, to say nothing of the focus and discipline it would take to pull that cello suite off with a double bass. Not even if I had two lifetimes.
-
Plus the finger joint flexibility. The fingers of my left hand cannot get into some of those positions.
-
Love that piece! :)
-
Just to follow-up on the upright bass theme... I finally put a decent pickup system on my gig-bass. It's David Gage Realist, https://gollihurmusic.com/realist-lifeline-upright-bass-pickup/ with their 'docking port' attachment. https://gollihurmusic.com/realist-super-docking-station-preamp-active-tailpiece-mounted-volume-control-jack-mount/ The female end of the piezo pickup plugs into a male end that has a mount and a volume control, with a detent right above the [OFF] position. It fastens to the back of the tailpiece by hooking behind two string ball ends. Very handy, very compact, and sounds about 5 light-years better than my old AccuSound setup. I tried it out with my older F-1X unit, a Crown power amp, and an Avatar 2×10 cabinet loaded with a pair of ToneTubby SuperBoy 10's. Impressive, with nothing else. I'll probably use some more shaping though. My bass has some nasty lows that carry real well, and a couple midrange squawks that I dial out with a couple notch filters and parametric equalizer. All-in-all, I'm pretty happy with it.
I was thinking about it the other day... other than my old Martin D-18, I have had that bass longer than any instrument, and most of my friends too. Lotta' miles. Lotta' stages.
-
Nice. I put a Gage Lifeline in a couple of years ago, and it’s great. I was using an Underwood before that. Great sound, easy to use.
-
I have a pending repair and restoration that I shall do on what I believe to be a 1/2 size upright that was gifted to me that needs repair. In the early 90s. I repaired and refinished a 3/4 size instrument that I since have sold. I most certainly shall follow this post with images and request for guidance suggestions when this new project commences.
-
On my personal Mount Rushmore of bass players, Viktor Krauss. I met him at The Birchmere up in Alexandria, Virginia waaaaay on back. At the time he was filling in on bass with a band his little sister was producing a record on, and they were touring together some. I hung around after the show and got to check out his setup. It turned out too, we're close to exactly the same age. Anyway, that chance meeting and the resulting influence was a major turning point; I went home and set my bass up with Thomastik-Infeld Spirocores and started practicing hard.
There's some pretty good advice here. ^^
-
Awesome series of videos.
I've had acousticians give a far less comprehensive discussion of resonant frequencies and phase cancellation.
I hope, in addition to being a amazing player, he's teaching sound theory and live sound applications.
Reminds me of late Malcolm Cecil, who had a similar knack of explaining difficult concepts to the less clear.
Nice and gracious man too.
Love it. Great share.
-
This came up tangentially on the Pictures Thread... Adriaan spotted an upright bass with what appeared to be a fine adjuster on an E-string. The bass in question also had a C-extender on the E, so all I can come up with was the adjuster on the tailpiece allowed her to go another step lower than the open C. (skip forward to about 2:50 for the capo type)
I'd love to try one, but on a good day I'm doing good with standard pitch tuning.
-
See my response to Adriaan over on the other thread.
On a good day, I'm not even close to doing good in standard!
Peter
-
After playing for 54 years, I have my own upright. It's nothing special, completely laminate, but IT'S MINE.
Every year my brother-in-law enters the Iowa State Fair banjo competition (he's a pretty good player), and I accompany him. In previous years, I would rent an upright for a month. This year, there were no basses available in the entire state.
So I bought one.
I Des Moines music shop had one for $650, including a bag, stand, bow, and most important, 3 instruction books on bluegrass bass.
We came in second (and since the same person has won first place 15+ years in a row, that's good enough for us).
I have a former student who builds basses (www.nicklloydbasses.com, check him out) who sent me a Gage Copperhead pickup and a set of decent strings, essentially doubling the value of the instrument.
I used it for a community theatre production of Bright Star, my first use of an upright in the pit since 1976. I seriously need to work on my upright chops.
I just got it back from the shop: new adjustable bridge, and the luthier killed a rattle.
I'm looking forward to bringing it to big band & church gigs when the weather gets a bit warmer.
-
I like it Jacko... totally counts as an upright! ;D
I guess this qualifies then
-
I like it Jacko... totally counts as an upright! ;D
I guess this qualifies then
Absolutely, 100%. 😎
-
After playing for 54 years, I have my own upright. It's nothing special, completely laminate, but IT'S MINE.
Congratulations & Compliments! 🥳
-
... So I bought one ... a Des Moines music shop had one for $650, including a bag, stand, bow, and most important, 3 instruction books on bluegrass bass ...
Congrats; it looks really nice!
-
Unless my eyes deceive me, those strings look like Pirastro 'Evahs' too Michael... definitely top-shelf wires if so. And as you say, with the David Gage pickup and adjustable bridge and setup there, you easily doubled the value. I say well done.
I just finished up a very tricky repair on an all solid wood, carved top and back, Eastman bass for one of my shop customers. They're nice, but man they sure are fragile. This one had a 17" long split from the tailblock up towards the c-cutout, and was badly misaligned and splintered in one spot. It was a tough one, but I got it.
Oh yeah, the point I was getting at; Strings. I swapped out his very worn Evah Pirazzi set for a new D'Addario Zyex set. I'm not picking the latter over the Evahs, but for half the price, they are very nice strings. Good hybrid... they take a bow well, and feel nice and smooth for general pizzicato play. I switched-off to them when my favorite Obligato set hit the $250 a few years back. Truthfully, someone of my limited capacity will never hear the difference in my own playing. I do appreciate nice strings though.
-
Edward:
The strings are D'Addario Helicore Lights.
Take a look at the Nick Lloyd basses site, I think you might get a kick out of it.
Speaking of bows, I now have 3. A French and a German, both fiberglass, and a carbon fiber French that looks really cool, but does nothing to improve my tone, which is dreadful.
Several years ago I was the IT volunteer for a bass summer camp that was set up in several cities (I handled the Twin Cities). Francois Rabbath was the main clinician.
Nick Lloyd brought a couple of his basses for the students to try out. One of my students was there, and as I was playing a Lloyd bass, I let him know that the bow he was using cost more than my Alembic. He very carefully set everything down.
-
Edward:
The strings are D'Addario Helicore Lights.
Take a look at the Nick Lloyd basses site, I think you might get a kick out of it.
Ahhh, the teal green threw me off. Helicore is a mighty strong contender too.
I'll check him out!
*very cool
-
... the bow he was using cost more than my Alembic ...
!!!!!
-
... the bow he was using cost more than my Alembic ...
!!!!!
My response exactly!
Peter
-
Apparently it was a really good bow. I don't know, I can't tell.
-
So, I went to the Nick Lloyd site, and I (who know nothing about doghouse basses except they sound great and can be a bear to mic), and I noticed that he offers 3/4 & 7/8 sizes. Is 4/4 not a thing?
Peter
-
So, I went to the Nick Lloyd site, and I (who know nothing about doghouse basses except they sound great and can be a bear to mic), and I noticed that he offers 3/4 & 7/8 sizes. Is 4/4 not a thing?
Peter
No, there are some for sure. I have one... it was gifted to me many years ago. It's huge. Gamba-style flatback Bohemian that started life as a 3-string and got converted to a 4-string sometime in the early 20th Century. I haven't had it strung up in 20 years, but it sounds heavenly. Golly that thing is a double handful to play though. Fractionals are more commonplace though as folks dropping that kind of ka-ching want an upright that fits just right. My main gig-bass is a 3/4 with an unusually longer scale. I can play other basses but would rather not.
-
4/4 is _really_ big. I don't know that anyone builds them anymore. There was a player in the Minnesota Orchestra who had a 4/4 cut down to 7/8. It had a real steampunk look to the tuner, it was a cool bass.
-
... the bow he was using cost more than my Alembic ...
!!!!!
My response exactly!
Peter
Believe it. You can pay whatever you want for a bow, or an upright bass for that matter. Commensurate with your budget, and hopefully your skill level. I have three bows, two pretty decent ones, and one pretty crappy one Itake to fiddler's conventions. The best of which is maybe worth $500. And it's better than I need. It sounds good though. And you can get a good-sounding bow without blowing a grand.
All mine are French-style, just because that's what felt most natural to do. I never could get that German grip to feel like I was getting enough pressure on the strings. What little training I received told me I should go with what felt natural. It's no more complicated than that. (wherever you are Bob Thomas, thanks for that...)
-
So, I went to the Nick Lloyd site, and I (who know nothing about doghouse basses except they sound great and can be a bear to mic), and I noticed that he offers 3/4 & 7/8 sizes. Is 4/4 not a thing?
Peter
No, there are some for sure. I have one... it was gifted to me many years ago. It's huge. Gamba-style flatback Bohemian that started life as a 3-string and got converted to a 4-string sometime in the early 20th Century. I haven't had it strung up in 20 years, but it sounds heavenly. Golly that thing is a double handful to play though. Fractionals are more commonplace though as folks dropping that kind of ka-ching want an upright that fits just right. My main gig-bass is a 3/4 with an unusually longer scale. I can play other basses but would rather not.
And since I did go look around the Nick Lloyd site, I know what "Gamba-style flatbck" means. Learning all kindsa stuff today!
Peter (who will note for those who didn't go look, Mr. Lloyd's starting price is $40K)
-
I bought a very inexpensive upright bass at David Gage in NYC. While they were setting it up i got to play some of the other instruments they had in the shop. Some were okay, some were really nice. I played one that sounded amazing, felt incredible, and I thought - man, I could really PLAY this one.
"How much is this one?"
"oh, about $850,000."
"oh..."
... the bow he was using cost more than my Alembic ...
!!!!!
My response exactly!
Peter
Believe it. You can pay whatever you want for a bow, or an upright bass for that matter. Commensurate with your budget, and hopefully your skill level. I have three bows, two pretty decent ones, and one pretty crappy one Itake to fiddler's conventions. The best of which is maybe worth $500. And it's better than I need. It sounds good though. And you can get a good-sounding bow without blowing a grand.
All mine are French-style, just because that's what felt most natural to do. I never could get that German grip to feel like I was getting enough pressure on the strings. What little training I received told me I should go with what felt natural. It's no more complicated than that. (wherever you are Bob Thomas, thanks for that...)
-
My girlfriend in the 70’s / 80’s went to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Was talking to a classmate who went to Argentina to audition a 1850’s bass. Paid $25,000 for it ($84,000 in 2026). Must be nice to be 22 and have parents that can foot that bill. Trying to remember his name…. Will Google it. Most students went on to remarkable professional careers.
-
Yup. Just googled. He did a stint with the Philadelphia Orchestra among other accomplishments.
-
Boy, leave my bass alone! You gonna' break thuh neck out of it or sumthin'!
~My Dad, to 17 year-old me... who just knew he could play one of them cursed things...
A couple years later, I gave his bass back and bought myself one. The same one I still have and play today. I actually can't remember how the whole deal went, but there was some horse-trading and bartering involved. He traded that bass off for something else, and we never saw it again. It was an early 40's Kay C-1 though. I had refinished the back of it at some point, and inlaid the fingerboard with markers for training, so it has ♤-♡-◇-♧, in the first position. It also has an old English "E" inlaid into a circle of ebony in the heel of the neck, hiding a button repair I did. Other distinctive points, it has a three-piece neck, and walnut fingerboard. One scroll ear doesn't match. (because it's homemade) I don't really want it back, but I would love to see that bass again. If for no reason other than I played my very first notes on it. Made my first dollar with it.
-
... I played one that sounded amazing, felt incredible, and I thought - man, I could really PLAY this one.
"How much is this one?"
"oh, about $850,000."
"oh..."
:)
-
I bought a very inexpensive upright bass at David Gage in NYC. While they were setting it up i got to play some of the other instruments they had in the shop. Some were okay, some were really nice. I played one that sounded amazing, felt incredible, and I thought - man, I could really PLAY this one.
"How much is this one?"
"oh, about $850,000."
"oh..."
(/quote]
And even then......
I am reminded of the time I was recording a concert by the Vermeer Quartet, and Shmuel Ashkenasi, 1st violin, was having technical difficulties; finally leaned over to the talk-to-the-audience mic and says "Geez; ya pay a million bucks for a fiddle, and a $4 rosin bag doesn't work......"
Peter
-
There was a violin shop in St Paul that was a dealer for Yamaha EUBs. Over lunch I went to take a look, and discovered that they don't stock any in the shop. The shop owner asked if I wanted to play any of the uprights while I was there.
I picked one out, no idea what kind, it had a price tag of about $20,000. The owner asked what kind of bow I wanted to use, I declined.
I played a scale, then played the Flintstones theme. The owner grinned, and commented that no one had ever auditioned an instrument in his shop with that song.