Is Mario Lamarre the only luthier in N. America taking existing or new DB's and converting them to removable neck basses?
Seems like a good option for air travel these days. If you can keep the case w/ bass down to 70 lbs. or less I believe on many airlines there would be no overage charges at all.

I considering having this done to my German :ninja: or Plywood bass. Supposedly it only helps, not hurts tone. Has anybody had this done? What do you luthiers think of this?

BG

My luthier Bob Ross has made a couple detachable neck DBs
Take a look www.rossdoublebass.com to get ideas for yourself. The four string extension, last on the page is the detachable neck db. He'll gladly answer your questions....

Hey Paul.

Is that you playing the 5 string Cherry bass?

Peter Chandler does them as well.

http://www.peterchandler.net/collapsiblebass.html

Patrick Charton's B-21 is the most amazing example of this--I love that bass--he really rethought the whole thing, and it's such an elegant approach
http://www.charton-luthier.com/

Hey Paul.

Is that you playing the 5 string Cherry bass?That's him. If I'm not mistaken, I heard Paul playing that bass at an outdoor concert a few years backs. I didn't like the bass as much as his Bohmann, but that isn't saying that it wasn't a great sounding bass - it was, or at least it was with Paul Warburton playing it. I was talking to the maker, Bob Ross, whenever the band stopped playing. One of the most innovative makers around today.

My luthier Bob Ross has made a couple detachable neck DBs
Take a look www.rossdoublebass.com (http://www.rossdoublebass.com) to get ideas for yourself. The four string extension, last on the page is the detachable neck db. He'll gladly answer your questions....

"Peter Chandler does them as well
http://www.peterchandler.net/collapsiblebass.html" (http://www.peterchandler.net/collapsiblebass.html)

Thanks guys, beautiful basses. Do you know if they convert older bases as well?

"Patrick Charton's B-21 is the most amazing example of this--I love that bass--he really rethought the whole thing, and it's such an elegant approach
http://www.charton-luthier.com/"

PB+J, I agree from the looks of it. Have you seen or heard one? D you know how much they go for?

Thanks again all, Bri

That's him. If I'm not mistaken, I heard Paul playing that bass at an outdoor concert a few years backs. I didn't like the bass as much as his Bohmann, but that isn't saying that it wasn't a great sounding bass - it was, or at least it was with Paul Warburton playing it. I was talking to the maker, Bob Ross, whenever the band stopped playing. One of the most innovative makers around today.

Thanks B...Bob Ross basses are, as far as I know, one of the least expensive new Master carved DBs out there at around $12,000
Bri...I can't seem to open the English version of Patricks site...any hints?

His site is kinda hard to open. I don't know why.

This is the lnk that goes to his new site.

http://perso.orange.fr/charton-luthier/instrument1.html

I tried the B 21 in his shop. It is a great instrument. All around. He is working on a more economical version which is a carbon fiber back and ribs with a wooden top. This is designed more for people who use amplified instruments .

Its funny. Charton was telling me about who built all the hardware for his new B 21. You see in st etienne France where he is located, was also the location of the largest munitons/weapons plants in all of france. well, they shut down the plant and all of a sudden there were al these "rocket science" mechanical engineers floating around.
Patrick got one of these guys to do the work for him. When he first went to ask for help he said something like " sorry but I need some metal work done, but it must be done in like half milimeter sizes. They just laughed at him saying , they were used to working on rockets so they could do several thousands of a milimeter.
Believe me the work is very nice and built to last.

I ordered one...

His site is kinda hard to open. I don't know why.

This is the lnk that goes to his new site.

http://perso.orange.fr/charton-luthier/instrument1.html

I tried the B 21 in his shop. It is a great instrument. All around. He is working on a more economical version which is a carbon fiber back and ribs with a wooden top. This is designed more for people who use amplified instruments .

Its funny. Charton was telling me about who built all the hardware for his new B 21. You see in st etienne France where he is located, was also the location of the largest munitons/weapons plants in all of france. well, they shut down the plant and all of a sudden there were al these "rocket science" mechanical engineers floating around.
Patrick got one of these guys to do the work for him. When he first went to ask for help he said something like " sorry but I need some metal work done, but it must be done in like half milimeter sizes. They just laughed at him saying , they were used to working on rockets so they could do several thousands of a milimeter.
Believe me the work is very nice and built to last.

I ordered one...

Paul, I cannot open the english version either.

GForce, thanks, but how much is the B-21?

Paul, I cannot open the english version either.


Is there an English version? The French version is quite easy to navigate, though. Wait for the navigation bar at the top to load, then go to "creation d'instrumentes" and click on 'contrebasses'; then select the B21 from the pictures of basses along the top.

My rusty French furnishes me with:

"This instrument is the fruit of two years of research, to create a 21st century bass (B21) with contemporary curves and new functionality, and with a tone of the highest quality. Because it has already received numerous awards, it has been adopted by Daniel Marillier (international soloist) and therefore played with the Paris Opera and and with the Auvergne Chamber Orchestra, Nice."

If you press the > on the right-hand site it flicks through some photos - I'm not going to try to translate the full captions, but I think the titles are "A large open sound", "A removable neck", "The sound-holes", "The corners do not wear out", "Configuration with childlike simplicity", "To vary the tension", "A very simple scroll", "A bass that stands upright".

I was able to get to the english language site in the past--it has a rubber lace inset in the edges, so it never rests on the wood when you lay it on its side. It has (Ithink I;m rembering this right) locking tuners, so you don't hhave to unwind the strings every time, and the tail piece come soff with the stirngs attached, so it's easy to restring. He says somewhere that he's invented a simple way to keep the soundpost in place. The neck is also completely adjustable, so instead of raising or lowering the bridge, you can adjust the neck pitch to suit the conditions and the kind of strings. He inlayed some marks on the top to show where the bridge goes.

If I were touring with a bass, which I'm not, or had a lot of money, which I don 't, I'd be looking at one of these. But it still seems like you could adapt this design for larger scale production and make a good sounding, portable bass for touring with.

Yes, sorry, I just read again and realised that it's the edges, not the corners, that don't wear out. My French is not what it used to be, and what it used to be wasn't all that great :-)

Paul, I cannot open the english version either.

GForce, thanks, but how much is the B-21?


I ordered mine last year. The price was 20k euros. And he has a 2.5-3 year waiting list.

We also had this discussion about removable necks here (http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=255226&highlight=detachable) last summer.

I have a recording of Daniel Marillier playing the B-21 and it sounds quite beautiful. Nick Lloyd saw/heard the bass at the VSA this year and commented somewhere on here that it sounded very nice in a soloistic way, but that it didn't have a huge bass response as many orchestra and some jazz players like.

I think the retrofit sounds like a good idea; depending on the cost, I would love to have that done to my New Standard Cleveland to turn it into a traveling bass. But also, shhhhhh, I believe Arnold and Wil are working on just such a creature at the moment (last I heard, a prototype had been made; that was in the summer).

Thanks B...Bob Ross basses are, as far as I know, one of the least expensive new Master carved DBs out there at around $12,000


That's ridiculously inexpensive. Those are gorgeous basses, and most removable-neck ones I've seen are pretty expensive to begin with. Wow.

Anybody know how much the Chandler bass costs? There is one TB member who plays one...is it Dr. Rod? According to the site, the ones he's made have a 39" string length which is a turn-off for me, but maybe he could make a longer one.

Norton Customs made one for Vic Victor of the Koffin Kats...that bass had tons of other cool features, I especially like the tailpiece.

http://www.nortoncustoms.com/mini_galleries/vic-victor.htm

Too bad he's not in business anymore. :crying: Beautiful basses.