Brian Bromberg's Bass

[jasonheath]

I was just listening to a recording of Brian Bromberg playing a solo on Chameleon. I wrote a blog post about this after having found a YouTube video of his playing, but I can't for the life of me seem to find any info on exactly what kind of bass he is playing. I know that it is old and has a pedigree. Does anyone out there know what instrument Brian Bromberg plays on? If so, let me know. Thanks!

[Basschair]

Do you mean the Guersam?

http://www.lemurmusic.com/basses_bromberg.asp (first one on the page)

[Jeff Guevin]

Huh. Are the pics of the Guersam of the actual bass, or of the replicas they're selling? If the latter, that antiquing is out of control. And frickin' expertly done, to my amateur eye.

[Basschair]

If I understand it correctly, the first one is the actual Guersam bass, followed by the Chinese replica and the German replica.

[Jeff Guevin]

Ah, good reading comprehension, Jeff. I thought they were offering all three versions for sale.

[Ike Harris]

I thought it was rather odd that after making all those "painstaking measurements" they went with bouts that were 1 1/2 inches wider top and bottom. I guess they were afraid of not selling enough as a smaller bass.

Ike

[Jake deVilliers]

The centre section is wider too, and the string lengths are much shorter.

I'd say it the basses have as much to do with the Guersam as an "Eddie Bauer" edition Explorer. Its marketing hype, that's all.

A little disappointing from Lemur nonetheless.

[Brian Bromberg]

Hey guys, I thought I would slide on in after reading some of this post. I think Talk Bass is amazing to provide this forum.

The Lemur people did do painstaking measurements for days on my bass, but they didn't build the bass, Stoll did in Germany. The basses that they have are the first ones, in fact the bass I have is the first one and I just came back from tour with it. It was the second time since I was 16 years old that I played another bass other then my Italian.

Stoll did an amazing job building this instrument, even though he still needs to do some refining with the shape. That is what prototyping is for. You build a few and see how they are, then you make changes and corrections until you end up with what you are looking for. Remember these basses are hand made carved basses, there will be some gray area.

The bass I have is actually pretty amazing if you ask me. It is truly the first bass that I could go out and play that wasn't mine, and that is a huge feat specially with my very non traditional set up. Yes, the dimensions are not exact yet, the scroll is to big, the neck angle needs to be modified etc...etc... but the bass is amazing considering it was a tree not that long ago.

He nailed the body thickness, and because of that this bass sings and sustains remarkably well. In fact harmonics come out better on the Stoll/Lemur bass then they do on mine. It is very open and resonant, and the ones that are set up for bowing with a traditional set up are lovely. I can't wait to get one that I can bow since that is hard with my jazz set up.

The Chinese bass blew me away as well. They are handmade and have beautiful wood. They did a great job for sure, and I'm very impressed specially for their price point.

I know that after they get a few built under their belt they will be true replicas, but until then they are very impressive instruments in their own right and deserve to be played and heard. As they evolve they will only get closer to my Italian, but they are already the real thing............................

[drurb]

Originally Posted by Brian Bromberg

It is truly the first bass that I could go out and play that wasn't mine...

That's quite a statement, especially considering the basses to which you must have had access!