Buying new basses in Canada

[Ivan R]

Hello.

Are you folks aware of reasonably-priced bass luthiers in Canada (not only repaimen, but luthiers)? It seems that, if you want to purchase a new double bass in Canada, you are condemned to buy those plywood basses from Long and McQuade, or order a very expensive one from a luthier.

Are there any other suppliers (stores or luthiers)? What are my options?

Thanks,

Ivan

[eub_player]

George Heinl in Toronto.
Several places in Montreal.
Where are you located?

Do you keep basses, Jake?

[jeffbonny]

L&M here in Vancouver seems to have some decent instruments in from time to time. Jake should be along shortly to comment further....

I'd be looking hard at what instruments are for sale privately. You might also want to assess how far you're willing to travel to look at an instrument. In a lot of places a 3-6 hour radius will vastly increase your choices. Where are you?

[Ryker_M]

Reidstra in Kitchener-Waterloo is a very reputable group of people.

The Soundpost, also in Toronto; is also very knowledgeable in the area of double basses. My teacher recommended them as a first choice for double bass items.

[eh_train]

Hi Ivan,

Since you're asking particularly about buying a bass made by a Canadian luthier, someone (not me or anyone I know) is trying to sell a Peter Chandler double bass on the Toronto Craigslist site just at the moment.

Reidstra's (in Waterloo, Ontario) also lists two Chandler basses for sale, as well as a Henry Reidsta handmade bass listed as "not available yet".

None of this may be relevant if you live in Vancouver or St. John's: Canada is a huge country, so it really helps if you indicate where you live in your profile.

Good luck with your search!

Paul (eh_train)

[moles]

It would help to know what "reasonably priced" is too. Is it a decent carved bass for under $10,000? Under $5000? $1.97?
There was a reeaallly nice hybrid at Croft here a couple of years ago that I was able to spend about 15 min. playing on while I was in there having my ply looked at. The $7000 price tag was out of my office range at the time so I didn't ask to many questions about it - but there are better instruments available locally, and if it comes time to step up I know some patience and *asking around* will be the path to stumbling on an instrument in that price range again.

[GerardSamija]

I have done repairs and setup work on a number of Peter Chandler's basses since the late 1990's, when the started showing up on the coast. Even got to speak with Peter a couple of times on the phone; really a generous, warm-spirited man, who loved that he was able to give something to the world of music. Only after his passing did I learn just how generous he'd been with his time, as he had given many instruments to students. Apparently he didn't need much money, so he didn't charge much either when he sold basses and other instruments. I know how much his wood cost, having bought from one of the same suppliers he did, so it's not hard to figure out how much of what he did charge was 'profit.' Not much. Guessing from his book and what I saw of his techniques reflected in the work itself, he was a very efficient maker, didn't spend a lot of time on subtleties and extravagances, just got the instruments made in a fairly neat and sturdy fashion and got on with the next. Even at that, it seems unlikely he was paying himself more than $20 per hour for his labour. Considering that the average carpenter these days makes over $40/hour, usually more than $50/hour, that's dirt cheap. If anyone thinks his average selling price of about $9,000 was expensive, give your head a shake. He was giving them away. I sold my first bass last year for $20,000, having put $5,000 into the various materials, tuners, strings (saved a bit by making my own bridge, tailpiece, endpin) and spent over 900 hours making the thing. I'm not a big fan of power tools, and I fussed a lot more over details than Peter did, so mine took forever, relatively speaking. Still, doing the math I think it's fairly obvious I charged a similar hourly rate...

So far as I've seen, only a couple of bass luthiers in Canada are making significantly more money than that for their new instruments. And those guys have international reputations many years in the building, have advanced into the upper echelons of luthiery so far as their clients are concerned, and no one's complaining about their prices so far as I've heard.

So what I'm getting at with this little diatribe is that putting 'Long & McQuade plywood' in the same breath as a 'reasonably priced Canadian luthier' isn't really sensible. You're thinking about this all wrong. The next step up from L&M plywood isn't a custom made bass from a Canadian luthier, who has to pay rent in Canadian dollars, buy Canadian groceries, raise Canadian kids and all the rest in this expensive country, but rather a Chinese-made bass from L&M or other stores, made in a place where $1,000 can supply all a family needs for several months at least. Of course there's all sorts of questions to be discussed around that, if one is so inclined... as in 'is it ethical to take advantage of that economic disparity?' or 'what about Chinese logging practices in Nepal?' But if we're being simple-minded about shopping, yeah, Chinese carved basses seem the way to go. Especially some of the nicer ones, such as the Romanian-Chinese 'J. Heinrich' basses which show up here and there once in a while for $3,000 or so. Incredible value there, though the Chinese-only J. Heinrich basses tend to be rather ordinary, even poor in actual value. (It's a distribution thing and there are apparently a handful of Chinese workers employed by that firm, making these in Romania, selling through Beijing, or so I'm told.) Next up might be Upton, or Shen basses coming through Nick Loyd. I'm sure there are a hundred options in the $5,000 to $15,000 range. But if you want to ask a Canadian luthier to make you a bass for a reasonable price, might I be so bold as to suggest $15,000 would be a starting point?

[JPHYeoh]

If you are in the Calgary area, Neil Bentley of Discovery Music often sells nice Romanian factory made basses by Knilling for about 4500 with a bow and case.

[tyb507]

This might help: http://www.gollihurmusic.com/links.cfm#linkCat3

[Ivan R]

For all who asked, I am located in Alberta.

For Gerard: first, congratulations on your work. Great craftsmanship.

Second, your assertion that my query is but a "little diatribe", as you put it, is misplaced. "Reasonable" is not an objective metric, and what I meant by that is "intermediate". All I wanted to know was if I had options between what L&M offers and what folks like yourself offer - for I am but a humble amateur musician, one who is not worthy of an orchestra-grade bass (but who nevertheless thinks plywood is not good enough).

I did not say Canadian luthiers did not merit the money they charge for their instruments.

[GerardSamija]

Just so we're clear; my use of the word 'diatribe' was referring to MY writing, not yours! And thanks for the compliment.

[Jake deVilliers]

Originally Posted by Ivan R

Hello.

Are you folks aware of reasonably-priced bass luthiers in Canada (not only repairmen, but luthiers)? It seems that, if you want to purchase a new double bass in Canada, you are condemned to buy those plywood basses from Long and McQuade, or order a very expensive one from a luthier.

Are there any other suppliers (stores or luthiers)? What are my options?

Thanks,

Ivan

Firstly, you can buy pretty nice hybrid and fully carved basses at Long & McQuade in downtown Vancouver, from $3000 to $6000. They come from Romania, the Czech Republic and China.

Some DB repairmen also have new and used basses for sale from time to time - I know I do and Gerard often does, too. There's a store or two in Victoria, too.

I don't really know any guys in Alberta that specialize in DB, sorry.

[Herbet]

I've just bought a Shen at The Sound Post in Toronto and highly recommend them. they ship within Canada.

[Feral Feline]

Ivan R, if you're near EDMONTON then try the folks at Myhre's Music .

They often have several DBs in stock (I've seen Englehardt-Link, Christopher and other brands I can't remember in the shop). Though I've never bought a bass from them, I've purchased my Underwood pup, bass case, books and other sundries from them and always enjoyed the service and rapport. Price-wise I found my dealings fair – neither cheap nor overpriced – and IMHO more than fair considering the attention I received.

Though they've recently improved the website, I still think it best to contact them directly and see what they have in stock or can order for you.

Good luck with getting your bass!

Cheers,
FF

[MrPeel]

I know you aren't located near Toronto, but I recommend Heinl's in Toronto for anyone else that might be reading this.
I bought my bass (1970's carved German bass) from Reidstras in Kitchener. The bass is incredible, and I value the relationship I have with the staff there.
That being said, they are very violin and cello heavy. Many of their entry ply woods you'll have to commit to purchase and have them order/ set up (they buy from the Eastman lineup)

[bejoyous]

Here's Henry Reidstra's list of basses.

[Don C]

If your close to Edmonton you could give these folks a try.

http://www.bellamusic.ca/

Also, in Calgary look up Ross Hill at Aeolian Strings.

[Feral Feline]

I forgot about Bella, and they rent!

[Vince Waldon]

...and Jim's a great guy to deal with! :-)

[robobass]

Is Kai Arvi still active? I met him at a convention in NY in 1990. He was a very nice guy who also seemed to to be asking way to little for his excellent instruments.