Christopher Basses

[pughJD]

Hi,
Can anyone tell me about the quality and value of Christopher Basses? I'm in the market for a bass and was considering purchasing a bass from the Christopher company in Germany. Thanks

[MIKMAN]

They are good, decent instruments of a consistent quality. In the Christopher shop, near the train station in Frankfurt, you can try some instruments and get an idea about them. Next month i'll visit Frankfurt to find a a DB for one of my students and i'll visit them for the same purpose for one more time.
Mike

[PaulCannon]

Originally Posted by pughJD

Hi,
Can anyone tell me about the quality and value of Christopher Basses? I'm in the market for a bass and was considering purchasing a bass from the Christopher company in Germany. Thanks

What kind are you looking at? I've been impressed with the consistency and volume of the plywoods. I don't have much experience with the hybrid and carved Christophers, though I've seen a few which were excellent basses.

[pughJD]

Hi All,
I am looking at the Christopher Hybrid right now. Thanks for your help!

[MIKMAN]

My $0.01.
If your focus is on the Christopher Hybrids look at the Busetto model. For some reason that i don't know the seem to be better instruments than the violin shaped or Gamba models. I laid hands on three of them and i've been impressed by the consistent quality
and the richness of the tone. The arco response was impressive for a hybrid in all of them.
Mike

[Mike Goodbar]

I have a Christopher 7/8 hybrid that I bought in 2001 for around $2000. My only complaints have been the shiny spray-on finish (a compromise for the price) and that the G string has a rather strident, nasal quality. Its served me well and reliably on countless jazz and orchestra gigs, with no structural problems at all. Of course, playing in orchestras next to Prescotts and Kai Arvais, the shortcomings in tone have been brought into sharper focus (again, you gets what you pays for).

I know that Christopher is offering a "matte" finish on some of the plys and hybrids, which might look nicer to you.

One caveat I've heard from a luthier experienced with Christophers is that many of the Chritopher plywood basses from her rental pool were coming back with neck-joint issues. The hybrids and carved instruments, she said, did not have this problem. Again, this was a number of years ago, the Christopher my have resolved the issue.

[Chansey]

I have a Christopher Busetto Hybrid. So far it has held up well, and has a pretty nice tone all things considering. But again, I haven't had opportunities to compare against other DBs.

That said, my bass has the "antique varnish" matte finish. It's really much prettier than the glossier versions I seen on the other Christopher basses. Do consider that option.

[christ andronis]

I've had a carved Christopher gamba for (I think) 4 years now. I like the sound and playability alot and the matte finish, to me, is alot better than the shiny nuclear goop BUT offers a little lower level of protection against everyday nicks and bangs. I've also put a set of Velvet Garbos on which i am less than pleased with. I had Animas, which were perfect, but noooooo, i had to get the urge to find the "perfct" string....geez, you think i'd know better.

[pughJD]

Hi Everyone,
I appreciate your advice, and insight. Thanks to Mike, Christ, Chansey, and Mikman. As you can tell, I am a novice at the bass. I took double bass lessons years ago and the memory of the joy I felt has never left me. A month ago, after considering my boredom with law school, I decided to start playing again, and plan to get more serious with it in a year after I graduate. I will be posting questions from time to time that I will appreciate your advice. Please see thread concerning "what do I look for in a good bow?" Just in case you are wondering, I decided to go with the 3/4 size Christopher Professional DB 303 (Hybrid) with an antique finish (violin shape).

Thanks again

pughJD

[Jimmy_]

A few weeks ago I went to a DB shop (Rikkers in the Netherlands), they had a Christopher hybrid gamba model on offer.
After reading the good stories here on Talkbass I had high hopes of the Christpher, but I was really let down by the sound of the Christopher (might have been a bad specimen). It looked great, but the hybrid Strunal standing next to it sounded much better.

The guy in the shop told me that the Christopher was on discount because it just would not sell, in the time it was standing in the shop, next to the same price Strunal, they sold about 15-20 Strunals because everybody preferred the tone of the Strunal.

The Strunal was already being sold to another customer, so I eventually left with a fully carved Romanian bass, which sounded really good (better then the strunal)

[Steve Swan]

The Christopher basses have a pretty beefy build, resulting in a more trebly sound than some other builders for the same size. With this brand, the larger the model, the more responsive it will be.

[pughJD]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for the info!

[MIKMAN]

[quote=Steve Swan;10455522]The Christopher basses have a pretty beefy build, resulting in a more trebly sound than some other builders for the same size. With this brand, the larger the model, the more responsive it will be.[/QUOTE

+1!!!!!

[PocketGroove82]

I bought my DB303T Hybrid new in 2001 for around $2400 bucks with a pickup and it's been my workhorse ever since. They really are SOLID FREAKIN' basses and I've put mine through hell as a student at Berklee, a solider musician in the army band, and now a student again at UNT, and the bass has held up well.

I will agree with everything that's been said here, cosmetically and tonally.

Mine has a shiny finish that I absolutely hate, but that is strictly cosmetic. Also, I remember there also being a weird finish on the back up the neck that I had a luthier sand off to increase playability. Conversely, mine also has some very beautiful flamed laminate covering the ply that people always comment on. It's a nice touch and it almost makes up for the blindingly bright shine that radiates from the bass.


As for the tonal characteristics, this bass sounds as bright as it looks under stage lights. I use mine for both jazz and classical, and it sounds pretty decent in a jazz setting with really mellow, dead, dark sounding strings on it. Dead Spiros or Velvets tame the overtones a bit, in a good way.
With new strings that are bright, I get a lot of overtones rather than a deep rich fundamental, so it's not that flattering a tone for classical solo bass pieces, but it can sound pretty nice in the right player's hands. It's when I'm playing beside 20-150 year old "mature" basses set up strictly for classical w/ arco strings that my classical tone is noticeably lacking in nuance, depth, and the bass sounds crappy in comparison. But for around 2.5k, it's a great value and gets the job done on both sides of the house.

[Damon Rondeau]

I've got the same hybrid, with violin corners and UtraShine finish -- had it six or seven years now, paid about the same as the others (thought buying one in midwestern Canada wasn't easy.) It's a workhorse for sure. Mine's not very happy with the Spiro Mittels she's wearing right now -- she likes lighter-weight strings, it seems. Especially on that G-string. (I hadn't heard the heavy-build, thin-G thing before but it makes perfect sense.)

[dobrien]

If you want to try this. Take a pad of 0000 steel wool and gently rub the finish. GENTLY or you could rub through the varnish.

[pughJD]

Originally Posted by dobrien

If you want to try this. Take a pad of 0000 steel wool and gently rub the finish. GENTLY or you could rub through the varnish.

Hi Dobrien,
I fail to understand your point...please explain the purpose of gently rubbing the bass with a pad of 0000 grade steel wool?

[PRUNEFACE]

To make the finish of the bass less shiny

[chris1125]

Originally Posted by PRUNEFACE

To make the finish of the bass less shiny

I would think that using steel wool would just scratch it up... Maybe some of that black fine grain sand paper meant for varnish? Then again, it's probobly better just to ignore it

[dobrien]

I worked in a violin shop in the 70s. That's what we used. It looks scratchy to begin with but world into a good matte finish. That acrylic is tough.