Daniel Hachez Basses

[rdwhit]

Originally Posted by Chris Fitzgerald

Sid King here in the 'Ville plays one. It's gorgeous, and almost plays itself. He uses it more for solo projects and for his flamenco group, as he says the sound is too distinctive to really blend with a section. Personally, I consider it the finest bass I've ever seen or played.

+1
I've played it too. Aside from the wonderful sound, it is ergonomically perfect for me. I play a New Standard La Scala which is obviously not intended to be in the same league, but feels very similar in my hands, as perfect as it gets for me. I've heard Sid play it with chamber groups, solo & w/piano, and amplified with his flamenco group. The sound really cuts through & is clear & strong in each setting.I think It would be a great jazz bass too. For me it's the fantasy do it all bass.

[LowNote]

I purchased a Dan Hachez bass with C Extension through Robertsons in Albuquerque in December 2001. It is an outstanding instrument--super high build quality, huge tone that is smooth and speaks instantly, and a setup that was absolutely perfect. Dan's roots as a luthier in the Robertson's shop show in that the setup was incredible--something that is lacking in some other high end basses. I have been to his house and workshop in the mountains above Albquerque at about 10,000 feet, and seen him at work. At the time I visited with him, he was still doing all of Edgar Meyer's repair work, and was the person who put in the fingerboard dots for Edgar. I take that as quite an endorsement. I believe that Meyer is the only person he will do repair work for.

Because he makes these instruments totally by hand, using hand tools, he is only able to make about four basses per year. I was living in Los Angeles at the time I purchased the bass, and having an instrument built in such a super low humidity environment was really important to me in bringing the bass to a desert climate. Almost seven years later, the bass still does not have a single crack. Although the instrument was expensive, this has been one of, if not THE best, purchases I've ever made. The only tragedy is that I'm playing jazz on it exclusively and it is not being played in a major symphony where most of his other instruments are to be found.

I have posted some photos of the bass in the Public folder of my iDisk so that I wouldn't have to reduce the resolution of the pictures to meet TB requirements. If you would like to hear what the instrument sounds like when played pizzicato, there are also seven tracks that I recorded with it at a session in March 2008 in a folder called Erik Hansen's High Life. The engineer recorded the bass with a large diaphragm microphone pointed at the top table about 8 inches above the G side f-hole. The link is: http://idisk.mac.com/eriklarshansen-Public?view=web
You may want to download these files before opening them rather than try and open them across the internet.

If you are ever in the market for a fine instrument and can afford to purchase one of these, I would highly recommend his basses.


Erik Hansen

P.S.: BTW, my other bass is a New Standard LaScala Hybrid which also feels similar to me as well, although the LaScala is not in the same league.

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by LowNote

. The only tragedy is that I'm playing jazz on it exclusively and it is not being played in a major symphony where most of his other instruments are to be found.

You and I see things very, very differently.

[Jason Sypher]

I have been dreaming of a Hachez for myself. Thank you for those images....

[Eric Hochberg]

Your idisk files appear to be empty. No pics or mp3s.

[bassist14]

you have to click on the little arrow on the right side

[coreybass]

The only Hachez I have seen/heard/played in person is owned by Paul Kowert who is a Curtis student and killer player. Not sure if Paul frequents these forums. My limited impression of his bass was that it had a very rich, dark and even tone throughout the instrument and was setup perfectly. I thought that overall the bass was on the quiet side and was by no means a canon. It's a beautiful bass and Paul can make it do things I can only dream of.

[Eric Hochberg]

Thanks, my window wasn't open wide enough and I didn't see the arrows.

[LowNote]

Originally Posted by LowNote View Post
. The only tragedy is that I'm playing jazz on it exclusively and it is not being played in a major symphony where most of his other instruments are to be found.

Reply by Marcus Johson:
You and I see things very, very differently.

Meant as a joke of course. I wish my arco playing was better!

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by LowNote

Meant as a joke of course.

I know, same here.

[Jason Sypher]

Does anyone have any contact information for Daniel Hachez. I'm interested in talking to him about his instruments etc.

[Matthew Tucker]

Dan Hachez's purfling is gobsmackingly clean work. He can't have drunk a single coffee in his life ...

[JoeyNaeger]

Originally Posted by Jason Sypher

Does anyone have any contact information for Daniel Hachez. I'm interested in talking to him about his instruments etc.

Get in touch with Don or Aaron Robertson and the Robertsons shop, and I think they can put you in touch with him.

[Mark Carlsen]

I got to hang w. Daniel and a bunch of other great Luhiers back in March in Cinci and he is the coolest cat in the biz....We are some of the newest members of BLA-BLA and Daniel did a talk on Varnish that blew my socks all the way back to da river and then some......l have his E-mail, a Beautiful cat....

[bcarter]

Originally Posted by coreybass

The only Hachez I have seen/heard/played in person is owned by Paul Kowert who is a Curtis student and killer player. Not sure if Paul frequents these forums. My limited impression of his bass was that it had a very rich, dark and even tone throughout the instrument and was setup perfectly. I thought that overall the bass was on the quiet side and was by no means a canon. It's a beautiful bass and Paul can make it do things I can only dream of.

i've also heard paul in masterclass with his hachez bass... a nice sound but i thought it was a little on the quiet side also especially for what he was playing. i think he may have been playing too carefully also for what he was playing (transcription of bartok dances) so that may have effected the volume.

i've played on cso bassist stephen lester's backup to his buzon which is his hachez. it may have been a different set up but it shook his whole chicago studio when i played it. it was a very open sounding bass with alot of power and warmth even with some sort of 'skanky,' as he put it, strings on it. granted we were studying some loud excerpts like ein heldenleiben, but even with quieter bach excerpts from the cello suites it was still projecting and shaking the floor... which is another great aspect of this bass... it had very low action and still was very loud and even. definitely a great bass for the right person.

[jsbarber]

Jeremy Kurtz, the Principal Bassist of the San Diego Orchestra, plays a Hachez which he bought within the past year. Jeremy is a fabulous bassist. You can check him out at:

http://jeremykurtz.com

Also, by sheer coincidence, he is giving a free concert tonight at the Neuorsciences Institute concert hall:

http://talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=478034



Jim

[Kaden]

I had a sectional with Sid King at YPAS here in Louisville last sunday and i was blown away buy the tone he got out of his Hachez Bass. Its a really amazing instrument.

[Michael Binder]

Hi.
I am interested in buying a bass of Daniel Hachez.
But how can I get in touch with him?
Thanks, Michael.

[PaulCannon]

Originally Posted by Michael Binder

Hi.
I am interested in buying a bass of Daniel Hachez.
But how can I get in touch with him?
Thanks, Michael.

Call Robertson's Violin Shop in Albuquerque. I believe they control the waitlist.