Gorman basses

[Freddels]

Today I went into Boston and stopped by a bass shop to get some rosin and strings. They had a 7/8 bass made by Donald Gorman from Canada. It looked like this one http://www.rutmansviolins.com/instruments/i812.htm

except it had a girl's head carving. The bass played extremely well. The string height was very low and it was like playing an EB. It almost played itself (except for the bad intonation <g>)

The strange thing was that the top was made of a red wood instead of spruce, back was maple. Has anyone heard anything else about Mr. Gorman's instruments?

They were asking $9500 for the bass so it's a bit out of my league but I enjoyed playing it.

[hdiddy]

There's more views of it if you go here

Wow, all those basseson that site look great!

Man, it might be the photography but this one is stunning too.
http://www.rutmansviolins.com/instruments/i686.htm

[Tbeers]

Nice looking basses! They remind me a tiny bit of Brock Radelet's instruments (something about the upper bout, methinks): http://www.radeletdoublebass.com/Gallery2.html

Of course, it seems like Gorman's instruments are more targeted towards conservatory students etc., whereas Radelet's are definitely priced for pros.

edit: never mind lol. the bass on the Gorman site that I was looking at was actually not made by Gorman. sorry

[Silversorcerer]

The strange thing was that the top was made of a red wood instead of spruce, back was maple.

I have two very nice redwood boards that will be the top of my first (self-built) double bass. I wish I had gotten more of it now. It's encouraging to hear that it can sound so good. It is more common as top wood for dulcimers, guitars, and mandolins. That is a nice looking bass and I like that upper bout design. It looks comfortable.

Man, it might be the photography but this one is stunning too.

I'm glad someone is crediting the photographer finally. If you are looking at a picture the photography is often the difference between a so-so looking product and a "stunning" one.

[Freddels]

Originally Posted by Tbeers

Nice looking basses!

Of course, it seems like Gorman's instruments are more targeted towards conservatory students etc., whereas Radelet's are definitely priced for pros.

I was told that other Gorman basses start at $12k. I think this one might be lower b/c of the redwood top and therefore it may not be selling too quickly. That's just a guess on my part though.

[Freddels]

Originally Posted by hdiddy

Wow, all those basseson that site look great!

There were several very nice basses there. I was able to try a lower end carved Christopher and they had one made by Wil de Sola too.

[Rob W]

He brought a couple of them down to show us here in Hamilton. One of my section players was looking at them.

We tried them out in the concert hall and they sounded pretty good I thought. They looked to be quite nicely made as well. My colleague decided not to buy another bass after all, but the Gorman was certainly very good. They weren't quite as mature sounding as my Elias, mind you, the Elias is well over twice the price. The Gormans seem a good value though and the tone really is quite good.