Help for a Newbie - Amplification + Repair/Refinish in Northern/Central Michigan

[Modulator]

So, at age 40 I'm taking the plunge and picking up a double bass from a friend who just upgraded. Pic below...the douchebag in the pic is my friend, not me.



He's tossing in a new fingerboard that he says is desperately needed. As you can probably tell from the pic, a refinish is also going to be necessary sometime in the future. I'm not worried about the cost of either of these, since he's practically giving this bass to me and the refin is obviously optional for now.

I live in the northern part of lower Michigan, with Interlochen Fine Arts Camp just a stone's throw away. Elderly Instruments is also only a two hour drive. I'm wondering who I should have do the work and/or evaluate the bass for other things that might need to be done.

Also, my main gig right now is a rockin' horn band where I'm doubling on electric and EUB. I'd like to at least bring the new upright to gigs with bigger stages. I run an Alembic F-1X preamp/QSC power amp/Bergantino HT322 cab. I'd like some suggestions for what might work well to get the upright amplified through my rig. I have a Sound Sculpture A/B switcher coming, so changing instruments isn't an issue, just being able to amplify the upright and maybe some additional volume control and tone shaping prior to hitting the Alembic. I have one space left in my rack, so anything that would be sufficient and only take up one space would be preferred.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice...

[Jet Nero]

1. If you spend a long evening reading the threads here, you'll know practically everything you need to know about the challenges and possibilities of double bass amplification. The words Euphonic Audio and Acoustic Image will become your mantra. Epifani and Bergantino as well. Maybe even Glockenklang.

2. While some of your current gear may work well in your pursuits, DB and EB amplification generally require two very different approaches.

[uprightben]

What you need is the right pickup, search TB and get some ideas and then do your best to find someone who uses what you are interested in and go hear it. There is a lot of opinions on most pickups hear, but I find reading about it to be only a little helpfull. Congrats on the new doghouse!

[Modulator]

Maybe I could use the MIDI switcher to actually switch between preamps instead of just switching instruments. (???) I also have a nice selection of mics: an AKG D112, a pair of AKG C3000, some Shure regular and Beta 57s, a few 58s. But miking with my regular band is probably a nightmare waiting to happen.

I'll do some searching on the boards. Mainly I was hoping for some direction for as to where to have the work done. The rest of it I can figure out in time. I'm sure it'll be a while before I'll feel comfortable enough to play out on the thing.