Lemur sunrise bromberg bass

scuoco · #1 06-03-2009, 08:04 AM

Does anyone know anything about the lemur "sunrise" bromberg bass? i'm struggling with the idea of spending $4,800 without ever actually seeing/playing one in person. Am I crazy for considering a new carved chinese bass over an old czech or german. any thoughts? thanx!

drurb · #2 06-03-2009, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scuoco

Does anyone know anything about the lemur "sunrise" bromberg bass? i'm struggling with the idea of spending $4,800 without ever actually seeing/playing one in person. Am I crazy for considering a new carved chinese bass over an old czech or german. any thoughts? thanx!

Are these the only choices you're considering? Where do you live? It would be helpful if you'd fill out your profile.

Eric Hochberg · #3 06-03-2009, 09:27 AM

You're not crazy for considering it, but you need to play it and any other bass you're considering before buying, IMHO. You haven't mentioned your budget, but you'll have trouble finding an old European bass in good shape for $4800.00. I have no doubt that the Bromberg copy is a good instrument in general, but you need to do the legwork to see if it's the right one for you. There are many other Chinese imports and other new basses of good quality to consider.

I think people should accept travel expenses as part of the bass buying experience unless one is lucky enough to find "the bass" close to home.

jallenbass · #4 06-03-2009, 09:34 AM

If I were ready to purchase a bass I would take at least 6 months playing every bass that I could find. Your standards will be much different because of it.

Eric Hochberg · #5 06-03-2009, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jallenbass

If I were ready to purchase a bass I would take at least 6 months playing every bass that I could find. Your standards will be much different because of it.

Excellent advise.

ZonGuy · #6 06-03-2009, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scuoco

i'm struggling with the idea of spending $4,800 without ever actually seeing/playing one in person. :

I am pretty fussy. I have never had a mail-order bass or mail order bride.

MIKMAN · #7 06-03-2009, 11:16 AM

There are however some safe bets in buying a mail order bass. I can mention the Cleveland and the La Scala or the Uptons. Excellent instuments made and supported by excellent professionals. They 'll come with a superb set up and they have behind them some of the best people in the DB world. If you can afford them they represent a good investment, much better IMHO than any Chinese bass.

Peck_Time · #8 06-03-2009, 02:18 PM

There are some pretty good chinese basses being made nowadays Mikman!

jacochops · #9 06-03-2009, 03:01 PM

I concur....some of the upper level Shens are fantastic basses. Very happy with mine, and I play and teach as my profession.

For 5G's, there are a lot of good quality options out there. I am sure the Bromberg bass is slamming...if you can get to SoCal, there's a bunch of great bass shops there, so you can actually compare that bass to the other basses in your price range.

hdiddy · #10 06-03-2009, 03:44 PM

I heard the $9K version is the cat's meow.

Gary Lynch · #11 06-03-2009, 05:54 PM

If you are going to spend that amount of money, play before you buy. Some basses are killer, others lack that sound you want. Play many.........

ad9000 · #12 06-03-2009, 06:08 PM

I played the Bromberg bass at Lemur and thought it was pretty nice (of course I had to put the $15 - 35K basses in the back room out of my mind first). I didn't bow it, but the pizz sound was good: an authoritative, fairly bright and upfront kind of voice with more complexity and nuance than I expected. I haven't played a lot of newer Chinese basses, but this one definitely made a good impression on me. If I were looking for a bass in that price range for jazz, it would be a candidate for sure. Not sure how much they vary in quality - this one appeared to be set up by Lemur and it played pretty easily.

Marcus Johnson · #13 06-03-2009, 06:25 PM

I'm absolutely not trying to start something, so don't even go there. But it's a little strange for me to see double basses marketed this way, with a specific bassist's name attached to it. I've seen it a lot in the electric bass world.... jaco basses, marcus miller basses...

I dunno. Explain it to me. Apparently Lemur isn't alone in this approach. But I'm absolutely sure that the Lemur bass won't make me sound like Brian, and the new Upton won't get me any closer to the genius of Gary Karr. But if either one of them played my bass, as it's set up right now, they would both pretty much tear me a new one.

Maybe there should be a "Jack Lemmon Bass" with bullet holes in it.

scuoco · #14 06-03-2009, 06:34 PM

Thanks for all the advice! you're are all very correct. and i have been playing alot of basses for the past year. the ones i really,really liked (of course) are over 10k new or vintage. now, the chinese basses for 3k and up i'm finding to be consistently pretty good. (i.e. the shen sb180) my budget is 5k or under, so i guess my question would be is it worth spending 5k for a "fully carved" chinese? or at that level, would a hybrid for 2k less be much different? the lemur bass kinda caught my eye because its "very pretty". i know thats lame, but i kinda want something alittle "different". (jeez, for 5k, aren't i entitled to alittle flamed maple?) some friends tell me i should be able to find a decent carved czech or german in this price point. so far, i haven't. i really don't want to have to upgrade again 5 years from now. my current bass is a 60's kay.

scuoco · #15 06-03-2009, 06:39 PM

marcus, i believe the bromburg bass is just a copy of his personal 100 year old italian. ?(dimentions and appearance wise.)

Marcus Johnson · #16 06-03-2009, 06:42 PM

I know. Maybe it lost something in the way I stated it. My real question is; does having the name of artist X attached to a double bass make it more desirable to a potential buyer? I'm really just curious as regards the mindset.

It doesn't bother me either way, I always just saw DBs as somewhat separate from that sales approach. It's kind of like a "Herbie Hancock Steinway" or a "Joe Williams Neumann".

scuoco · #17 06-03-2009, 06:50 PM

nah,it doesn't to me. i'm not even familiar with the guy's playing to be honest. i just think it's a good looking bass. that's why i asked if anyone has played one.....i hear what you're saying though.

drurb · #18 06-03-2009, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

I know. Maybe it lost something in the way I stated it. My real question is; does having the name of artist X attached to a double bass make it more desirable to a potential buyer? I'm really just curious as regards the mindset.

It doesn't bother me either way, I always just saw DBs as somewhat separate from that sales approach. It's kind of like a "Herbie Hancock Steinway" or a "Joe Williams Neumann".

I agree with you when it comes to hollow endorsements such as when a player lets a company slap his or her name on some gussied-up version of an instrument they already build. Worse is when they're paid to do it. I happen to know that's not at all what happened with the Gary Karr and Upton. Now, owning a Karr Upton bass will not get you any closer to Karr's expertise but it will get you a bass that has his preferences for dimensions and setup as part of the build and will get you a bass with which Karr, himself, was quite impressed and which he would recommend to students. To some that may, indeed, make it more desirable. To others, it may mean nothing at all.

ad9000 · #19 06-03-2009, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Maybe there should be a "Jack Lemmon Bass" with bullet holes in it.

Funny, My dad was Tony Curtis' woodwind coach on that movie.. Note his excellent left hand fingering in the photo. Good job, pops! Doesn't look like Lemmon had as good a coach.

Quote:

But it's a little strange for me to see double basses marketed this way, with a specific bassist's name attached to it. I've seen it a lot in the electric bass world.... jaco basses, marcus miller basses...

Yeah, it's just another way to try to move product, innit? I guess violin family instruments have traditionally been somewhat immune to that sort of sales technique, but obviously somebody figured something out.

MIKMAN · #20 06-04-2009, 10:23 AM

[There are some pretty good chinese basses being made nowadays Mikman]
Certainly there are some excellent Chinese basses and i own one of them, made by master Goufeng in TIANGE. But they have many fluctuations in quality, even for products of the same model, so i'd like to lay hands on at first and decide after it.
My point is that there are some makers who make always (well,almost) excellent instruments, minimizing the mail order risk.