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08-23-2008, 02:14 AM
| | Bass/Lead Vocals - Dear Dark Head | | Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Philadelphia, PA, US | | | Modern bass designs
I've been wondering if there any any luthiers out there who have produced bass designs that step away from tradition. Surely, someone must be experimenting out there. I love to experiment with instruments, and I'd love to see something that is truly different than the same old same old that's been produced for the past 300 years. Any suggestions on where to look?
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Jazz Bass Plus V Ash, EB/MM StingRay 3eq+p fretless, Warwick CS Corvette Pro fretless 30" (C2-G2-D3-A3)
Mesa Walkabout Scout 1x12 combo
Trace Elliot V-Type Head & Pre, 2102, 1153, 1248H |
08-23-2008, 08:27 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Boone, NC | | | AES Fine instruments ergonomic model |
08-23-2008, 08:42 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Chicago | | Patrick Charton
I heard this bass played by Daniel Mariller at the ISB convention. Had a somewhat mid-rangey cutting sound. Some might say a French sound. |
08-23-2008, 10:47 AM
| | Bass/Lead Vocals - Dear Dark Head | | Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Philadelphia, PA, US | | Quote:
Originally Posted by ehochberg  Patrick Charton
I heard this bass played by Daniel Mariller at the ISB convention. Had a somewhat mid-rangey cutting sound. Some might say a French sound. | That's a beautiful instrument! Maybe a bit less radical that I was thinking, but you can't deny its pretty cool.
I think what really got me thinking about this was when I came across a reproduction of an early 20th Century mandobass. I'd never seen anything like it.
You know what I think would be really cool? Something like a giant archtop jazz guitar with a Venetian cutaway, but with double bass scale length, rather than trying to be a bass guitar. I've seen a few archtop bass guitars, and I like the look, but bass guitar sized instruments just sound terrible acoustically because they're just too small.
Maybe I'll just have to make one. It may take a few years, though!
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Jazz Bass Plus V Ash, EB/MM StingRay 3eq+p fretless, Warwick CS Corvette Pro fretless 30" (C2-G2-D3-A3)
Mesa Walkabout Scout 1x12 combo
Trace Elliot V-Type Head & Pre, 2102, 1153, 1248H |
08-23-2008, 10:58 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: SE Wisconsin | | | I saw a picture of an upright with a guitar style gutaway in BP recently..I think it was for a GK add |
08-23-2008, 11:19 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Madison, WI/Indianapolis, IN | | Quote:
Originally Posted by amper That's a beautiful instrument! Maybe a bit less radical that I was thinking, but you can't deny its pretty cool.
I think what really got me thinking about this was when I came across a reproduction of an early 20th Century mandobass. I'd never seen anything like it.
You know what I think would be really cool? Something like a giant archtop jazz guitar with a Venetian cutaway, but with double bass scale length, rather than trying to be a bass guitar. I've seen a few archtop bass guitars, and I like the look, but bass guitar sized instruments just sound terrible acoustically because they're just too small.
Maybe I'll just have to make one. It may take a few years, though! |
There is something kind of like this, its a German? company called Framus, they do some cutaway basses.
There's one in the classifieds here 1968 framus cut-away upright bass |
08-23-2008, 11:31 AM
| | Bass/Lead Vocals - Dear Dark Head | | Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Philadelphia, PA, US | | | There's something about the Wilfer family, isn't there? I love my Warwick, and a local shop has a Warwick Triumph in stock. It would be cool to have a vintage Framus.
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Jazz Bass Plus V Ash, EB/MM StingRay 3eq+p fretless, Warwick CS Corvette Pro fretless 30" (C2-G2-D3-A3)
Mesa Walkabout Scout 1x12 combo
Trace Elliot V-Type Head & Pre, 2102, 1153, 1248H |
08-23-2008, 11:39 AM
|  | Official Forum Flunkee | | Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: San Francisco, CA | | | |
08-23-2008, 01:16 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Sweden | | Quote:
Originally Posted by hdiddy | I think the Lamario 2003 belongs to Candian born bassist Sebastian Dubé, currently living in Sweden. |
08-23-2008, 01:39 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA | | | |
08-23-2008, 09:18 PM
| | proprietor, Condino's String Shop | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: asheville, nc | | A number of years ago I used to own an old Framus with the cutaway. That's the one that I posted the story about a few months ago where the neck joint completely failed and the instrument broke in two during the second set of a gig.
Funny you mention the modern instrument with a cutaway. Attached are some images of the new bass on my workbench right now. The camera angle on the full body makes the soundholes look a bit assymetric, but they are not. The close up gives better detail of the finished product. Anyone passing by Asheville is welcome to stop by the shop and have a look.
j. www.condino.com
Last edited by james condino : 05-24-2009 at 04:20 PM.
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08-23-2008, 09:22 PM
| | proprietor, Condino's String Shop | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: asheville, nc | | Here is the back. In addition to what you can see, there are a few more nice features coming; it should be up and running in a few months.....
j. www.condino.com
Last edited by james condino : 05-24-2009 at 04:20 PM.
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08-24-2008, 06:48 AM
|  | Supporting Member
Luthier: Bresque Basses, rep: Paulin EUB | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sydney, Australia | | | that's lovely wood on the back there.
The button looks really fat. You got a bolt-on neck happening, as well as a soundpost-port? |
08-24-2008, 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by LouisF | Those basses have INCREDIBLE craftsmanship!! The Violin Model looks superb! |
08-24-2008, 11:50 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA | | | I've always wondered why her work wasn't better known or more discussed here.
Louis |
08-24-2008, 12:12 PM
|  | 'Woodworker - Witch Doctor - Luthier'
Owner/The Bass Spa, String Repairman/L & M Vancouver | | Join Date: May 2006 Location: Crescent Beach, BC | | | Hey James, for those of us who didn't make the Guild Convention, what happened with the bass you were building for the event?
Last I heard you were going crazy to get it done, then nothing. What happened? |
08-24-2008, 02:19 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2004 Location: New York City | | | hey is there any practical way to cut latticework into the top and or back of an instrument to reduce mass and keep strength or is it impossible with the arching and size? Has this ever been done? would it work?
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08-24-2008, 04:40 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Ridgewood, NJ | | Quote:
Originally Posted by uprightben AES Fine instruments ergonomic model | The key to the ergo bass is that function dictated form. To me, it's the opposite of the Framus cutaway. The fact that the Framus design went nowhere tells the story. The inventive aspects that are inside the ergo bass are major reasons why it won an honorable mention for tone at the ISB convention.
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08-24-2008, 08:59 PM
| | proprietor, Condino's String Shop | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: asheville, nc | | Jake:
It has been a crazy busy year for me on all levels. I wound up with a bit of a train wreck in July and had to cancel the GAL convention, the Mandolin Symposium (there are more than basses in my world!!!), and a couple of other events I had scheduled on the west coast. It was a bit frustrating, but everything settled back down.
This is the bass I was going to take there. I've let it sit for a couple of months so that several other instruments didn't get behind schedule. The button will get cut down after the neck gets fitted. Currently I don't have any plans for a bolt on neck, but I made several hundred guitars and mandolins with that design at Kim Breedlove's shop when I was out in Oregon, so I'm pretty comfortable with the mechanics of that system.
There is an access port in the treble side c-bout. I went back and forth on that one for quite a while, then decided to go for it. About two hours after I cut it out, another instrument got knocked off the wall rack and crashed into the side of the bass, causing a golf ball sized dent that would have traditionally been a good repair. I got pretty excited when I was able to stick my entire arm in the new port and fixed it in about three minutes!
j. www.condino.com |
08-24-2008, 09:19 PM
| | Supporting Member
Luthier: Bresque Basses, rep: Paulin EUB | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sydney, Australia | | Kurt, imagine one of these scaled up to bass size. I reckon it'd catch a lot of dust. 
I think lattice-bracing the inside of a bass top like a guitar might be productive, but it's a heck of a lot of work (think curves in every direction!), unlike a guitar top which is essentially flat.
You could make a flat bass top and brace like a guitar, but the tone would change. You'd also need a really tall bridge!
I have seen small crossbraces inside double bass tops to strengthen weak arching. Appears to work. Also there was a thread some time back about a guy making double basses with two bassbars and no soundpost. That worked quite well for pizz I recall people saying, but would make the bass behave completely differently arco. |  | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
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