Quote:
Originally posted by Darth_Linux
Has anyone heard or played one of the Otto Fischer basses that Shar Music has? It's german I think, fully carved, and goes for about $3900.
Seems like a reasonable price for an entry level fully carved, although Bob G's bass is about $1500 cheaper. |
Best I remember, Bob's Bulgarians were going for $2000 + shipping, which would run $200-$250 depending on where you live.
I count $3900-$2000 as closer to $1900 cheaper...
If that Otto Fischer bass comes with the setup that Shar describes, then that's probably about $400 worth of setup that the Bulgarian doesn't have... assuming that the fingerboard NEEDS planing in the first place. Mine didn't, but then my requirements may be different from yours. Planing & dressing can add a lot to the set-up cost.
Bulgaria's economy sucks, as a result of being on the losing sides of two World Wars, then falling into the Soviet Sector after the second time.
If not for the strength of The American Dollar against the Bulgarian Whatever, these basses would probably be priced more like the Otto Fischers.
It may just be that I'm easily impressed, but I'm happy as a clam each time I touch, or even think about mine! It sounds great, and is certainly loud!
Also, I don't use a bow at ALL, which may give me lower expectations than some, when it comes to set-up, but I had nearly no setup done on mine, other than replacing the strings with synthetic guts. My luthier charged $40 to cut & fit one of Gollihur's Meisel Bridges, made a minor adjustment to the soundpost for free, and I put on the Eurosonics myself.
He said that the bridge it came with was very nice, and originally questioned why I wanted it replaced.
But I wanted an adjustable bridge, and the legs of the Bulgarian bridge were pretty thin to be drilling into for adjusters. The Meisel was much thicker through the legs, making them less likely to break with quarter-inch holes drilled into the middles of them.
It comes with good steel strings, but steel strings are not for me, personally.
There are a few people on the net who can tell me "I promise this mail-order bass will sound good", and I'll believe them without question.
Of the folks that sell basses I might EVER be able to afford, that would pretty much be Kolstein, Upton, and Gollihur, off the top of my head.
There are others I would wholeheartedly believe, but they either don't sell basses, or they sell basses that are forever out of my price range.
I think that Gollihur also has a money-back guarantee that you will like your bass, AND I think that even extends to those that come straight from Bulgaria, without going through him first. You save $200 you can put towards set-up, that way.
I may be thinking WRONG, but you can check it out easily enough at
www.urbbob.com.
