Roma Double Bass?

SuperB23 · #1 01-06-2009, 01:44 PM

I'm new to this forum and I purchased a Roma Brand Carved Top Double bass last year from ebay. I really like it!!! It sounds good to my ears. This was my third Upright bass the first two weren't very nice and they aren't worth mentioning but they were good enough to learn on. I will add after I got this bass the setup was really poor so I had a new bridge fitted to it by ifshins vialins in Berkley California.

I'm curious does any one have more info on these Roma Brand Basses? I would also be curious if they are still being made and how much they cost. All I know is they were made in Romania and that mine has a carved spruce top with maple back and sides. I have Eurosonic lights on it and they are great well rounded strings for my jazz and rockabilly needs.
Thanks in advance.

Bass Barrister · #2 01-06-2009, 03:22 PM

Roma was the brand name used by Ideal Music for their Romanian import basses. Did you buy it from Ideal (a/k/a basses online or Steve Loeb)?

If so, these are decent basses and many were sitting around for up to 15 years in the Ideal warehouse at the time Steve's dad died (about five or six years ago). Steve has been gradually selling off the inventory and I think just about all the strings are gone.

I bought one from Steve about a year ago. It is a decent smaller (1/2 to 5/8) with a 40" string length. The workmanship is good. As you point out, the "setup" was very basic and my bass needed a new bridge, fingerboard dressing, a new nut, new tailpiece wire, endpin, and sounpost adjustment. Well worth the money. I think Steve was selling some of these via ebay and am unaware of anyone other than Ideal using this name.

BTW: the above described bass is for sale if anyone is interested. I'll be posting in FS soon.

Again, I think most of these prorbably came from the Hora or the state factory in Rhegin, Romania.

Enjoy the bass. For the price, they're pretty good.

SuperB23 · #3 01-06-2009, 03:28 PM

I believe it was Steve because he said it was his dads shop I remember. It seemed like a great value and it has gotten a lot of play by me. Once I got the setup done it was a whole new instrument. I wanted a King Double bass like a Slap King or something like that but this seemed like a better value for the money to me at the time. I used this bass on a bunch of my recordings on my recent album.

robobass · #4 01-08-2009, 04:50 AM

Yeah, I bought some 1/10 size Romas from Steve. After a bit of bridge work and some better strings the basses sound amazingly good for their size. The tuners are rather poor though. How are yours?

SuperB23 · #5 01-08-2009, 08:58 AM

My tuner seem ok they aren't the best but they get the job done. I use eurosonic lights and I wonder if I used something with more tension if I would have more problems. I initially wanted a King Double bass but I didn't want to shell it out for the american made ones so I bought this Roma instead and I have been happy. I haven't played a king but they are sure cool looking!!!!

barbarbass · #6 01-12-2009, 09:26 AM

Respectfully beg to differ with Bass Barrister on sizing -- that is, assuming we have the same instrument. Mine is a carved-top Roma (model 393 on Steve Loeb's website, www.bassesonline.com ); the string length is about 40.5 or possibly even 41.

My own investigation around these forums has yielded a size chart, and the Roma 393 is a small or medium 3/4. Although I realize mensur is one way of gauging size, when you look at the 393's bout sizes, (and the rest of its proportions) there's no way it's a 1/2 size. Just my .02.

By the way -- whatever size it is -- it is a great instrument. It's sturdy, and has a nice, clear, but full, sound.

I use it in a community orchestra, as well as in pop and rockabilly-type gigs (with a K&K bass max pickup). It sounds beautiful amplified -- round, full, but ultra-defined.

alanbarnosky · #7 12-01-2009, 06:00 PM

Are Roma basses seriously this good? According to their website, http://www.bassesonline.com/roma.html, you can get a hybrid bass for $995. Is this a steamed and pressed top or what? If these basses are that great, why are Uptons the rave, even though they are ply and twice as much?

I'm just wondering because there is one on sale on craigslist in my area. I'm going to play it in a couple days, but I am very skeptical.

Jake deVilliers · #8 12-01-2009, 09:29 PM

They are good basses at a great price.

I will occasionally lend mine out as a loaner to a customer and they all like the sound and feel. It has had a complete setup - fingerboard, bridge, soundpost, endpin, tailpiece and strings. I also re-shaped the neck, taking it from baseball bat to a 1940's German V shape.

The tops are carved - a little heavy maybe, but carved Spruce. The finish was way too shiny so I knocked that down with rubbing compound and it looks like a much more expensive bass.

The tuners on my 3/4 seem fine - maybe its the 1/10 tuners that are less than ideal. The string length is 41" on a body a little smaller than a Kay and the sound is fine.

When you go to check out the local one on Craig's List Alan, take your bow.

Ed Fuqua · #9 12-01-2009, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alanbarnosky

Are Roma basses seriously this good? According to their website, http://www.bassesonline.com/roma.html, you can get a hybrid bass for $995. Is this a steamed and pressed top or what? If these basses are that great, why are Uptons the rave, even though they are ply and twice as much?

I'm just wondering because there is one on sale on craigslist in my area. I'm going to play it in a couple days, but I am very skeptical.

Steve is moving a lot of inventory that his dad had accumulated over the years, it's the store called IDEAL MUSIC here in NYC.