The Setup is the Difference - Thanks Gary!

IanAllison · #1 05-31-2006, 06:20 PM

I've been playing the electric bass for many years, and only recently made a DB purchase. I bought a Mathias Thoma MT-1 from Steve Swan Guitars and I am THRILLED. Wonderful, big, warm, snarly bass.

BUT . . . the setup was BAD NEWS. I though, "Wow - am I just a big ol' electric bass wuss?" And I just sort of sunk into the feeling that I was going to have to get used to inch high action and "be a REAL man."

And in the corner the bass leaned . . . for many days . . .

UNTIL . . .

I took the bass to Gary Bartig. For those of you who don't know Mr. Bartig, I'll tell you - he's the guy that makes the Eminence Bass. And, as luck would have it, he lives about 3 miles from my house in Minneapolis.

And holy the cow - for about $200 Gary turned an already great-sounding but terrible-to-play bass into a dream-to-play bass - and it sounds BETTER. He made so many smart adjustments and filed and scraped and leveled and bled and sweat . . .

I just can't say how much it made me want to PLAY my bass again. Also, he let me pick his brain and play several of his Eminence basses. Great stuff. If you haven't checked one out, I strongly recommend you do so.

THANK YOU GARY!!!

This experience just inspired me to post this thread to advocate a pro setup. I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but if you have an instrument that isn't getting much love, take it to Gary (or someone in your neck of the woods) and I'll bet it'll make you want to get back on the horse.

Ian

Alex Scott · #2 05-31-2006, 08:15 PM

I ran into Gary at a trade show and he is pretty much a genius, you are very lucky.

Kam · #3 06-01-2006, 08:53 AM

Gary is a cool guy, I've been meaning to buy a stand for my eminence from him for awhile now..

Steve Swan · #4 06-01-2006, 11:04 AM

Kam is right about his warehouse setup on the MT-1 that he got. I don't rely on the EMMC setup any more. For more than a year I've had all incoming basses set up by Alex Friedman in South San Francisco or Jeff Sahs in Sacramento. The difference is a lot like driving your newly tuned up car after a period of deferred maintenance. It is so much easier and enjoyable to play!

I'll be getting some Emminence basses from Gary Bartig directly this summer and using one myself for some touring back east this fall. The guy that I'll be subbing for raves about Gary's setup work on his travel bass too. It was nice to see Gary again at the NAMM show in Anaheim this past January.

Steve Swan