Your dream bass?

[pathdoc2]

If you could have any double bass on the planet, what would it be?

I'm guessing most will want a very old bass, for me I think I'd like a solid wood handbuilt instrument with a blonde finish. I think I'd want a new bass made by hands that I could reach out and shake. I believe a little part of the builder is imparted into a handmade instrument and I'm happier if I can get to know that person.

[uprightben]

I plan on building my dream bass in the next few years, and then selling it so I can build an even dreamier bass, and so on... maybe we can share the same dream someday

[drurb]

We just went through this exercise.

Originally Posted by pathdoc2

I think I'd want a new bass made by hands that I could reach out and shake. I believe a little part of the builder is imparted into a handmade instrument and I'm happier if I can get to know that person.

I agree and I'm happy to say that's exactly how it worked out for me. I shook those hands.

[Marc Piane]

Originally Posted by drurb

We just went through this exercise.

Indeed.

Just play. Lusting after stuff doesn't make you better. I remember I once played Rodney Whitaker's bass. I was expecting some magical bass. It was really nothing special... in my hands. In his, f****** magic.

[Marc Piane]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2aTibjDYCs

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by fingers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2aTibjDYCs

That was a cool clip! I gotta check them out some more.

Okay sorry, back to your dream basses.

[Phil Rowan]

One of these would be nice:

[Eric Rene Roy]

those diamonds are photoshoped, yes?

[Phil Rowan]

You're kidding, right?

[Dave Irwin]

#1 A New American Standard Cleveland
#2 Most any bass from the late 1700's

[bassist14]

Originally Posted by Eric Rene Roy

those diamonds are photoshoped, yes?

i don´t think so:
Toenniges Diamond Bass #42 dtd. 1948 For Sale

[Phil Rowan]

Thanks bassist14... yeah, if I could have John Feeney's that would be even better. If I remember correctly his has 2 diamond cutouts on each c-bout.

[Marc Piane]

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

That was a cool clip! I gotta check them out some more.

Okay sorry, back to your dream basses.

A post got deleted that made that clip make sense. Oh well, Drew is still making some killer music on a half bass.

[Nuno A.]

My dream bass would be the bass that would allow me to play what i feel easily and would transmit that to the audience without an amplifier.
Also after i finish a show he would fly home and i would be ok to take care of my own business.... sorry guys, but i just drank a nice vintage Port Wine that distressed me....


Nuno

[Eric Rene Roy]

Originally Posted by Phil Rowan

You're kidding, right?

actually no. the photo has been photoshoped, a watermark is on these, and the depth of the black in the diamonds looks unnatural compared to the rest of the photo. for whatever rock i have been living under that i don't know this bass...my first impressions is this is a doctored photo.

any other photos of this bass?

[Phil Rowan]

Eric, I didn't mean to imply you should have known every little detail about this particular bass, and I apologize if I came off that way. The two pictures I posted are from an ad on the ISB site's classifieds, where the guy's selling the Toenniges bass in the photos. Also, I checked out John Feeney's Toenniges bass at a recent lesson I had with him, diamonds and all.

[MIKMAN]

I have two choices and i'm working hard to afford both of them:

1. An Upton Concert, for serious arco work.
2. A Hybrid Cleveland with slightly modified shoulders for serious pizz work.

And, yes, i'd like to shake hands with Arnold and Eric, because i think that in each one of their instruments they deposit a little bit of their soul.

Mike

[Eric Rene Roy]

Thanks Phil.

Found this which was interesting: http://www.maestronet.com/benning/Overview.html

Still would love to see some unaltered pics if anyone can point me in the right direction.

I just find it interesting to mix such classical lines with such modern ones. I'm still trying to decide if I like it or not. It's like hearing a CD for the first time and not digging it...but something makes you keep listening...and after 30 or 40 listens it becomes one of your favorites.

[Phil Rowan]

Hey Eric, here's a definitely undoctored video.. Jeff Bollbach mentioned catching a few seconds of this '44 Benny Goodman film "Sweet and Low Down" and noticing the bass, and I went and dug it up on the tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcJJbZNx3wg

..around the 22nd second (right when Benny Goodman starting singing), in the upper left corner you'll see the bassist playing a Toenniges violin cornered, diamond f-holed bass. And you'll see it again at the 1:35 mark, with a much better view (if you look closely here you you'll see a diamond cut-out on the c-bout).

Also, I was able to dig this up.. Benny Goodman at the Springfield Armory, Springfield, MA 1943 (with the same bassist as on the clip, Sid Weiss): http://www.nps.gov/spar/historycultu...201-SA.E.1.JPG

And here's the back of that bass: http://www.nps.gov/spar/historycultu...201-SA.B.1.JPG
And of course, the back of the bass I originally posted: http://www.isbworldoffice.com/isb_sh...ass%20back.gif

Here's the thread where I found the "Down and Low" reference: Toenniges siting

You'll see PaulCannon mentions his Toenniges not having the diamond cut-outs. I read something Arnold Schnitzer wrote here on TB about how Toenniges built 50 basses, and that not all had the diamond cut-outs.

[LeslieD]

The front view of the bass with the diamonds looks sad -- at least if you stare at it long enough. Maybe it's just really good with blue notes...