| *SOLD* 1999 Benedek Elemer Fully Carved 3/4--John Clayton loves this bass!
In 2001 I was returning to upright after a hiatus and flew to arizona and LA to check out a lot of instruments, looking for the best value I could find under $15000. After visiting Arizona and many shops in LA I ended up at World of Strings.
Jon from World of Strings in LA was among the first shop owners to start importing basses from eastern europe and upgrading them here. He went to eastern europe, found a maker in Hungary he liked and hand-picked a few basses from him. Back in the states he replaced the mediocre fingerboard, endpin, tailpiece/wire, bridge, and tuners with high quality parts. After spending two days in his shop playing a variety of new and used instruments I chose this bass. After I had paid for the bass (in cash) and was on my way out the door, Jon said "You might have just bought the best bass in the shop."
I brought the bass back to John Clayton's house and asked him to try it out. As he played it I told him where I got it and how much I paid and the first words out of his mouth were "Are there more of these"? He had his students in mind of course; I'm not suggesting that John went out and traded in the 19th century bass he's been playing for nearly his entire career, but he was very impressed with the bass and the value it represents.
I was drawn to it because of its enormous dark sound, ease of getting a good sound bowed or pizz, and of course the fact that it's totally healthy, free of any cracks or issues whatsoever. It's been a great bass but now I've moved on to a 19th century bass and can't really afford to keep this one, although I would if I could.
Since buying it I've added bridge adjusters and leather bumpers. It's a very very healthy bass.
Some measurements (in inches):
upper bout width: 19.5
lower bout width: 26
string length: 41
width at nut: 1.75
depth at upper bout: 8.5
depth at lower bout: 9.25
Currently strung with superflexibles. Drilled for Laborie endpin.
Asking price is $5500.
Bass and I are in Seattle.
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"to be or not to be, that is the question"
--kittyboy
Last edited by kittyboy : 12-18-2009 at 02:13 PM.
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