Ray Brown's Bass at Gage

Jason Sypher · #1 03-06-2009, 07:10 PM

I don't know why this isn't on their website but David Gage in New York is selling one of Ray Brown's basses, a Filipino carved instrument for under 13K. It is a fat bass with that whole Ray vibe. I just thought I would pass along the word for anyone interested. I hope this isn't a violation of TB rules. I'm not affiliated with the Gage shop in any way. I just found this little bit of trivia to be very interesting. Cool bass.

bass_snake · #2 03-06-2009, 07:36 PM

Cool, thanks for letting us know man.

Kevin Hsieh · #3 03-06-2009, 07:52 PM

ugh don't remind me. i went to try out that bass twice this week. it's killing me that i'm not actually in the market yet.

bass_snake · #4 03-06-2009, 08:03 PM

Is there any pics? I went on David Gage' s site. I didn' t see it.

davidAaronCarte · #5 03-08-2009, 01:19 PM

waaaaant

Jason Sypher · #6 03-08-2009, 03:00 PM

There are no photos or mention of it on the site. It is being sold by Ms. Ray Brown herself....straight from Ray's hands to yours...(the bass, not his wife). It's an interesting bass as well. Huge thing but playable right up the neck. Dark wood, Butternut I believe....an indigineous hardwood. I mean the whole bass is made of it, even the top. It had some kind of rattle in the tuner that made it impossible for me to really fall in love with it, plus it's huge and i'm trying to get over that little-guy-big-bass thing (did someone say Eddie?). By the way, Eddie Gomez' Claudot is there and it is a beast. You know, I also tried a little (standard 3/4) Juzek that was just great....who knew? Their website needs a major overhaul. I think my favorite bass porn website is the "Contrebasse Shop", nice layout, good photos....hot details.

massimo · #7 03-09-2009, 11:23 AM

Hi Jason,
me too have tried the ex Ray Brown bass at Gage Shop.
It is a Gagnon (from Philippine) with a nice violin shape, deep ribs and dark brown varnish, flatback. About 15 years old (there is a label inside with the year but i don't remember),
When i tried it it had Weich strings and the sound was in my opinion nice and full both with bow and pizzicato (maybe not really fast for uptempo pizz because of the deep ribs)
i found the shoulders big but not difficult too manage (ok, if you play every day a lot in thumb position this is not the bass)
On the contrary the Claudot ex Gomez had really large shoulders that made really hard to deal with the upper part of the fingerboard. The Claudot is a really fine bass of great quality and should be of great interest for someone who likes the french sound and doesnt mind the high shoulders ( it is also reasonably priced if i remember well). I didn't buy the Gagnon because i was looking for something better quality from the point of view of Lutherie (it looks ok but nothing special)

BAJO · #8 03-09-2009, 08:23 PM

For those who don't know, this bass was a gift given to Ray by Bill Cosby. Bill has a wide collection of basses and one day called Ray and gave him this bass to use on the road. This one was used for a couple of years before he retired it..

Carlos Henriquez

bass_snake · #9 03-09-2009, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BAJO

For those who don't know, this bass was a gift given to Ray by Bill Cosby. Bill has a wide collection of basses and one day called Ray and gave him this bass to use on the road. This one was used for a couple of years before he retired it..

Carlos Henriquez

Wow, that is cool. Thanks for the info Bajo.

Hope we could see a pic.

Fred

Mike Arnopol · #10 03-10-2009, 12:37 PM

I know the bass. Like many Gagnon basses it has a lot of volume and easy response. The bass is made of a local wood called calantas. It is notoriously unstable in northern climates. This isn't to say that there aren't Gagnon basses that have held up, but I'd be wary. I know a lot of very nasty cracking stories. I had the opportunity to buy directly from the luthiers there at a VERY low price and passed.

LarryR · #11 03-10-2009, 02:57 PM

If I may hijack for props due:
M. Arnopol.... always a pleasure reading your posts.

p.s. thanks for chiming in on my thread re: 15" speakers.

Eric Hochberg · #12 03-10-2009, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Arnopol

I know the bass. Like many Gagnon basses it has a lot of volume and easy response. The bass is made of a local wood called calantas. It is notoriously unstable in northern climates. This isn't to say that there aren't Gagnon basses that have held up, but I'd be wary. I know a lot of very nasty cracking stories. I had the opportunity to buy directly from the luthiers there at a VERY low price and passed.

There was a calantas 5 string at Gage's a few years ago. While I was there, a guy was auditioning it for the second time and found a large top plate crack that hadn't been there just a couple of weeks before.

One Gagnon bass in Chicago developed a serious rib crack that required the top off to repair, including lining the ribs as they were so thinly made. There are a couple of other Gagnons here that I don't believe have had any serious problems.

PaulChambersFan · #13 03-11-2009, 04:11 PM

So what about this? Ray Brown holding my bass (he borrowed it from the former owner when he was playing in Sweden) together with Norman Granz, Roy Eldrige and Max Roach!

thejumpcat · #14 03-11-2009, 09:29 PM

I just got the latest issue of Jazz Times yesterday. John Clayton is on the cover (and those are some sweet tuners on his bass on the cover shot).

In the Opening Chorus: Before After (which is like Downbeat's blindfold test where they play an artist different songs and they have to guess who it is), Clayton not only knows that one of the songs is Ray Brown, he knows WHICH BASS Brown is playing -- because Clayton owns it. That's a serious pair of ears.

I'm geeked because Clayton has been chosen as the artist-in-residence for this year's Detroit Jazz Festival. Last year it was Christian McBride. Hats off to the fest's executive director, Terri Pontremoli, for giving us the "low down" in the Motor City.

Buogon · #15 03-12-2009, 09:02 PM

I tried the Ray Brown bass last night , and believe me it sounds right on
A lot of volume and great set up, i had no problem playing in the thumb position
i have long arms. David Gage did a great job on the crack on the rib.
This bass is still under going repairs as we speak , if i had the bread to get it
i would just for the fact it was his and he played it. Bajo Thanks for that info
i will try to contact Bill to see if he will let another one go.

Jason Sypher · #16 03-13-2009, 09:50 AM

It's odd how a bass could sound so "Ray"? As soon as you start playing you can hear why Ray loved it. I believe it was used in quite a few recordings as well so that could explain some of the familiarity.

Buogon · #17 03-13-2009, 01:07 PM

Hey Jason, thanks for the info on the bass, it just so happen that i was
going to a workshop there, and if i did not know about this i would have never gotten the
chance to play the bass. It is not on the site and they don't advertise it.
Big up's to you man !