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Double Bass Ordered a Nick Lloyd bass today!

Robin Ruscio

Robin Ruscio

Supporting Member
Dec 15, 2003
1,836
373
47
Denver, CO, USA
robinruscio.com
#1
After searching online for 6 months for a new bass and then traveling to the ISB to try candidates this June, I found the maker of my next instrument, Nick Lloyd. Nick's basses had all the qualities I was looking for- clarity, a tight but substantial bottom, playability, great aesthetics, and the price was just right as well. Since then, I have been trying to figure out how to get into one of his 3/4's and finally lined it all up after much planning, hand wringing, long chats with my wife, and thinking for months. (Still need to sell my Hawkes FS here!)

Anyway, I'm thrilled. Nick and I have been talking for months, and one of my students just purchased the 7/8s he had at the ISB, which was few points shy of a gold medal but had a solid silver for tone and certificate for workmanship.

We went over some details today. I'm getting the 3/4 walnut with standard F holes, violin corners, 41" scale length, and chromatic extension. This will be a jazz bass, so Nick's going to put high arching on the top and give it some real punch and clarity, maybe slightly brighter than the one 3/4 he had at the convention. And he's just updated his top varnishing. The new results will be on his website in the next week, and I could tell he's excited about the outcome. It should be a good match for his walnut back and sides. The deposit check is in the mail!

The bass should be done in January. I'll fly out to pick it up in person and do small setup adjustments, and perhaps a few beers with the luthier himself. I'll post some pics and vids here when it arrives. Hopefully this will be the bass I play for the rest of my days, or at least the next 20 years!

All in all, a good day. :D
 
#6
can't go wrong with one of Nick's----I think walnut is a great idea. I've evolved into a non-maple guy (on new basses) and haven't played a walnut that I haven't liked.Haven't played Arnolds, but played a cornerless David Wiebe that knocked my soks off. Mine is the real poplar found on the Po river (or so the story goes)
 
#12
Mike Arnopol said:
can't go wrong with one of Nick's----I think walnut is a great idea. I've evolved into a non-maple guy (on new basses) and haven't played a walnut that I haven't liked.Haven't played Arnolds, but played a cornerless David Wiebe that knocked my soks off. Mine is the real poplar found on the Po river (or so the story goes)
Click to expand...

Do you think non-maple basses sound better right away? I'm still sure this will break in over time, but Nick's walnut didn't feel the same way most new basses do.

Of course, that's probably because Nick knows what he's doing as far as sound with the top.

I got into walnut on some of my Ken Smith electric basses; I owned a Black Tiger Elite. I always loved the sound and look of the wood, so it will be cool to have a huge piece of it again!

Chuck Israels pointed out at the ISB convention makers competition that Nick's bass (now owned by my student) had a unique voice that he thought he could identify by sound alone out of all the basses in the competition. I suspect partly that is due to the walnut. This had some appeal to me as a jazz bassist, as having a quality and unique sound has always been one of my goals- to have an identifiable voice, something valued in American culture and art. It's the combination of the player and the instrument. We shall see if this bass takes me closer to that goal!
 
#17
Nick is the man. I hope some day to have him make my dream bass, which would be a 5 string bearing a strong resemblance to some basses he has already made, including the flaming sword F holes and one of the more open headstock designs.
 

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