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Double Bass 1840 Prescott on Facebook
- Thread starter bass08053
- Start date
Wow! I hadn't expected my question to elicit so much information. I used to smack people with a sword -- decades ago -- but it was a rattan sword with padded edges. I can't imagine using live steel.
Never live blades. We want to train and spar, not kill each other!* There's all sorts of good options out there nowadays for training blades, with the most well known being the typical longsword federschwert. Long gone are the days of modifying a shinai to have a proper crossguard and longer hilt.
I, however, don't have the money for a nice steel federschwert because I spend most of my money on good food, good drink, and bass stuff, so instead I've got a decent synthetic feder from BlackFencer in the UK. Same weight and balance as a steel one, at the cost of not behaving the same in the bind (more bouncy and slippery). A lot wider on the edge though, so I don't need to go out and get a proper jacket when I'm doing controlled free play with other people using synthetics.
*most of the time
I get the math on string lengths, but i think when we are adding 2" of string the tension change is the bigger issue.
perhaps it's all in my head, but i've certainly felt a noticeable difference even just from 42" to 41.25"
the bass could rather easily be a money pit, in terms of condition. i suspect i'm not alone in thinking it would be a much more viable bass if it were restored (altered..) to a 41.5" or so string length with a D neck.
not quite sure what such an operation (plus any other needed attention) would cost..
considering the going rate is $40k (do they actually sell at that price?) there's lots of room to make a profit.
ideally someone would buy it, address any issues, and enjoy it as is. but that just seems unlikely.
perhaps it's all in my head, but i've certainly felt a noticeable difference even just from 42" to 41.25"
the bass could rather easily be a money pit, in terms of condition. i suspect i'm not alone in thinking it would be a much more viable bass if it were restored (altered..) to a 41.5" or so string length with a D neck.
not quite sure what such an operation (plus any other needed attention) would cost..
considering the going rate is $40k (do they actually sell at that price?) there's lots of room to make a profit.
ideally someone would buy it, address any issues, and enjoy it as is. but that just seems unlikely.
I don't think it's in your head. Certainly there are other factors in bass construction that determines how a bass feels to the bassist and how it generally handles tension, but my limited experience and simple mind tells me that longer mensures will cause you to experience more tension, which might be good if that's what you're going for. Considering how popular it is to use 4/4 spirocores on 3/4 basses to get the opposite effect, it's fairly empirical evidence that mensure is a significant factor.
I don't know if I would modify it or not. This class of bass is out of reach for me, so I can't quite say. I'd love to have a historic bass from a great builder, but I personally would prioritize something that would feel great and be easy to get around on with your favorite medium gauge/medium tension strings.
There are a million reasons why two basses that have different scale lengths might play different. It is always so hard to talk about this stuff because it's impossible to a/b. I know there are lots of basses with a false nut to reduce the scale length that sound great, but they might have sounded better at their original scale length. A lot of those basses with the false nut still feel tight. (Personally, I would have a lot more trouble with the broad shoulders but would be happy to deal with them if someone wants to buy me this bass
)It doesn't seem like there are any issues with this bass from those videos. Obviously this isn't the instrument to buy if you are looking for a Quenoil solo bass
I'm eternally grateful to the luthier who talked me out modifying my Morelli attributed bass when I was a music student. The world is full of 41-42 scale length basses.
Off topic, a friend of mine who owns a verified, sanctified, absolute for-sure real deal Prescott, says that the famed Scott LaFaro Prescott isn't.
not a real Prescott you're saying? I think Kolstein's and a lot of others would beg to differ, but go on. I'm curious.
This comes up now and then. I've never had the nerve to ask Barrie to play it. The big Prescotts he had for years certainly have a distinct feel. I played a Klotz busetto once and it was quite different from a Prescott. Hard to say if the LeFaro is the genuine article but I tend towards the positive. But it's surely unique in Prescotts stable of instruments.
Wreck of an old Yankee - Ken's Corner (Bass Forums Sponsored By KSB) (smithbassforums.com)
I don't know who may have made this smallish bass; it sounded good, too. This was in a music store in Dover, NH. I hope it found a good home.
I don't know who may have made this smallish bass; it sounded good, too. This was in a music store in Dover, NH. I hope it found a good home.
He says it has no features we expect with Prescotts except the busetto corners. I respect both sides of the argument too much to dispute either. Whoever built it, some gorgeous music came out of it.
