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All things Canadian for Basses?

Congratulations! I don't think I have any Canadian-made musical instruments, but have played a couple Seagull and Larrivee acoustics I quite liked.

But my home stereo is powered by a Canadian-made Bryston 2B-LP amp! And I have a pair of early, Canadian-made PSB Alpha speakers connected to my digital piano. I also have a pair of Paradigm 5SE speakers in the basement (one of the woofer surrounds needs redone).

I don't think I can find any Canadian ancestors, but perhaps being born on Canada Day will help. Okay, it won't, but I can dream.

For other Canadian musicians, jazz pianist Renee Rosnes! I first saw her perform live with Joe Henderson in the 1980s. It's too bad he never made an album with that group. (Kim Clarke was on bass and Sylvia Cuenca on drums).
 
Nothing against our neighbor to the north, nothing against Dingwall, but this is the only Canadian bass I'd buy.
Godin RG-4 Ultra...the piezo puts it over thd top.
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Fellow Canadian here. Born in Ontario but grew up in the U.S. Recently retired and have been considering returning to Canada, specifically to Vancouver Island.

Sarah McLachlan, Blue Rodeo, the Tragically Hip, The Sheepdogs, Doug and the Slugs, Harry Manx and The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer are among my favorite Canadian musicians/bands. Recently watched a great documentary about Gordon Lightfoot which caused me to have a lot more respect for him.

+1 for Radial Engineering. Great stuff.


 
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The Sheepdogs
I would love to know the story of why Jimmy Bowskill seems to float in and out of a few Canadian bands including Blue Rodeo and the Sheepdogs. I saw him live at the Kingston (ON) blues festival when he was just 15 years old and his mother had to be present in the bar (Tir Nan Og) for him to perform. As a kid, he was on fire and sounded fantastic, Jeff Healey took him under his wing and gave him the bug to keep plugging. His bass player was off the hook as well. I own two of his albums (purchased on the spot, of course).

What a player and singer he was as a teenager. Just incredible talent. He still plays effortlessly, but it's different now.



If you like killer blues licks and an old soul understanding of the guitar, this needs to be on your listening schedule. The bassist is a beast. I'm not sure if he was 14 or 15 when he made this album. Yeah, I kid you not, pun intended.

 
It’s been a long while since I’ve posted. I’m now a certified Canadian citizen! And, as such, I can’t help but wonder, what basses/luthiers make instruments with Canadian genes, and if there are any Canadians bassists?

For fun, here’s an interesting Canadian band, Angine de Poitrine (Chest Pain), from Sagueney, Québec. The bass and guitars are both weird “microtonal” fretted instruments.



And, any what other Canadians do we have on TB?

Sorry, but... I'm not a Canadian. But, I do own a Canadian-made bass; a '93 lefty Fury Anthem Lined Fretless. 32" scale, and - based on what I've figured out - intended to use tape wound strings only (long story there), and to sound as much like an upright bass as a medium-scale, solid body bass can. With it's Roto TruBass88 tapes? Trust me; it sure does... Mine was made by the company's founder, Glenn McDougal, in his basement in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - where he made all his instruments - by himself... :cool:
Right now Dingwall and Godin and F Bass jump to mind, but we had some good representation decades ago with Fury, Lado, Attila, Odyssey ...
My old friend Dave Reimer is a notable builder from Victoria / Vancouver... even Larrivée made a bass or two!!
I recently had occasion to search for Fury's website. I'm trying to find any information I can, on exactly how Glenn McDougal's unique D-tuner works. Fury Guitars was taken over by his apprentice when he died in 1998; he and his wife recently bought Fury Guitars from McDougal's family. So, I guess Fury is still in business...:whistle:
 
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There was a "Fury history site" up just a few years back, you might want to search the Wayback Machine for it. My first encounter with Furys was a shop in Surrey late 80s that had a few shiny brand new basses from the "hollowed-out headstock" period, which reminded me of Fleishmann, though in retrospect they might well have been NOS units that predated Fleishmann...