Double Bass American Standard rescue

[JBarz]

I found the Carlos set to be a bit whimpy- especially the G; I like heavier gage old school guts.

+1 on the Carlos' being too thin. I've got them on my AmStd right now and have to crank the action just a little outside of my 'sweet-spot' to make them respond right.

James, surely you're not slappin' that 6 year old Oliv G in your Django bands, though, right? I burned through a set real quick a long time ago with just light slapping... I find that humidity is the real kiss-of-death for those jokers.

 

[flatback]

The last Oliv I had was stable for 6 months up until the moment I pulled it off (Pirastro had sent me the Oliv and Stark Perp to compare ) ...well and tried to put it back on...the winding blew. I have heard these tales of Oliv's lasting people forever, but (sorry James) really not my experience. It does not keep me from buying them. I am going to put the perps on first though and then search around for a used set of some of these boutique guts....anybody put Genslers on an AS?

 

[flatback]

Matt is closing in on the AS project. Looking forward to playing this new Franken bass. It has a new neck/fingerboard from a German shop bass (I think) 42in string length, new bridge, overstand and angle reset.

 

[dylanjohnson]

Man, I'll bet that's going to sound amazing! I just sold my AS and I miss it already (the FB on mine smelled like maple syrup, so my 8 yr old daughter misses it, too).

 

[flatback]

The reason I never invested previously in getting the AS redone was that I was saving to have my dear friend (RIP) Andrea Spada make me another bass. I had sold my Tyrolean to pay for finishing an Airbnb project on our property that would bring in extra income, and my first purchase after I finished was going to be to commission Andrea. I am still so sad and miss him. That prolly would have been a small 3/4 or 5/8ths bass ( he could really get the most out of small basses).
But then I started playing the AS at gigs...A lot of cats had only heard me play on the small Contrabassetto so when I showed up with the AS it had a kind of maximal gravitas that really worked. But the whole back side of the bass (all the notes up the E and A strings) were clacky and buzzy due to the board) and the overstand was way subpar and although I really didn't mind the 43.5 string length, I kinda wanted it a little shorter. On those gigs though I could feel and hear this ferocious/gentle bear under there. All those gigs I played acoustic (mostly trio and duo gigs) and the AS really didnt need an amp. It was a beautiful thing after so many years of getting the amp/pickup thing so dialed in.
I put my EGGPIN on it and that little bit of cantilever made all the difference. It was like Salsa dancing with Lizzo- all good. Anyway Matt is away this week at the Luthier's convention in Grass Valley, and will finish it when he gets back.

 

[flatback]

I went down and picked up my Newly necked American Standard from Matt and from the first note I was in love. Matt Bohn is so very very capable and empathetic a luthier. He heard exactly what I wanted and made it happen. He had this sheepish grin on his face when I walked in ( I love cats like Matt … no ********, no hoity vibe) and I started playing and instantly I could tell that he took this big old bluegrass thumper and turned it into a giant sounding butter fingered jazz bass. The new neck is everything a stock AS neck is not: dense, thicker ( but not too) fat beautiful ( flat) board, neck stand kicked out like Peter Fonda’s chopper ( he said he added 30! Mm to the new bridge). The notes are fat and wide and last forever and it plays even all across. I could tell he was pleased but was waiting on my reaction. Man I am stoked. The bass is really transformed with a new neck, and overstand and bridge. Matt is so great, such a modest dude for someone so skilled. He transformed this bass into exactly what I want but only expected an apporoximation of.
I’m so glad I invested in this project. It sounds killing amplified too ( needs lots of HPF)

 

[JBarz]

he said he added 30! Mm to the new bridge

Congratulations! Looks great - would love to hear a little audio clip. I'm wondering -- where did the total bridge height end up? Around 6.5" or so, or even taller?

 

[flatback]

Dude this frickin bass is EPIC! It has a massive sound that is both percussive and sustaining and easy to play and just the most giant sound. I AM coming from a small bodied bass but I play on enough other basses to hear what this is doing. MATT BOHN is THE MAN. He so knew it too, that sheepish grin. I will make an audio clip.

 

[JBarz]

I know what you mean. You’ll love the adventure in strings. I go back and forth between Spiro mitts full set and some gut variation on the top end ever 6mos or so. Right now I’ve settled on Spiro Stark E, Mitt A, Perpetual Stark D, and an old Red-o-ray (plain, no winding) and it’s become my favorite bass again and is all I want to play out.

 

[flatback]

I've really been enjoying playing this bass. Under a band it has this immense sound that commands a huge portion of the lower tone register. It just fills it up. My smaller bass does great, it cuts thru the whole field of sound and finds it's space, but this AS just dominates that space if it wants. Which allows you to pull way back and really control that dynamic - how much is filled how percussive or light on its feet, I'm just loving playing it.