I know John Goldsby commissioned a Jean Auray Bass because the ISB did an article about it.
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Double Bass Andrea Spada Basses
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I know John Goldsby commissioned a Jean Auray Bass because the ISB did an article about it.
Having played a smaller instrument for many years, from my perspective 5/8 instruments are much easier to get around, so unless you're an orchestra bassist, I'm not convinced that anyone needs a 7/8 instrument.
If you're playing in a Jazz Quartet, Quintet, or Trio a 5/8's and some of the newer upscale fractional sizes are so much easier to play. Just my take of course. Modern luthiers are able to get so much more sound out
of a less imposing instrument.
Having played a smaller instrument for many years, from my perspective 5/8 instruments are much easier to get around, so unless you're an orchestra bassist, I'm not convinced that anyone needs a 7/8 instrument.
If you're playing in a Jazz Quartet, Quintet, or Trio a 5/8's and some of the newer upscale fractional sizes are so much easier to play. Just my take of course. Modern luthiers are able to get so much more sound out
of a less imposing instrument.
Not sure I agree bit to each their own. Franco Petracchi had/has one of the finest tones out there and he played on a huge double bass with a 42-43" string length for solo playing.
pretty sure Rick is referring mostly to the size of the body and not the string length
I've heard amazing basses upfront (Maggini, as an example) which had small bodies and the sound was huge. You can get a powerful and often tight sound from a small body but I think you need a string length that is still "normal" to have it retain a lot of its depth. If anything, I think a smallish body with a standard, or close to standard, string length can produce one of the finest sounds.
Regarding my above post, I should however mention that a lot of these smaller basses made by makers such as Tecchler and Maggini were most certainly re-necked much later in their lives to accommodate a longer string length, slightly steeper overstand and neck angle, and also have some braces inserted to handle the increased tension. They were most likely in 90-98cm string length camp when conceived as "violones" originally.
I had a huge (and I mean HUGE) bass for many years when playing in an orchestra. It had a 30" lower bout and 23" upper bout - a total monster. And it sounded like a monster, too lol. Huge, organ-like tone but muddy and undefined, and not to mention a pain to play and get in and out of a car. I am 5'7" ish and the lower bout would be smashed against the floor when sitting on a stool lol.
What he said.
The combination of a regular string length (41.5) small body and expert design and carving make my Contrabassetto as open and resonant, as long in sustain and as punchy and quick to sing as much larger basses. The idealized ergonomics of it mean I can practice and play with much less torque effort on my body and less pressure on my back and arms. I can play longer and easily thru areas of the instrument that cause tension and or blockage with larger instruments. Thumb position I can stay in for extended passages (whole solos) and being that comfortable up there means that I stay up there which means I play the instrument differently.Yes, there is less box which makes less overall sound but the sound that DOES emanate is not of a lesser quality (and there for it amplifies extremely well both mic'd and pickup) The spectrum of harmonic content skews toward higher harmonics which enhance clarity and punch but the bass tones ARE represented...its just that the bass is designed more for what it is being used for rather then making as much noise as possible as a self amplifier.
The combination of a regular string length (41.5) small body and expert design and carving make my Contrabassetto as open and resonant, as long in sustain and as punchy and quick to sing as much larger basses. The idealized ergonomics of it mean I can practice and play with much less torque effort on my body and less pressure on my back and arms. I can play longer and easily thru areas of the instrument that cause tension and or blockage with larger instruments. Thumb position I can stay in for extended passages (whole solos) and being that comfortable up there means that I stay up there which means I play the instrument differently.Yes, there is less box which makes less overall sound but the sound that DOES emanate is not of a lesser quality (and there for it amplifies extremely well both mic'd and pickup) The spectrum of harmonic content skews toward higher harmonics which enhance clarity and punch but the bass tones ARE represented...its just that the bass is designed more for what it is being used for rather then making as much noise as possible as a self amplifier.
When I played in orchestras during my college years, my teacher Phillip Albright had a 7/8 bass, that had been cut down a bit to make it closer to a 3/4 up top, since he was the section leader, that bass projected like a cannon. Dr. Albright just cleared 5 ft in height, but
sitting on a stool he was in command of that bass and it's sound. Sitting back inside the section of 8 bassists with my 5/8 Mirecourt it wasn't that easy to hear my individual sound, so my take on a bass suited for orchestral playing, is that it needs to be 3/4 and has to
have a big enveloping sound, for you to be able to hear yourself. Performing solos, is easier with a smaller bass for me, but I'm not playing against the sound of an orchestral accompaniment. Famous soloists like Edgar Meyer, Gary Karr, and Petracchi need more sound
to maintain a balance between themselves and the orchestra. I do remember Gary Karr's Lemay bass being on the small side. Just my take. My Mirecourt has a regular string length as well.
sitting on a stool he was in command of that bass and it's sound. Sitting back inside the section of 8 bassists with my 5/8 Mirecourt it wasn't that easy to hear my individual sound, so my take on a bass suited for orchestral playing, is that it needs to be 3/4 and has to
have a big enveloping sound, for you to be able to hear yourself. Performing solos, is easier with a smaller bass for me, but I'm not playing against the sound of an orchestral accompaniment. Famous soloists like Edgar Meyer, Gary Karr, and Petracchi need more sound
to maintain a balance between themselves and the orchestra. I do remember Gary Karr's Lemay bass being on the small side. Just my take. My Mirecourt has a regular string length as well.
@peteswanson91
Digging this one out... Did you get your bass yet? Would love to hear clips, get feedback, and see pictures, if so!
Like all the rest of the bass community, I’m lurking on Andrea’s work
Digging this one out... Did you get your bass yet? Would love to hear clips, get feedback, and see pictures, if so!
Like all the rest of the bass community, I’m lurking on Andrea’s work
I just went down to Steve Swan's and picked up my old American Standard bass which has been down there for sale for 3 years now. No takers. (sounds like nobody is buying basses period) but getting it back (after just playing my Spada Contrabassetto for a few years) I got all goosey about the big fat wide tone that comes out of the bass. Played it for about 3 hours (stretching my fingers to get to the 43 in scale) then I compared the two basses. F%$#All the Spada has SO SO much going for it. It is a smaller sound but WAY more powerful, even, punchy, singing, playable ergonomic and the arco is just crazy good. WHen I made the decision to just play the smaller bass for a while I had doubts (that I could just use it) and after a couple years now I thought, "oh I'm going to go back to a big bass and realize that I have been playing cello." But no man the Spada ROCKS! and after 6 years (2015 make) and a ton of arco and long tones this past 6 months it is just crazy good....Peter Rofe (LA PHIL sometime ago) who I studied with back then once told me the way to open up a bass fast was to play a double stop of open A string with a stopped Ab on the E string. Played as a double stop the conflicting waves beat so hard against one another that it is the most vibration you can inflict on a bass by playing. It really works too.
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the other day I was sitting at my desk and my eyes lighted on my original Andrea Spada fixed bridge that had broken I glued it back together and it worked but Andrea told me to get another cut. I had Gael cut a half size bridge (whose stock stockiness was nothing like the long legged slim carved bridge from Spada) but had the pickup in the adjusters etc...
Anyway the point is I took that new bridge off and put back the Spada bridge and generally returned the instrument to as close to how Andrea sent it to me, and Damn I what a difference in sound and presence and aliveness. Andrea is so totally badass and such a great artist. The stock setup is KILLING. As soon as I get some bread I am going to try and get Andrea to rough out a new one (maybe based on a tracing of this one) and then have someone local do the fine fitting...
But returning the bass to the way he intended is makiing me so happy...It sounds like the bass is super happy too.
Anyway the point is I took that new bridge off and put back the Spada bridge and generally returned the instrument to as close to how Andrea sent it to me, and Damn I what a difference in sound and presence and aliveness. Andrea is so totally badass and such a great artist. The stock setup is KILLING. As soon as I get some bread I am going to try and get Andrea to rough out a new one (maybe based on a tracing of this one) and then have someone local do the fine fitting...
But returning the bass to the way he intended is makiing me so happy...It sounds like the bass is super happy too.
That is not strictly true, I commissioned a Hungarian Luthier, Bango Istvan, to build me a 1/2 size 5-string bass to my specifications. Completely hand carved, no machine tools. A wonderful instrument, which I paid about $3,500, shipped. Couldn’t be happier.
6 months in and still loving my Spada. It brings me joy every time I play it and I really appreciate what it brings to the table in terms of tone and ease of playability.
