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Double Bass College Audition Equipment Discussion

MomTheRoadie

MomTheRoadie

Guest
Jul 13, 2011
13
1
Ann Arbor, MI
#1
My son will be a junior in high school next year, so he's about a year and a half out from his college auditions for bass performance. The tentative audition list so far includes: U of MI, MI State, IU, Rice(?), Oberlin(?) and Curtis. He currently has what is referred to on this site as a laminated CCB. Given that these are some pretty competitive schools, I know he needs an equipment upgrade before the audition and some time to get used to a new instrument. We've recently been looking at fully carved basses in the $5K to $10K range (mostly Not-So-CCB's). I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on how college audition committees account for differences in the quality of a potential student's instrument during auditions. Is this even considered? Sound great on a $30K bass vs sounding great on $4K bass? Or is it just technique and potential? Can a great bass make or break your college audition? Any feedback, especially from college professors or those with college audition experience, would be most appreciated.
 
#2
A cheap instrument won't necessarily keep your son out of the schools he wants to attend, but it won't help him either. It's much easier to advance as a player when working with quality, well set-up equipment. Most professors will understand that a plywood bass isn't going to sound amazing, but they may not recognize a bad set-up in a ten minute audition.

It sounds like your son is pretty serious (he's looking at some real schools). If he doesn't yet have professional quality equipment, he's going to want it once he's in school.
 
#3
Thanks Paul. He's been really successful with the ply, so up until now it has not been an issue. It's just that he's thinking this is what he wants to do in college, and I do see that most of the other kids at his level are already on carved instruments or upgrading their carved instruments already. He's taking one of the basses we're considering to his private lesson tomorrow. We'll see what comes of that.

Is there really a noticeable difference in sound between a $5K and a $10K bass?
 
#4
I suggest you contact a member of the detroit symphony and discuss this in private. A good setup is the most important. I will say this though, you do NOT need a 20k bass to get in to a top school.
 
#12
There are several places in Chicago where one can find a good bass:

a440 Violin Shop (North side)

Sonksen Strings (just NW from the Loop)

Classic Contrabass (Wheeling, a NW suburb)

Kagan & Gaines (Forest Park, just west of the City)

SMR basses (Evanston, Steve Reinfranck)

All of these have websites with contact info. Mark Sonksen and a440 are my favorites of these. (Cheap plug here: I have what I think is an ideal bass for you son on consignment at a440).
 
#13
I can get you in contact with Michelle at classic contrabass in wheeling. I would recommend that no matter where you get your intstrument, you take it to her for a setup. She does truly incredibly work. I bought my Shen from her for 7,500, and most people's first reaction is that it sounds like a 15-20k bass! She truly does wonderful work!
 
#14
MomTheRoadie said:
Any suggestions on where to look for bass options in the Detroit area? We've been to a few of the more notable bass shops in MI. Is a trip to Cincinnati in order? Are there hidden gems in MI that we may have missed?
Click to expand...

Contact Aaron Robertson at Robertsons violin shop in NM.
He is a very acomplished curtis grad and he will give you the best advice in the business.
They also do the best setup in the business.
I guarantee they will recommend what is best for your son.
With the knowledge that Aaron has tried the instrument, you can rest assured that is will be an excellent choice.
 
#15
something that has not been addressed here is the bow. i don't know what the quality of your son's bow is, but my experience is that you can do more with a high quality bow/lesser quality bass combination than the other way around. it may be a more cost effective way to upgrade your equipment. a great player with a 5k bass (properly set-up) and a nice bow (in the 1-3k range) should be able to audition into ANY school.
 
#16
We now own a fully carved New Cleveland. A beautiful bass with a big sound. It's at GH now for a few tweaks...fingerboad extension and bridge re-shaping. Bow is decent and has recently been re-haired by a top notch guy in Ann Arbor. Thanks to everyone for the words of wisdom. Now it's just up to the player to put in the time to get ready for auditions. We still have the Chinese ply too. Several professionals who have heard him play it have told us to never to let it go because it has such a great sound.
 

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