Double Bass Czech-Ease

[Mike Carr]

I'm not qualified to comment on the contruction of the bass, I'm a player, not a luthier. But it does sound good for what it is, sounds like a bass, feels like a bass, not like an EUB and is in an easy size for travel. It has held together well thusfar (see my earlier posts!) and probably with reasonable care will work well for a long time. I like it, and the people that hire me like it and I work a lot! They don't come cheap, $4500 is lot of money to pay for a plywood, even with a good flight case. But I guess most of that money pays for the concept, design and David Gage's final set-up and finishing touches, not nessasaraly the contruction, which of course, is farmed out to the Czech Republic. On mine, Jon Peterson, World Of Strings, who I bought it from opted to reinforce the saddle, which is quite high compared to normal sized basses. This was to prevent it pulling loose from the string tension. It has given me no problems to date.
Under the right conditions, I'd prefer to be playing a fine carved bass, like my Shen. But you can't beat the Czech -Ease for convienence and economy when it comes to saving on oversized baggage fees. Maybe it looks funny inside, my friend Sam Shen thought it could have been made better, but it nevertheless feels a strong as a tank to me, and certainly sounds like a big bass when it's plugged in.

 

[jgbass]

I has now been 20 days since my initital order for the Czech-Ease from Music 123. They actually had the best price, no tax, low shipping, etc. I couldn't find it in San Diego anyway. David Gage Company has been trying their best to get Music 123 to pick it up and get it shipped since last Friday. It has been packed and ready to go since last Friday. Today is Wednesday and what happened before that was an erroneous message on the Music 123 tracking info that it had been drop shipped.

Just a heads up. I am giving this until tomorrow at noon, then I am just going to ask the David Gage folks to charge it to their company and get it shipped by air asap.

Only good thing that came of this was a nice conversation with David Gage when I called their shop this afternoon.

 

[Freddels]

I would try to get Gage to honor the Music123 price. If he's selling to them, it must be less than retail and I'm sure that Music123 must be making some profit on the deal. If Gage honors the deal, he would still be making the same profit as before plus whatever markup Music123 had. I'm sure he would want to keep the deal alive and have a happy customer.

Good luck.

 

[jgbass]

Good point. Music 123 is selling it for the same price as David Gage, but the cost of shipping would be less than the cost of tax and all the driving time I would put in to go to Long Beach and get it at World of Strings. If 123 can't do it, then I am hoping to negotiate a good shipping price, as good as 123's.

I did talk with someone at World of Strings and he mentioned there are different neck types for the Czech-Ease. D neck, Eb neck, and an adjustable type. This is news to me. I didn't see that info in any of the specs, have no idea what kind of neck is supposed to be shipped, have had a bass in the past with an Eb neck and didn't like it, so now I need to clarify what kind of neck I am getting from David Gage.

 

[Justin K-ski]

I've actually been thinking about selling my full sized Czech bass for one of the Czech-ease basses. How do they sound with a bow? Obviously I would need it for only practice and jazz gigs but it needs to sound decent.

Anyone tried it with a bow or even (eek) orchestra?

 

[Arnold]

I would try to get Gage to honor the Music123 price. If he's selling to them, it must be less than retail and I'm sure that Music123 must be making some profit on the deal. If Gage honors the deal, he would still be making the same profit as before plus whatever markup Music123 had. I'm sure he would want to keep the deal alive and have a happy customer.

Good luck.

It looks to me like exactly the same price. Why would you want to take profit away from Gage and give it to some unknown corporate retail outlet when you have a choice?

 

[Freddels]

It looks to me like exactly the same price. Why would you want to take profit away from Gage and give it to some unknown corporate retail outlet when you have a choice?

That's not what I said. If Gage is selling his basses through another dealer and that dealer is selling for less than Gage (I didn't compare the prices but instead relied upon the post regarding this). Then Gage would be selling the bass to the dealer for $X and dealer would be selling to customer for $X + dealer profit. I was suggesting that the person contact Gage and see if they could get the Music123 deal (which would be more $ to Gage on this particular bass b/c it would have originally been sold to dealer for $x and now Gage would be getting $x + dealer profit).

Many times you can purchase from a dealer for less than if you went straight to the manufacturer.

 

[jgbass]

I got a call this morning from David Gage Shop about this order and also an answer regarding the neck type of my order. Apparently, the bass that was packed and ready to ship had an Eb neck. David Gage folks graciously decided to honor my request for a D neck, will pack it up and get it out tomorrow if the 123 shippers get there. He also said the Music 123 basses were specifically all Eb basses. There is also a third smaller neck model designed for kids and smaller adults with a smaller length abbreviated neck size.

I am wondering if this variation on neck types has had something to do with some people reporting intonation problems? Just a thought. I had an Eb bass at one time and, currently, I think it would affect my intonation of I had to switch between D and Eb necks. I need all the help possible to have good intonation.

And, I too am curious how this is going to sounds with bowing.

 

[Steve Swan]

Quite often the best price isn't the best deal. It might have been better to work with World of Strings and have them help you with all of the options. I know Jon to be very patient and informative with his customers. For a few dollars more you might be a confident, happy camper playing a new instrument set up to your specifications by World of Strings instead of frustrated, angry camper wondering when your bass will come.

My brother Pete designs and fabricates high-end custom parachutes. His business card reads "Price, Service, Speed. Pick any two."

Steve Swan
Retailer for Paesold, Mastri, Gill, Wilfer, Kolstein, Shen, etc.

 

[KSB - Ken Smith]

I heard something similar about 15 years ago on tapes from a seminar with Jay Levinson, author of 'Gorilla Marketing'. He said in buying printed color catalogs, "Price, Quality and Speed, Pick any two, you can't have all three".

I agree 100%.

 

[jgbass]

I heard something similar about 15 years ago on tapes from a seminar with Jay Levinson, author of 'Gorilla Marketing'. He said in buying printed color catalogs, "Price, Quality and Speed, Pick any two, you can't have all three".

I agree 100%.

I like that. I think, in my case, that I am having price and quality. Today my D neck bass was shipped, as the David Gage Shop was willing to make the neck change on my order. That was much appreciated. Otherwise, it would have shipped yesterday.

I have bought several musical instruments via internet and have always been happy, and they have all arrived in perfect condition. But I have also been very careful to play an equivalent instrument and educate myself on it. In these cases I couldn't find the exact instrument I wanted at any local store. San Diego is a county of millions, but my closest option for purchase was a four plus hour round trip to World of Strings, and they only had the abbreviated size neck in stock, so David Gage Shop would have had to ship it to them. So, ultimately, having it shipped to me seems to be the best option. A luthier needs to do some neck reshaping, so I can have it looked at then for any other recommendations.

 

[Matt Power]

Who do you use in San Diego? Dave Millard is EXCELLENT, but a hippie in the ultimate sense of the word. A great repair/setup guy, but is notoriously slow, and easily distracted except on a good day. I love him to pieces, and if you can get him to shake a leg, IMO, there are very few better than Dave. He's had some health problems over the last few years....anyone here know how he's doing?

 

[jgbass]

I have had work done by Dave in the past, but, unfortunately, he is always so busy, its takes a long time, and I have difficulty even getting in touch with him by phone. He does great work! I didn't know about his health problems. A friend just had some major cracks and other bass problems repaired by Dave and his bass looks and sounds great. Hammond-Ashley also has a luthier, but last I heard they are super busy too. I needed a bow rehaired and it would have sat there for several weeks before they got to it.

Currently, I take my basses to Lemur Music. I took an old German bass I need to sell first to be checked out, and they did some bridge adjustments and didn't charge a penny. I took another bass for neck reshaping, and they did it the same day. I also had two bows rehaired at Lemur and they did an excellent job with the rehairing. A local shop here couldn't figure out how to get the bow unglued for rehairing. Don't think violin shops have that much expertise with bass bows. I just shipped the bows to Lemur and they were back in about a week to 10 days. Lemur even shipped one of the bows to Michigan and back to them, then back to me, all in about 10 days.

When I get my Czech-Ease, I am going to Lemur the have the neck reshaped, and I am guessing they can do this the same day. Plus, I get to wander around Lemur for a few hours. Nice way to spend an afternoon!

 

[natemusic]

I got a czech ease recently in order to facilitate flying to Europe and around the US. I put a Fishman Full Circle on it, though. The realist is a little feedbacky for what I do. Not to mention the arco sound is so much louder than pizz i can't deal. I like the Czech ease fine. It sounds like a good hybrid or good plywood, and I have no doubt that with time, I will be able to dial in the sound a little. It feels like a real bass, so you don't have the arco problems you get with a EUB. I have been charged for flying with it, but come one, it's still big, you can't expect to fly for free with that thing. At least it wasn't a matter of being refused. Oh, and I told them it was a cello.

 

[JohnThomasson]

That's cool. I've thought about adding a full circle since the realist on there is a little hard to control and you are right about the arco response. I still love mine but I'm also thinking about having the neck trimmed down and reshaped a bit if possible. It is so much chunkier than my other basses and a little awkward since it is so neck heavy.

I'm not quite ready to sell off my old full size Gage case because of this bass, but I'm glad to say that I'm done with using EUBs out of necessity.

 

[jgbass]

I had the neck reshaped on my Czech-Ease. Made it much more playable.

Right now, though, its on consignment at Lemur Music. I like it, but for the things I do, meaing lots of arco. I need an extra 3/4 size bass. Maybe I will regret selling it. It sure had a good jazz sound with my jazz quartet.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Sorry, but I find the CE disturbing looking.
I know they sound good. I heard Mike Moore playing his on TV, no less, with Brubeck.
They just remind me of a bass that's been attacked by the chainsaw murderer...........

I finally saw one in person yesterday and I have to agree with you Paul....it looks like an evil dwarf from a Fellini film. With it’s full sized shoulders and depth it does look pretty playable compared to other travel basses but the downfall of all downsized basses is that they don't have the same acoustic girth a full sized instrument does and nobody wants to or in some cases is able to mic them. They’re designed to be airline friendly yet how many players doing fly ins are playing concert halls or other good venues with a pro PA and a pro soundman? That’s just about the only time you can come close to getting an accurate amplified representation with a mic and without a full sized bass it seems a missed opportunity. Through a large PA I haven’t heard one I thought sounded better or even as good as a good EUB. Where I can very much understand using one (travel ease aside) is that it feels like an acoustic instrument under yer hands and that is reason enough to seriously consider it. I’m sorry the bass player last night chose not to use a mic on his Czech-Ease (it was offered). It seemed to have some real acoustic sound and I would have liked to have heard it miked through the FOH.

 

[ctcruiser]

I saw one in the Stein on Vine shop in LA in April. It does look different! The sound was OK.

 

[Mike Carr]

I bought my C-E in 2005, used it nightly in pro situations while traveling for more than a year, then sold it, thinking that a good EUB would be sufficent for me for road gigs, as most of the time I play jazz with pickups and amps. The places I play don't offer full time pro soundmen most of the time. I bought the best of EUB's, an Azola Lightning Bug. Sure enough, a breeze at the airport, no oversize charges and played great! But the feel, it just left me wanting more. The Azola does it's thing very well. But there's nothing like the real thing and the C-E is the real thing. The feel and the decay of the notes, it's just like any other decent ply bass I've experianced. I used to own a very nice Kay, and the C-E works about the same, when amped up. I was lucky and was able to buy my C-E back from the fellow who bought it from me last year, a trade really, for a bass that I owed that was going unused and was of equal value for what I had gotten from him for the C-E. So, the C-E is mine again and seeing action every night on my gig here in China. I don't ever worry about stuff like, "gee, does it sound like a bass" because it does. It feels just the same as a "big bass", the neck, the shoulders and most of all, the sound. Some of you guys have commented that the C-E sounds "small" or like a "cello". No, not really, maybe the bass, alone, no mic, no amp or whatever in your practice room won't shake the walls quite as much as a big bass will. I've got a great sounding carved bass, a Shen Willow at home and sure, in a controled enviroment it wins hands down. But come on, in the real world (at least for me) where people pay me money for my music (even if I must often go to the ends of the earth for the steady work) I'm in the noisy club, on a wooden stage 3 feet from the bass drum and six feet from a sub-woofer that sitting at the edge of that very same wooden stage, the "soundman" doesn't speak english well, so the sound changes every day, he tends bar too, you see...the piano's mics are way too hot, so my amp bleeds into them, but even with my amp off, I'm often too loud on stage anyway, because to drummer has played one too many loud gigs, and is half-way deaf so he insists on having me in the monitors. But I love the guy anyway, 'cause he swings his ass off, and has time like a Swiss watch! Nobody here in my world thinks my C-E sounds like anything other than a bass. I never think twice about it, any thing that it might lack in terms of the elusive "perfect double bass sound" is just a matter of playing it in a manner that coaxs "the sound" out of it, and at the very worse is just a matter of a slight EQ adjustment. Yeah, it's good for what it is, it rains allmost every day here in the summer, I take three showers a day beacause it's so hot and humid. But my bass is fine, well, so far so good, I havn't even had to touch my bridge adjusters yet. Plywood rules durring Monsoon season! I dropped the soundpost on it once last year, was a real drag, no tools on hand and no luthiers in this neck of the woods! I'm resolved to leave things alone this time! If it's not broke....well you know... And it really, really does fit quite easily in a taxi!

 

[jgbass]

The Azola does it's thing very well. But there's nothing like the real thing and the C-E is the real thing. The feel and the decay of the notes, it's just like any other decent ply bass I've experianced. I used to own a very nice Kay, and the C-E works about the same, when amped up. I was lucky and was able to buy my C-E back from the fellow who bought it from me last year, a trade really, for a bass that I owed that was going unused and was of equal value for what I had gotten from him for the C-E. So, the C-E is mine again and seeing action every night on my gig here in China. I don't ever worry about stuff like, "gee, does it sound like a bass" because it does. It feels just the same as a "big bass", the neck, the shoulders and most of all, the sound.

+1 As one who had a C-E for quite awhile, the quality of the sound amazes me and, yes, it really has the feel, sustain, etc. of a regular bass. I've seen or heard of many pros using it, including Dave Holland, at a recent concert here in San Diego. And, Marco Panascia, who has his sound clips linked on this site. Dave was running it through a GK MB 150 or 200 with line outs to other GK speakers. Sounded great in the big hall.

I am hard put to understand all the criticism here. I would suggest one try the bass and hear for yourself.