• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Duesenberg Basses

3toes

3toes

Aug 30, 2006
2,398
942
Denver, Colorado
www.facebook.com
#1
Has anyone had experience with Duesenberg basses? They've got some pretty killer gretsch-like styling.

d_bass_wineredrs.jpg


DSBblack_sm.jpg


[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#2
I've seen a Duesenberg guitar in person and it was absolutely gorgeous from top to bottom. I didn't try it out, but I've only heard great things about them. I definitely like the looks of their basses, but I would have no use for a bass without a neck pickup.
 
#6
lunarpollen said:
Now that's beautiful, but I don't like the color scheme. Well, I don't dislike it, I think it looks cool, but I wouldn't want a bass with that color scheme...
Click to expand...

Those are the Mike Campbell (lead guitarist of tom petty & the heartbreakers) signature colors. And a hat tip to James Hart for providing me with that same exact information yesterday.

Actually, watching tom petty play the halftime show yesterday reinvigorated my interest in duesenberg stuff. They're just so... purty. I want one of the dual humbucker star basses. Badly. Too bad they're expensive as all get out.
 
#9
It seems like most basses built in that style (referring to the bluish hollowbody w/ dual buckers) are either pretty junky, and sell for like $400 or they're great and cost $2500 or more... like the Gretsch white falcon... very cool bass, but how can you justify buying that? I wish there were more reasonable options for sweet '60s style hollowbody basses. The Lakland doesn't quite have the vibe I look for, which is a shame since i'm sure it's a killer bass.
 
#11
ishouldbeking said:
It seems like most basses built in that style (referring to the bluish hollowbody w/ dual buckers) are either pretty junky, and sell for like $400 or they're great and cost $2500 or more... like the Gretsch white falcon... very cool bass, but how can you justify buying that? I wish there were more reasonable options for sweet '60s style hollowbody basses. The Lakland doesn't quite have the vibe I look for, which is a shame since i'm sure it's a killer bass.
Click to expand...

There's always the Epiphone JC which I've yet to hear a displeasing review of. Only thing that puts me off from it is that it's single pickup.

But yeah, you're right, there just aren't enough mid to mid-upper price range hollowbodies. Save the Ibanez Artcores and the JC.
 
#13
3toes said:
There's always the Epiphone JC which I've yet to hear a displeasing review of. Only thing that puts me off from it is that it's single pickup.

But yeah, you're right, there just aren't enough mid to mid-upper price range hollowbodies. Save the Ibanez Artcores and the JC.
Click to expand...

Boys, you are forgetting the Italia Mondial!! Retro-looking hollowbody ... and in Europe you can find them in the mid/upper-mid prices ...
 
#16
I'll follow my own thread derail a bit in response to the above three comments: those are actually three of the companies that I think of when I talk about low-end cheaper hollowbodies. Obviously they're a step up in price from, say, an Artcore, but here's my take. The waterstone's look ok, but the few I've seen in person weren't all that great... though they've usually been the Lulu model, which is on the ugly side. I haven't seen the Brighton or Indra in person. I don't think I'd shell out 5 or 6 hundred bones for a Paulonia (sp?) bodied instrument either, but that's just me.

The Italia's... man, I fell in love with those as soon as I saw them on the web. Then I played a Mondial. It could have been this particular bass and maybe it's not indicative of the brand as a whole, but it felt like a half-broken toy. Awful neck, sticky and gross, nasty sharp frets, cheap nut, there were really rough edges in the f-hole, the sliding thumbrest had already broken and slid freely back and forth... I didn't even plug it in, I knew there was no way I'd play it. And for $800? No way. I also played one of the other models, and it wasn't in quite as rough shape, but it still felt really cheesy. My SX out of the box actually felt considerably more solid than either Italia.

The dipinto's I've played have actually been pretty nice... my issue is styling. The Belvedere deluxe is just too much... if a drag queen and a mexican wrestler somehow defied all biological/physical impossibilities and gave birth to a bass, this would be it. And then the Belvedere standard is actually too plain. Solid color w/ a clear pickguard and very little trimmings. If they made a Belvedere Semi-Deluxe -- drop the star inlay and turn down the volume on the glitter -- I'd be all over it.

Back to the subject: anyone know the street price on the Duesenberg Star basses? I can't find any online retailers that have prices listed. The list price is something like $2700, i believe.
 
#19
hmmm,

that is quite expensive in the US.

If you see what kind of basses you can buy in the US for that kind of money, i'll think they'll have a hard time competing with other brands.

I've played a duesenberg guitar and it was really great and if you live in europe it's a very reasonable price: it was about 1200€ I believe (that's as much as you pay a usa strat around here). If you you've got all the competition from other brands: Lakland, sadowksy, fender, mm, etc...
it wil be difficult for duesenberg to compete.

They also look pretty specific to me. Violin-basses are not the most versatile instruments.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back