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Double Bass Figured scrolls, pinnacle of class or gaudy?
- Thread starter JBarz
- Start date
The answer for me is "it completely depends." Some carved scrolls are indeed gaudy and tacky (IMO, of course). But a well-done lion's head looks great. If I had a choice between two otherwise equal basses for the same price, I would jump at that lion's head. I still don't know if I would call it "the pinnacle of class and sophistication," so I had to vote for the middle-ground option.
In college I took class cello and bass (I almost got kicked out for not being a music major) from a lovely woman and exceptional cellist named Evelyn Elsing. She is still emeritus faculty at U of MD. She was very patient with this die hard rock and roll kid. She had a cello with a beautiful lion's head scroll! I'd never seen a figured scroll before and fell in love (with the scroll and Evelyn, too, a little...). So, yeah, I'm all for it! A few years later I got a BC Rich Mockingbird electric bass, like the one in my avatar. My drummer/roomie at the time was singularly unimpressed with the aesthetics, being a Bauhaus/form follows function adherent. We agreed to disagree. I'm all for playable art, but if you want to strip it down to a Steinberger boat paddle or a washtub, rope, and broomstick go for it! It's all good!
BBB
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I won't seek them out. They also drive the price up. Except this one, I am wondering if Bob Ross is the TB'er Bob Ross?
Yep. You can see that photo at the bottom of his Gallery page. (I helped him set up his current website.)
Gallery | Ross Double Bass
www.rossdoublebass.com
I do believe it's a close-up of this bass, which he made. I have to say, on this bass, the figured scroll is completely fitting:
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EdwardofHuncote
I Still Dream of Jeannie
- Aug 21, 2013
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- I privately own and operate a local musical instument repair shop.
The band was the Brazilbillies, I do remember that. Still can't remember his name... Faron... Forest... Fauntleroy...?
Might have to use my phone-a-friend afterwhile if it don't come to me! We crossed paths a lot down there. Played the same stages.
When I was a baby bass player in the 1980s, my grandparents took me to Clinton (IA) Symphony shows. The first-chair bassist at the time had a lion’s head scroll, and it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. RAWWWR! 
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I find this interesting. My first DB, a Kay M-1 purchased in the early 1980s and which I still have, came to me with the scroll broken off. Of course, since I've never had it with the scroll I cannot make an A/B tone comparison.
- Jan 12, 2004
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Most of the 59 examples were a definite no for me. Gaudy, distracting... I think a well executed lion's head can be nice, but wouldn't go out of my way to get one.
BTW, the attached pic is of a German bass that used to belong to Mingus [Edit, just realized an earlier post referred to this - here's the pic!]. The "lion's head" was just a conventional scroll that had been crudely carved to look (something) like a lion's head. Not great when you got up close, but probably nobody had the nerve to correct the maestro about his taste in bass scrolls!
BTW, the attached pic is of a German bass that used to belong to Mingus [Edit, just realized an earlier post referred to this - here's the pic!]. The "lion's head" was just a conventional scroll that had been crudely carved to look (something) like a lion's head. Not great when you got up close, but probably nobody had the nerve to correct the maestro about his taste in bass scrolls!
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I'm basically indifferent. My biggest objection is that I've seen a few that I think are poorly carved. So I'd be fine with an excellent one, but couldn't stand anything less. I really like my tuners, so I'm not immune to appreciating visual aesthetics at the top of my bass. But I've been lost when people commented on especially beautiful scrolls. Just not a part of the bass I pay a ton of attention to. Upton scrolls have 1 less turn. Not important to me one way or the other. I go back and forth on the few scrolless basses I've seen.
So if I loved a bass that happened to have a carved scroll, I'd be fine with it. But I would not pay a premium for it or buy a bass I did not love because of the scroll.
I am very happy to have nothing about my bass that is flashy or other wise unusual. I guess I like my basses to reflect my essentially workmanlike approach to my playing.
The other day I was talking with a fiddler my wife knew before his set. He was playing a fiddle that he had made with a molded bird skull for the scroll. Looked mighty cool IMO. And the guy got a VSA gold medal, so I'm sure not going to argue with his choices!
So if I loved a bass that happened to have a carved scroll, I'd be fine with it. But I would not pay a premium for it or buy a bass I did not love because of the scroll.
I am very happy to have nothing about my bass that is flashy or other wise unusual. I guess I like my basses to reflect my essentially workmanlike approach to my playing.
The other day I was talking with a fiddler my wife knew before his set. He was playing a fiddle that he had made with a molded bird skull for the scroll. Looked mighty cool IMO. And the guy got a VSA gold medal, so I'm sure not going to argue with his choices!
Please refer to my avatar.
Really, what more could you want?
Really, what more could you want?
