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Double Bass Hey Upton owners!
- Thread starter SWoods
- Start date
2007 Opus 113, an early USA made hybrid. It's opened up immensely. All that brand new brittle quality is gone and it's just warm all day long.
The Spirocores have come into their own. I have not had to do thing one with it. Oh, a little sanding of the neck where the fingerboard shrank slightly, but the rest of it, the bridge height, and placment, sound post placement, it's all as they set it up and it just gets better although the joy curve has leveled a bit. A bass can't sound better and better forever, can it?
I just keep it clean, and in a room with 40% humidity and play the crap out of it. The Upton bag is great too. I have one small area of a web in front of the main handle that needs a stitch or two but from A to Zipper it's holding out fine.
Good luck OP. Lotta nice basses out there but you could do way worse that an Upton.
The Spirocores have come into their own. I have not had to do thing one with it. Oh, a little sanding of the neck where the fingerboard shrank slightly, but the rest of it, the bridge height, and placment, sound post placement, it's all as they set it up and it just gets better although the joy curve has leveled a bit. A bass can't sound better and better forever, can it?
I just keep it clean, and in a room with 40% humidity and play the crap out of it. The Upton bag is great too. I have one small area of a web in front of the main handle that needs a stitch or two but from A to Zipper it's holding out fine.
Good luck OP. Lotta nice basses out there but you could do way worse that an Upton.
I am in love......
Played quite a few upright basses that were twice the price and so on and got myself a top of the shelves Upton Extra DeLuxe Professor and never looked back since.....
Huge sound.....superbe projection.....clarity and accuracy....not to mention the set-up done at the factory....
From Pirazzi to LaBella and so on...it is just huge.....bowed or otherwise...not to mention the finish...fantastic.....get one please....you'll be hooked like the rest of us....
Played quite a few upright basses that were twice the price and so on and got myself a top of the shelves Upton Extra DeLuxe Professor and never looked back since.....
Huge sound.....superbe projection.....clarity and accuracy....not to mention the set-up done at the factory....
From Pirazzi to LaBella and so on...it is just huge.....bowed or otherwise...not to mention the finish...fantastic.....get one please....you'll be hooked like the rest of us....
I'm really happy with my pretty new Upton ply. It's been my road bass for about 3 months now. Sound guy and conductor like it. Feels familiar in a good way, sounds amazing. Great bass and great people working there. Reminds me that I owe them all lunch, hope they eat vegetarian.....
Peace.
ASG
Peace.
ASG
Regarding Upton Basses.
I just ordered one of Upton's veneer basses. I spoke with Gary on the telephone and he spent a lot of time with me going over every detail. I was treated like I was ordering a $15K bass.
I have owned many veneer basses and needed one with the best tone and volume possible, all things considered. There have been so many posts on this forum regarding their workmanship and design, many posted by long time well respected players, that I felt my money was best spent ordering a fine USA built instrument.
I am pretty hard to please since I've owned many veneer basses and my poop-detector kicks in right away when I dig in if there are issues. I received such strong reassurance from Gary that I really have a feeling I just made not only a great decision, but also just ordered the last veneer bass I will every need. I am 60 years old and plan on wearing this bass out if possible. The humidity out here is super low and it seems everywhere I play in the summer months it's brutal on basses. I am very pleased with the attitude of Gary and his sales representative Kate. I feel really 'up' right now. In fact I'm going to play my bass!
I'll post my comments when it arrives.
I just ordered one of Upton's veneer basses. I spoke with Gary on the telephone and he spent a lot of time with me going over every detail. I was treated like I was ordering a $15K bass.
I have owned many veneer basses and needed one with the best tone and volume possible, all things considered. There have been so many posts on this forum regarding their workmanship and design, many posted by long time well respected players, that I felt my money was best spent ordering a fine USA built instrument.
I am pretty hard to please since I've owned many veneer basses and my poop-detector kicks in right away when I dig in if there are issues. I received such strong reassurance from Gary that I really have a feeling I just made not only a great decision, but also just ordered the last veneer bass I will every need. I am 60 years old and plan on wearing this bass out if possible. The humidity out here is super low and it seems everywhere I play in the summer months it's brutal on basses. I am very pleased with the attitude of Gary and his sales representative Kate. I feel really 'up' right now. In fact I'm going to play my bass!
I'll post my comments when it arrives.
Be sure to post some pics when you get it.I'll be in Dallas, Costa Mesa, Denver and Kansas City this summer if anyone wants to play mine. Highly recommended.
Peace.
Arnold
Peace.
Arnold
Ive got an Upton Standard hybrid, at first it was ok..... wheres that wow factor, but when the warm weather hits, the thing turns into a bassy punch cannon, and the bow sound is very good once you get it opened up
My bass which is one of the last Hybrid Hawkes models, Dec 06, continues to improve. Loud, articulate, warm arco, notes speak immediately, punchy and present pizz, lots of fundamental.
It is a hit with my teacher, I probably have sold 6 or so for Upton by letting other players check it out. Really, at $3k these basses are a great value.(I am speaking about the Hybrid... I am sure the carved models are an equally great value)
My action is fairly low, but it still bows great. It just keeps sounding better all the time. When it was new it was scratchy and harsh....not any more.
I don't love the big shoulders on the violin shape (on the European made models), they now have a gamba which was not available when I bought mine and I believe the new violin shapes have a more compact size.
It is a hit with my teacher, I probably have sold 6 or so for Upton by letting other players check it out. Really, at $3k these basses are a great value.(I am speaking about the Hybrid... I am sure the carved models are an equally great value)
My action is fairly low, but it still bows great. It just keeps sounding better all the time. When it was new it was scratchy and harsh....not any more.
I don't love the big shoulders on the violin shape (on the European made models), they now have a gamba which was not available when I bought mine and I believe the new violin shapes have a more compact size.
Right you are. The shoulders are vastly different on the USA-made ones and have been tweaked over the past year or two in combination with the rib depth to make them far easier to get around on.
First, I would say that there are many different kinds of Upton instruments out there. For any maker, each bass is different.
Second,as others have noted, Upton has changed their fabrication processes in the past few years. While I do own an Upton Bass, it is a European-import model, pre-dating the start of their domestic instrument production. Any comments I could make on my instrument are only true for my bass; they would probably not be particularly relevant to Upton's current range of products.
A three-year old Upton is apparently a very different thing from a one-year old Upton, and basses vary from each other considerably. If i were you, I might focus my inquiries (and playing) on recent instruments.
In my opinion, if you can, it seems best to play any bass you are considering, with any maker. Good luck in your search and with whatever bass you buy!
Second,as others have noted, Upton has changed their fabrication processes in the past few years. While I do own an Upton Bass, it is a European-import model, pre-dating the start of their domestic instrument production. Any comments I could make on my instrument are only true for my bass; they would probably not be particularly relevant to Upton's current range of products.
A three-year old Upton is apparently a very different thing from a one-year old Upton, and basses vary from each other considerably. If i were you, I might focus my inquiries (and playing) on recent instruments.
In my opinion, if you can, it seems best to play any bass you are considering, with any maker. Good luck in your search and with whatever bass you buy!
getting a Hybrid which is kind of the next step up. As someone else said, you can talk to them as much as you'd like, as though you were buying a $15,000 bass. This is what they do and they are a great little company. I have gotten a lot of compliments on the sound of the ply and that's their cheapest model. Looking forward to the Hybrid. (It's hybrid because the top is carved but the rest is more like the ply.) They also have a great, unobtrusive pickup with a very good sound if you want to amplify it. It's an "extra" but well worth it to have them install it when you buy the bass.
I bought mine early this year. It's one of the first Standard Gambas in production, if not the first (it's the screensaver that can be downloaded from their website).
I'm thrilled with it. From fit and finish to the sound plus the level of service received, I would gladly do it again. Big thumbs up.
I'm thrilled with it. From fit and finish to the sound plus the level of service received, I would gladly do it again. Big thumbs up.
