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Double Bass Hybrid VS Fully Carved - Difference?

#21
If you want it so bad, a carved bass will come to you. Has been my experience and I am not in debt for getting one - actually two. My 1/2 cracked from the 2018 Socal heat waved but that forced me to bring it to the luthier who made some adjustments along with gluing the cracks and has really opened up the sound.

A luthier can also open up a carved bass more than she/he can a ply-bass. Old Kays are nice though. But a DB is a violin and needs to be bowed and a carved bass's feedback to bowing is the main difference. CAse in point double stop. I can get a tri tone with a carved bass easily and it is pleasing. Sounds like crap on a ply bass.
 
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#23
logdrum said:
If you want it so bad, a carved bass will come to you. Has been my experience and I am not in debt for getting one - actually two. My 1/2 cracked from the 2018 Socal heat waved but that forced me to bring it to the luthier who made some adjustments along with gluing the cracks and has really opened up the sound.

A luthier can also open up a carved bass more than she/he can a ply-bass. Old Kays are nice though. But a DB is a violin and needs to be bowed and a carved bass's feedback to bowing is the main difference. CAse in point double stop. I can get a tri tone with a carved bass easily and it is pleasing. Sounds like crap on a ply bass.
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Wow thank you!
 
#25
My hybrid LaScala is my musical life parter, and it's rare for me to even think about wanting/needing another bass as I inhabit my autumn season and head toward my winter. It has the sound and feel that are the "ideal sound of the bass in my head", and whenever it falls short of that, it's the fault of the player and not the bass.

One of the few times a carved bass did really turn my head and make me think about an upgrade, it was priced at about $30K more than the LaScala. Here's a picture of me and Geoff Chalmers with the bass at the 2017 ISB convention:

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The maker was kind enough to allow me to practice in the hallway outside of his room with it for an hour or so each day I was there, because as he put it, "it draws attention to the bass and basses like to be played".
 
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#26
Chris Fitzgerald said:
I think Sam nailed it above. For arco playing, fully carved allows the entire body to vibrate more freely. I asked a prominent luthier a few years back if he thought I should upgrade to a fully carved bass, and he took me aside and told me (out of earshot of others in the vicinity) that for what I do a hybrid is probably a better choice. I do enjoy how it stays in tune for weeks at a time even when the weather changes.

For whatever reason, I've only ever found one carved bass that felt equal or better for what I do than the hybrid bass I already own. It was $38K, and while I would love to have it, it's not something that I "need" to do what I do, and as such the expense would be pretty hard to justify to my family. Since I've found the perfect hybrid, my attitude has pretty much been that I don't need a better bass - I just need to play the bass I have better.

If I were primarily an arco player, though, I would get a fully carved bass.
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so Chris ....

Hopefully not to derail but to help the OP,

What was your process to come to "bonding" with the LaScala as your bass?
Did you travel and play multiple options?

Thanks

Great pic.

Bill
 
#27
@WillieB I had played a lot of basses and actually had a carved Czech bass that was overbuilt and heavy and not easy to play but had a sound that I loved. My luthier, who knew that sound and the way I play and had worked on that bass a time or two called me up when the LaScala came into his shop. He said he thought I would like it and thought it would sound as good or better and be much easier to play. Turns out he was right!
 
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#29
Chris Fitzgerald said:
@WillieB I had played a lot of basses and actually had a carved Czech bass that was overbuilt and heavy and not easy to play but had a sound that I loved. My luthier, who knew that sound and the way I play and had worked on that bass a time or two called me up when the LaScala came into his shop. He said he thought I would like it and thought it would sound as good or better and be much easier to play. Turns out he was right!
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I read in a double bassist article that a ply back makes the pizzicato project more. Not sure if it is true, but, my hybrid projects great.
 
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#30
damonsmith said:
I read in a double bassist article that a ply back makes the pizzicato project more. Not sure if it is true, but, my hybrid projects great.
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That would make sense. One of the top tier luthiers at ISB also told me that for what I am doing, there is not any real reason to "move up" to a fully carved bass and that I might be better off sticking with the hybrid because of the stability - tuning and otherwise - it adds to the structure of the bass. This is a person who is familiar with my orbit, so I took it as meaningful advice.

When I retire and start bowing more, then I will look at getting a carved bass with arco friendly strings for that purpose!
 
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#31
damonsmith said:
I read in a double bassist article that a ply back makes the pizzicato project more. Not sure if it is true, but, my hybrid projects great.
Click to expand...
I’ve somewhat noticed this myself when hearing my Shen hybrid compared to some of my friend’s really nice carved basses. My Shen hybrid does have a lot of punch to it’s sound pizz and arco, but doesn’t have the harmonic richness and overall openness that a good carved bass can have.
I will say though that the Shen hybrid I got before starting college is an absolutely fantastic bass and served me extremely well throughout my music school adventures and now as I start my professional life. I remember Lisa Gass said it was one of the best Shen’s she’s encountered when I first took it into her for a new setup and felt like I got super lucky. In the end though it’s not my lifer bass especially as I’m getting more involved with arco. I’m now starting to look around for a new bass and am even considering a build from a luthier I really like.
 
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#33
This is general thought, not responding to any one post:
I think it is best to consult experts about what they are experts in. In general: Consult your teacher about the sound and performance of an instrument, consult a luthier if you want to know about the health and construction of an instrument.
Some people are good at both, some neither.
The "ask your luthier" thing is thrown around a lot about buying basses, in my experience dragging bunch of a basses around to even the nicest luthier constantly is going to annoy them, pick and choose - you are going to get one or two of these mythical "consultations" if any. Good luthiers are busy.
Your teacher should be more invested in you and your playing.
A luthier saying a bass is great is different than a high level player invested in your playing telling you what is best for you.
 
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