Double Bass Josef Budil

[Nathan Levine]

Anyone ever run into one of his basses?

Mine seems to have been made in Luby in the mid eighties. I bought it in Amsterdam about ten years ago and at the time I was told it was a Grancino copy. Maybe not a very good one.

Anyways, when it is being played regularly, it is a freaking cannon. Currently strung with Gamuts on top and Velvets on the bottom.

 

[TonyD]

Where did you buy this bass in Amsterdam? At harry Jansen or Lucas Suringar, or maybe even Berkel Muziek?

No special reason asking this...

 

[Nathan Levine]

Lucas's shop.

 

[uprightben]

Nice looking bass.

 

[Brunot]

Well, I played a bit on of his basses that my teacher owns and I'd say it is a great sounding bass, yours looking just as good!

In case someone would be interested he is a Czech luthier who started out in the national Czecho-Slovakian instrument company Cremona where he was a pupil of Bohumil Hříb and Josef Pötzl (whose basses are still around regularly) and build his first bass around early 50's, joining the circle of traditional luthiers later, becoming a frequently called name in the business. All of these along the others worked prominently for the Cremona company in general along with their side-job. He built a decent amount of instruments that have users in Slovenia, Serbia, Hungary, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and even Japan.

 

[Nathan Levine]

Wow, thanks for a bit more of his story! I've always been curious to find out more, but people in the U.S. that I have talked to generally haven't seen his instruments before.

 

[Nathan Levine]

Anyone else know anything about Josef Budil?

Anyone play his basses at some point?

 

[AMJBASS]

Might not be a bad idea to ask Ken on the Smith forums. He has a TON of knowlege, and might be able to give you more information.

 

[geoffbassist]

Hi Nathan,
I saw you were looking for some info on Josef Budil and remembered there was a posting on the Frantisek Posta facebook page about him and some great pics of the same model of bass you have.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Frantisek-Posta/144878848907759

Hope you are still enjoying the bass,
Cheers Geoff

 

[korotkov]

Nathan,

I have just got a Josef Budil bass in a trade. Mine is of different shape and was made in 1990 but it has the same label, same tuners, and a makers mark on the heel. I thnk I'm going to start a new thread with more photos but here's one (iPhone quality). By the way, my bass had the same problem with the bass bar and it was repaired the same way, so probably gonna need some attention in future.

Warmly,
Sasha

 

[Nathan Levine]

Sweet! Unfortunately after ten years of ownership I passed it along to a shop to sell. It was a great bass, but my wife didn't understand the need/desire to keep it after commissioning a bass. I dug the Grancino inspired design enough to have my new bass created in the likeness of the Grancino in the Contrabasse Shoppes collection. Enjoy your Budil! I bet you're going to love it!!!