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Double Bass Lemur Jupiter

Jack Clark

Jack Clark

Aug 17, 2008
1,022
14
Idyllwild, California
#1
I realize that using the words "Lemur Jupiter" in a thread title is risky since it seems to beget wild threads, but now that this double bass has been out there for two years . . .

Is anyone here playing one? Know someone who is? Who has what impressions of it on its own merits? (Never mind whether it looks like a knock off of a knock off of a what not.)
 
#2
I haven't played one, but was in their shop last week when they happened to be setting one up - the bass is big, well constructed and attractive looking. I know the "back room" team of luthiers there and they seem to approach things with care and craftsmanship - -- more than that I can't say.

Louis
 
#4
Not to get into the knock-off/rip-off issue... Having once owned an New Standard Cleveland, I did not see any particular "copying' of that bass's design - It looks more like a large German gamba than even an "original" American Standard... so I'm not sure about that particular issue. Here's a picture of it from Lemur's website

Louis
 

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#5
LouisF said:
Not to get into the knock-off/rip-off issue... Having once owned an New Standard Cleveland, I did not see any particular "copying' of that bass's design - It looks more like a large German gamba than even an "original" American Standard... so I'm not sure about that particular issue. Here's a picture of it from Lemur's website

Louis
Click to expand...

Well, it seems that you've opened the door to that old thread to which I will NOT link here. I'm making a plea that we keep this thread OT and discuss the merits of the bass itself, as the OP requested. If anyone has played one, please post your thoughts.
 
#9
MR PC said:
Jack, why don't you take a trip up to Lemur and check one out? I think you might be surprised at how much you enjoy playing one. The Jupiter looks like a fine axe.
Click to expand...

Yep, PC, I'm currently slated to go down there this coming Friday with my teacher, Bill Saitta. He's putting one of his older basses on consignment.

Lemur has quite a few double bass models in my beginner's price range:

Sunrise Solana (gamba, ply, round, $1750)
Englehardt Swingmaster Deluxe (violin, ply, round(?), $2050)
Jupiter (gamba, ply, round, $2499)
Chinese (gamba, carved, round, $2500)
Liberty Belle (gamba, hybrid, flat, $2750)
Sunrise Laguna (gamba, carved, round, $2850)
Sunrise Encinitas (gamba, carved, round, $3750)
Sunrise Redondo (violin, carved, round, $3750)
Sunrise Catalina (violin, carved, round, $4599)
Tosca (violin, carved(?), round, $4750)

Just on the strength of their online descriptions, the Jupiter, the Liberty Belle, and the Laguna seem particularly interesting. Lemur touts their ASD ("Advanced Structural Design," per their website) as producing more durable instruments with less tendency to crack--as with their Liberty Belle hybrid flat back and the carved Laguna. But Jerry wrote a comment on TB a while back in which he indicated that the ply Jupiter had this ASD thing, too--even though they don't mention that in their webpage on the Jupiter. (But Jerry also said that ASD stood for "Advanced Sound Design," too, so . . . .) I dunno, maybe they all have this ASD, whatever that really is.

The Jupiter, the Liberty Belle, and the Tosca are not called "Sunrise" basses at Lemur's website. I don't know what Sunrise designates. Made in China, perhaps? That doesn't quite fit, but . . . .

Their ads say that delivery for most of these bases can be expected in May or June. Can that really mean not until May or June of 2011, or have the webpages just not be updated recently? I've sent then an email asking, but no response yet.

Lotsa questions. Lotsa basses to try with Bill. Hope one of them speaks to me 'cause I'll be listening.
 
#10
It'll be interesting to hear your take on those basses. In those price ranges, I hope you're seriously considering others besides Lemur.
 
#11
I played a Jupiter bass in Lemur's shop. It was a very nice instrument. To my taste it was the best of their line of basses. A friend of mine has an Upton Standard Ply and I think the Jupiter was a little better. Granted, it's pretty difficult to judge a bass just playing it in a shop for a few minutes, without a bass you are used to to compare it with. I would have seriously considered buying it if I hadn't just bought a vintage American Standard.
 
#13
drurb said:
It'll be interesting to hear your take on those basses. In those price ranges, I hope you're seriously considering others besides Lemur.
Click to expand...

Well, drurb, I don't see how my take could be interesting since I'm not a double bassist. I've spent about ten minuites noodling on two DBs up to now. But I expect that my teacher's comments will be interesting.

And I'd sure like to seriously consider other bases besides Lemur's, but I don't know how I can do that without trying them, and I won't have my teacher with me even if I could. (This Friday is just a fortuitous circumstance.) Upton, New Standard, and Cleveland are just so geographically far. But I'm not adverse to a good used DB, either, and I may just rent for a while.

There are other retailers I can try near me including World of Strings in Long Beach, which would be about a five-hour round trip. (Lemur is about a four-hour round trip itself.) And World of Strings doesn't currently show any double basses on its website, so . . . . I don't know if there's anything in San Diego, but going into L.A. is something I try never to do for any reason.

If any TBer in my area (Idyllwild, Palm Springs, Indio, Temecula, Riverside, San Bernardino) owns an NS, or a Cleveland, or an Upton, or another bass they could recommend in my price range, I'd sure like to come hear it in person. (I mean just to hear it, not to try to buy it from you.)

You have any other ideas for me, drurb?
 
#15
Jack Clark said:
Wow, and how does it play, Eric. It seems to me that, at my age, playability is important. I really don't want to spend years struggling with an inexpensive, hard-to-play instrument.
Click to expand...

It plays fine and easy, as it has a good setup. I will add that Lemur has a fine reputation and I believe their line of basses will be good quality.
They will also be able to set it up for easy playing. You have to decide if a bass' size works with yours! Your teacher will be of help here.
 
#16
Wallyphonic said:
I played a Jupiter bass in Lemur's shop. It was a very nice instrument. To my taste it was the best of their line of basses. A friend of mine has an Upton Standard Ply and I think the Jupiter was a little better. Granted, it's pretty difficult to judge a bass just playing it in a shop for a few minutes, without a bass you are used to to compare it with. I would have seriously considered buying it if I hadn't just bought a vintage American Standard.
Click to expand...

Very good to hear. Thanks, Wally.

Eric Hochberg said:
It plays fine and easy, as it has a good setup. I will add that Lemur has a fine reputation and I believe their line of basses will be good quality.
They will also be able to set it up for easy playing. You have to decide if a bass' size works with yours! Your teacher will be of help here.
Click to expand...

Also great to hear. Thank you, Eric.
 
#17
Lemur has a good collection, you wont find better anywhere close. Although there is that FMI place in Pasadena, never been there but I think they have some Shen's in addition to rockabilly type uprights.

Jack, since your in Idyllwild look up Marshall Hawkins, I heard that one of his students was looking to sell her plywood bass.
 
#18
Carl Johnson said:
Jack, since your in Idyllwild look up Marshall Hawkins, I heard that one of his students was looking to sell her plywood bass.
Click to expand...

I hadn't heard that. I'll check with him tonight at his gig. In fact, the gig is a benefit for his Jazz students, so she'll probably be there herself. Thanks for the tip, Carl. Any idea what make/model her bass is?

Just a aside: Marshall's been an after-dinner chess player all his life, from what he told me. About a year ago he was looking for a book to get him though a flight, so he bought a chess book. Well, as he tells it, he had no idea that chess tactics and strategy had been written down like that and he jumped in with all four feet. We've played a couple of games, now, and he's improving rapidly. Get this: At one point he offered to trade me bass lessons for chess lessons! I would have loved to have taken him up on that, but I didn't have the heart. I told him that it wouldn't be a fair trade because he's a bass master and I'm no chess master. So, we play chess occasionally, and he gives me bass tips occasionally. He's a fine man. A few years ago at the annual Idyllwild Jazz in the Pines Festival patrons' dinner, the Idyllwild Arts Academy surprised him with the announcement that it was naming its jazz building the Marshall Hawkins Jazz Building. That got him pretty good.
 
#20
My teacher, Bill Saitta, and I traveled to Lemur to look at several basses (and for Bill to put one of his basses up on consignment). Bill plays both jazz and orchestra bass. He tried the Jupiter, and his assessment was that the lows were good, but that it fell off in the mids and highs. Jerry readily agreed with that assessment, saying that he had designed the Jupiter for bluegrass and country, not jazz.
 

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