Double Bass NBD... My New Estle Louis!

[Pablo504]

This is my new Estle Louis!

I started playing upright when I was a kid, then switched to electric a couple of years later, and ever since. (This was of course prehistoric times for you young pups.)

This year I was asked to gig with a four piece vocal band, and it was great with my Dingwall, but I thought they would sound really great with an upright. So I decided to get my upright chops back in shape.

So I started a conversation with Mark Gollihur and sent him an audio clip of the sound I was looking for. This bass is the result. Set up with Spirocore Weich, low action, and K&K Big Double pickups. I am using Bergantino and Euphonic Audio for amplification at larger venues, and natural for the coffee house.

The band just loves this bass...it sounds absolutely gorgeous! And as Mark says, 70 percent of my sound is in my fingers... and the other 30 percent is in my other fingers...

 

[marcox]

Congratulations and welcome back!

 

[Deleted member 341607]

Nice!!!

 

[Ed S]

Looks cool. Glad to hear how happy you are with it!

That is the black Ed? Always been partial to the name for some reason!

 

[tb-player]

I bought an Estle Louis from Mark to be kind of a beater bass. Once I set it up & restrung it, it became a lot more than that. Sounds better than my old Kay and on par with my Upton at less than 1/2 the price. Congrats. Those basses really are a nice bang for your buck.

 

[robert_stuart]

Beautiful! Congrats. I want to hear all about it, how you have it setup, what you've done to it, and some sound samples.

 

[lurk]

I had a student who got one of these with a more conventional finish. I gave him a set of better strings: an old set of Zyex lights, and he needed some minor fingerboard dressing. With the cost of the work and adding in the money he would have needed to buy strings, it was still a very good bass for the $$. Better than the entry level Uptons I've played and better than most Kays. Of course the really good Kays and American Standards are better, but that's reflected in their price. Enjoy your new bass.