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Double Bass Need some luthier recommendations

GretschWretch

GretschWretch

Supporting Member
Dec 27, 2013
12,449
25,120
East Central Alabama
#1
At last night's party gig my Wilhelm Eberle suffered a misfortune and, well, I now have a bass with a detachable neck. I probably could do the reset myself, except that the button sheared off the back and went with the neck. That, I don't feel comfortable taking on.

So I'm looking for a nearby DB luthier, someone within the Huntsville, Chattanooga, Atlanta triangle. I've looked online, and there seem to be a fair amount of string shops and violin dealers but nothing that indicates they work on DB. When I tell you that GC showed up in some of the search results that should give you some idea of my plight.

Most of these shops have positive reviews and I can always contact them to see if they handle DB repair, but before going that route I thought I would canvass you guys to see if anyone has actually had experience with a luthier inside this triangle and could recommend them.

TIA.
 
#6
GretschWretch said:
I know about James, but I really don't want to have to make two round trips across three states for this job. That is why I specified the city triangle I did. If I have to expand, so be it, but I have not reached that point yet.
Click to expand...

Man, I'm jealous that you live so close to @james condino. For me it'd be a worth while road trip just to visit his shop, perhaps jam a little bit in Ashville, and on the 2nd trip, come home with a truely removable-neck DB.

(P.S. Sorry about your DB's mishap. No fun.)
 
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#9
From my rec list, some could be dated:

GA
Ronald Sachs, Marietta, Liburn and Peachtree City
North Fulton Violins, Alpharetta; 770-664-4384, [email protected]
Eduard Svetlovsky, Atlanta String repair, Roswell; 770-837-9013, atlantastringrepair.com

TN
Wilhite Strings, Knoxville; 865-670-1888, wilhitestrings.com
Holmes Bass Viol, Milan; 731-742-4107, holmesbassviol.com
Williams Fine Violins, Nashville; 615-429-2927, williamsfineviolins.com, [email protected]
Jim Ferguson, Nashville; [email protected]
Derek Zelenka, Nashville; 615-838-4089, [email protected]
 
#11
Thanks for all the replies, fellas; lots of good suggestions here. Now that I am getting past my post-COVID booster lag, I will try to add some more information.

First, for @dhergert , you can always exchange the Blue Zone for the Blue Ridge. :)

All of the suggestions regarding contacting a real DB luthier are very helpful and worth following up on. For reasons that should be obvious, all this will have to be kept on the back burner until after the turn of the year.

From a purely objective viewpoint (but subjective as well), @james condino would be my first "go-to" guy. I just need to get a Road Atlas to see if there is a shorter, quicker route to Asheville than what I am accustomed to taking. I think there may be one, going over the north Georgia mountains through Ellijay and on up into NC. That would take the time/distance variable off the board.

With regard purely to restoring function, I can do this work myself. But I cannot make it "look" professional. And whereas in the past I could not afford to have a pro do the work, now I can. But then I run headlong into the often conflicting mantras seen in this subforum of

1) take it to a luthier

2) don't put more money into the instrument than you can get on resale

Estimates will be in order, and that means pics. The notion of having James convert the bass into a true removable neck may be the carrot that tips the balance re expense. And I have already been in contact with James, regarding transferring some of the clutter in my shop to being clutter in his.

To be continued . . . .
 
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#13
This is very useful. My thanks to all. I've been to Gollihur and a couple of other sites, and I wonder about currency. For example, there is listed an Emile Baran located in Decatur, GA (from where I bought a pawn shop bass years ago), but based on other listings I cannot be sure he still is there. Steven's suggestions look promising, at least as a point of departure. Marietta is barely an hour from where I live.
 
#14
GretschWretch said:
This is very useful. My thanks to all. I've been to Gollihur and a couple of other sites, and I wonder about currency. For example, there is listed an Emile Baran located in Decatur, GA (from where I bought a pawn shop bass years ago), but based on other listings I cannot be sure he still is there. Steven's suggestions look promising, at least as a point of departure. Marietta is barely an hour from where I live.
Click to expand...
Emile Baran died a few years ago. His shops are no longer.
 

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