I just got back from Peter's place a little while ago. That bass is cool! And Peter himself was very warm, generous, and interesting to talk with.
The bass really does fall into a unique halfway mark between a DB type thing and a BG type thing. The body and neck positions and shapes were equally comfortable whether vertical or over the knee. And I don't mean "equally uncomfortable", either- it was quite easy to hold and use in both positions. For over the knee, the body curves were really well placed and shaped. The bass sits in a very natural position with the neck at a good angle, and with the lowest "fret" positions in easy reach. Super light, too! Probably no more than 5 lbs.
I got good tones out of it in both positions, but the best tones came from playing it with more of an upright technique, using the right index and middle fingers together. With BG technique it tended to sound a bit weaker. If you play with some strength, the volume and projection are surprisingly good. I think you could realistically keep up with an acoustic guitar or two, as long as the guitarists are not thrashing too aggressively. It was much easier to hear than any regular guitar-shaped acoustic bass I've played, and it was about equal in acoustic volume to my BSX Allegro Acoustic EUB.
It is strung with Fender flats, and they are much too high-tension for this instrument. He plans to change it over to lower-tension BG strings, or perhaps even nylon-core cello strings. The Fender flats have a nice aggressive punch when played DB style, but they seemed to kill too much of the resonance when plucked with less force.
The tuning pegs are old-school pegs, held in place by friction. With the high-tension flats, this meant it was not easy to tighten the pegs and secure them in place. They are beautiful, and they add a lot to the appearance of the headstock and the overall balanced look of the bass, but functionally they were actually the one real deal-breaker for me. I do think I will custom order a bass from Peter in the future, but I will ask for modern-style machine tuners. However if you are accustomed to old-world instruments, the pegs are well made, and with lighter-tension strings they should work fine.
The overall craftsmanship was tight but rustic. This was only a prototype, so he did not invest so much time in the fine finishing details, and instead left it very handmade-looking. For example you can see in the closeup pics of the headstock, how he left the chisel-marks visible. This aesthetic is consistent around the whole instrument. However the actual construction quality is sharp- all joints and binding are clean and smooth. Also, not visible in the pics, but the top face is carved subtly so that it's thinner at the edges, like a classical guitar. Very smooth, even carving. I got to inspect some of his finished-product guitars, ones where he had invested a lot of time in the finishing details, and they are very beautiful even up close, looking for flaws. So this particular bass has the "country style" aesthetic, but he can make these instruments with the finest of detail and elaborate binding and French polish, etc.
The neck is sort of a narrow baseball bat. Not nearly as bulky as an old P bass from E side to G side, but thicker from face to spine. It is more like a DB neck reduced in scale. It was most comfortable in the vertical position, but not too bad in the BG position either. However the action was very high for BG style fretting, which combined with the thick neck and the high-tension strings meant my left hand got a real strenuous workout. I would recommend that any player who is interested in this bass, or any other bass by this builder, to spend a long time talking with him about your playing style, the instruments you are accustomed to playing, your hand size, etc. so he can customize the neck and bridge (action) to suit your needs. If someone is considering buying this particular bass off Ebay, I'd say it presently is best suited to upright playing style just as far as left hand comfort is concerned.
He and I talked some more about the types of considerations potential BG customers may have, so he's going to experiment some more with new developments. I really think he's onto something with this gamba-guitar-bass concept, and once it is dialed in it will be a massive hit with the acoustic jazz and world music crowd.
I certainly look forward to checking out his next experiment, and I hope to order a bass from him sometime.
