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Double Bass String Emporium Hybrid or Upton Laminate
- Thread starter Quap
- Start date
Music stores are on lock down in Calif. Maybe Texas, too? Mail order or meeting a private party (six feet away) might be the only options for an unpredictably long interval.
- May 3, 2007
- 1,468
- 1,156
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: D'Addario Strings, Remic Microphones
In Lubbock you can also shoot an email out to Dr. Mark Morton, or even Nick Scales in Amarillo, and see if they know of anyone selling. Both great teachers and players and might have students selling to upgrade. I don’t know Dallas, but in Austin, Terra Nova, Blackerby, and Austin Violins usually have decent inventory.
I’ve emailed with Dr. Morton and he has highly recommended a shop which is in a different state and still a long 5+ hour drive from Lubbock.
Texas is on lockdown. So my traveling is moot at this point. This is another reason I was looking at a bass being shipped.
Texas is on lockdown. So my traveling is moot at this point. This is another reason I was looking at a bass being shipped.
If buying an instrument made in the USA is important to you, then I would go with an Upton ply, knowing that you'll probably want to upgrade in a few years. If you're okay with buying a Chinese import from a USA based home business, then get the SE hybrid. Either bass will be well set up, will sound good and should be fairly easy to resell later, if necessary. Alternately, if you can wait until this pandemic is over, take a road trip and visit as many shops as possible and take home your favourite.
Didn't you live in Houston? Houston (extremely humid) and Lubbock (nearly desert arid) are completely different climates.
Never tried one of the String Emporium instruments, but i can say that it is hard to go wrong with an Upton Standard Laminate. It will be a good sounding, solid instrument, that will last you as many years as you need it to. I have had an Upton ply for about 5 years and recently ordered a Hybrid from them which will arrive later in the year. Literally the only thing you AREN'T getting with an Upton ply is a carved top, and unless you plan to use this bass in an orchestra in the short term, it is a total non-issue. You say you want a jazz setup, so the ply will do everything you need. Also, at the end of the day, you certainly can play arco on an Upton ply to satisfaction.
To address the price differential, I think there is more to Upton than just "made in USA." You are getting top notch quality control, a professional setup at purchase, and great customer service for the life of your instrument. There was no question for me when i decided i wanted to order a second bass, it was going to be an Upton.
To address the price differential, I think there is more to Upton than just "made in USA." You are getting top notch quality control, a professional setup at purchase, and great customer service for the life of your instrument. There was no question for me when i decided i wanted to order a second bass, it was going to be an Upton.
The idea of a roadtrip to visit bass shops as a hassle sounds like the big issue.
I $#@!%^& hate driving long distances these days. Instead of putting it in my head that the only purpose is for some work or gear related activity, I try to turn it around. Get a cheap rental car, invite my significant other or a buddy along, and turn it into a nice overnight getaway to see some new territory, laugh a bit, and brighten up my outlook. While we're there, I'll casually make a few stops to checkout a bass or guitar or what ever. I gain a TON of points with Mrs. C for the getaway, we have some new fun, and I secretly accomplish my mission rather than a mindless ten hour drive along for some 50 year old broken bass or rusty bandsaw.
Amongst all the chaos this week, I was dreading an errand for supplies. While at it, I snuck away for a few hour drive with the kids (on week 4 of no school) and came away with a newfound appreciation of the beauty of my local area and all the magnitude of springtime while driving through mostly deserted country roads just a few miles away blooming with springtime beauty and thankful for my health and the little things that we usually pass right by...
Patience will reward the upright bass shopper with far more bass for far less $$$ than you ever imagined.
I $#@!%^& hate driving long distances these days. Instead of putting it in my head that the only purpose is for some work or gear related activity, I try to turn it around. Get a cheap rental car, invite my significant other or a buddy along, and turn it into a nice overnight getaway to see some new territory, laugh a bit, and brighten up my outlook. While we're there, I'll casually make a few stops to checkout a bass or guitar or what ever. I gain a TON of points with Mrs. C for the getaway, we have some new fun, and I secretly accomplish my mission rather than a mindless ten hour drive along for some 50 year old broken bass or rusty bandsaw.
Amongst all the chaos this week, I was dreading an errand for supplies. While at it, I snuck away for a few hour drive with the kids (on week 4 of no school) and came away with a newfound appreciation of the beauty of my local area and all the magnitude of springtime while driving through mostly deserted country roads just a few miles away blooming with springtime beauty and thankful for my health and the little things that we usually pass right by...
Patience will reward the upright bass shopper with far more bass for far less $$$ than you ever imagined.
To add on to James there, I'd also say don't think of your playing as "for all intents and purposes a hobby," because then you'll be able to keep finding any reason not to look heavily for the best bass for you.
If you can start getting gigs and making some money, in any genre or setting that you're comfortable with jumping into, and especially if you intend to move completely into a musical career later on down the road, the bass is no longer just for a hobby. It's an investment.
If you can start getting gigs and making some money, in any genre or setting that you're comfortable with jumping into, and especially if you intend to move completely into a musical career later on down the road, the bass is no longer just for a hobby. It's an investment.
Or, you could drive the Blue Ridge Parkway at night and age visibly before your childrens' eyes, or take on the Dragon's Tail part of US Route 221 at night and simply die from terror right on the spot.
This is not even close to correct. It could very well be an issue if you want to make progress on the instrument which will involve arco as well as getting any sort of variety or richness in your pizz sound.
Still, if by hobbyist, you mean the bass will sit untouched for months at a time, a ply might make the most sense.
If you want any level of ease of playing and progression, you will end up fighting a ply bass sooner than later.
A good player can certainly overcome the drawbacks and make music with a ply bass, the people who really get great sound out of plys play gut and that will add way more issues, expense and instability than a carved top.
I want to agree with you, but your opinion is based on a wide variety of assumptions that so far in my double bass career have yet to be proven true. I have played a handful of basses with a carved top and wished they were my own laminate. I also don't feel like I fight my own bass to get a good sound out of it, pizz or arco. Also some of my influences have been very successful with a ply bass. With that said, i will be the owner of a hybrid instrument in the coming months, and after some time with it i might just say that "damon was right all along." Maybe i just need more time on one. But as of now i don't think a quality ply bass will hold anyone back from progressing on the instrument, especially if you are a jazz player and this is your first bass.
Our own bass will always be easier to get the sound we are used to out of it. A lot of what people miss in "ply defense" is the quality of practice, which is actually everything. Popping out a few notes is one thing, what you put yourself through in an hour of practice is another.
You are fighting the ply bass, make no mistake. I prefer a BMX bike - I AM fighting that single gear I would never pretend it is "better" for getting around a city than a bike with gears.
Ply defenders can love their instruments, but, they don't get to change physics!
You are fighting the ply bass, make no mistake. I prefer a BMX bike - I AM fighting that single gear I would never pretend it is "better" for getting around a city than a bike with gears.
Ply defenders can love their instruments, but, they don't get to change physics!
What makes you think I haven't been donning my navy seal gear and going out night riding this whole time??????? My mountain bike lights put out four (4!!!!) times the light that my old Toyota truck does. I've probably logged at least 60,000 miles of night bicycle riding and judge my quality of life by more time in the saddle than in a car....The Blueridge Parkway is a block from my house, so it is a regular ride. As for the Dragon's Tail- my wife worked in the emergency room and for 12 years she saw what was left of motorcycle crashes up there very single day, so that one is out.
As for the ply vs hybrid vs carved endless argument like P bass vs J bass over on the slab side: consider all of yourselves privledged and blessed to be able to safely sit around on your computers and debate such first world problems. As Arnold once said to me, "Anyone who plays the bass is a friend of mine."
Couldn't be more in agreement here!
Sorry, James; I guess I was projecting my memories of my experiences onto you. On our first trip to Asheville (a three-dayer) back in the late 1990s my daughter decided she wanted to visit Cherokee. We went in the sensible way, through Maggie Valley, but upon leaving Cherokee we say an entry for the Parkway and thought "Why not?"
Why not was because the part we entered on was narrow, with twisty hairpin turns, no guard rails, no white lines marking the shoulders, and no lighting except in the tunnels. And this was mid-afternoon! Night driving would have been hell. I lasted about five miles before turning back.
Route 221 happened on our second visit to Asheville, bringing my kid back from finishing her Master's Degree at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia (we decided we wanted to re-visit Asheville). By nightfall our Volvo wagon had wheeled into Roanoke, VA and, sick of the great bore of I-81, we decided to jump onto 221 ( new to both of us). In ten miles we went from a well-lighted four-lane highway to a well-lighted two-lane highway to a poorly-lighted two-lane highway to a completely unlit two-lane road that in the darkness gave the impression of being barely the width of the Volvo. I totally freaked; I couldn't handle this at all. We're going over the edge. We'll never be found. I was as uneasy as a cat in a showroom of vacuum cleaners. First chance I got, we reversed course back to Roanoke. Next morning we took I-81 down to Dolly Parton land, where we took a cleft between the mountains (I-40?) to get to Asheville from the NW.
Once I retire, one of the things on my bucket list is to drive into Florida where it begins, get roaring drunk, and drive the entire length of U.S. 221.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Hate to say this, but I would consider waiting. Shippers are over-worked and under-staffed, as are stores and manufacturers. Not the time to be making a major, fragile our base and having it shipped. Just a thought.
