About 3 weeks ago, we received our Thompson upright double bass and wanted to now, after having played it for a while, share our impressions of the bass.
We bought the Thompson bass from String Emporium for my 13-year old son. He was playing an upright electric, but really wanted a real upright bass and since hes been enjoying playing upright bass with a passion for more than a year, my wife and I decided we wanted to get him a bass that would be a top-notch instrument that he could play with pride for years. In other words, we were after something a bit more than a student bass. Frankly, though, we didnt think we could afford one and considered ebay. We had been around town and looked at various basses from Englehart, Shen, Kay (used) and a couple other brands that were way more money than we wanted to spend. I looked at his instructors bass, a Shen SB100, in detail. I do believe this Thompson is superior in construction quality and fit and finish to anything we looked at. For example, the F-hole edges are nicely sanded and finished whereas the other plywood basses we looked at had rougher F-hole cut outs. The neck is solid SOLID and smooth as . . . well . . . fill in your own metaphor. The ebony fingerboard is just beautiful and consistent in the grain pattern. And the tuners are very nice with a very positive feel and no slop or loose winders to buzz. Theres no sloppy glue, no gaps in the joints, no filler that I can see, and even looking at the inside you can see the superior construction. The plywood is really beautiful with no flaws that we could see and the finish is a beautiful medium, though rich brown. Most importantly, the bass sings! It has a beautiful growl to it for jazz and pop. I guess well at some point consider a pickup and amp for rock. The adjustable bridge with the delrin adjustment knobs works 10 times better than the one on his electric Palantino. Of course my son couldnt resist bowing Iron Man right away and the bass sounds wonderful bowed as well.
Steve Koscica of String Emporium was very helpful during the buying process and spent a lot of time answering questions over the e-mail. What I liked about him was his honesty about competing brands. He didnt down talk them. Rather, he convinced me that this Thompson would be every bit as good, but less expensive than any other plywood bass on the market. I havent looked at every other bass on the market, but of those Ive seen and heard, this Thompson is superior.
After we placed the order, he called and spoke with my son for about 20 minutes so he could get the setup right. He actually switched the stock strings out for a better set after speaking with my son. He then e-mailed us tracking and pickup information with helpful tips about what to do at the shipping terminal to make the process of getting the bass home very easy. Then he e-mailed us after the bass arrived to see how things were going. I think his biggest problem is the price of this bass. I believe he would sell more if he priced the bass at $1700 because I think people are too skeptical of $1250 for a plywood bass.
My son's instructor, who plays a Shen SB100, was envious. In fact, she compared the bass favorably to the newer SB100 that she had her eye on to buy, but didn't have the money at the moment.
Anyway, I wanted to post because, like me, at $1250 I was very reluctant thinking this might be another temporary bass that my son would outgrow in a couple years. Hell no! this is a beautifully made and superb sounding bass that will last him a lifetime. So impressed was I with the build quality, finish, and sound that we sprung for a deluxe Mooradian bag to protect it. Those go online for about $400, so you can see that I believe this bass is worth way more than $1250, otherwise why invest in such a bag worth 1/3 of the instrument?
Dont walk, run. . . .. . .
We bought the Thompson bass from String Emporium for my 13-year old son. He was playing an upright electric, but really wanted a real upright bass and since hes been enjoying playing upright bass with a passion for more than a year, my wife and I decided we wanted to get him a bass that would be a top-notch instrument that he could play with pride for years. In other words, we were after something a bit more than a student bass. Frankly, though, we didnt think we could afford one and considered ebay. We had been around town and looked at various basses from Englehart, Shen, Kay (used) and a couple other brands that were way more money than we wanted to spend. I looked at his instructors bass, a Shen SB100, in detail. I do believe this Thompson is superior in construction quality and fit and finish to anything we looked at. For example, the F-hole edges are nicely sanded and finished whereas the other plywood basses we looked at had rougher F-hole cut outs. The neck is solid SOLID and smooth as . . . well . . . fill in your own metaphor. The ebony fingerboard is just beautiful and consistent in the grain pattern. And the tuners are very nice with a very positive feel and no slop or loose winders to buzz. Theres no sloppy glue, no gaps in the joints, no filler that I can see, and even looking at the inside you can see the superior construction. The plywood is really beautiful with no flaws that we could see and the finish is a beautiful medium, though rich brown. Most importantly, the bass sings! It has a beautiful growl to it for jazz and pop. I guess well at some point consider a pickup and amp for rock. The adjustable bridge with the delrin adjustment knobs works 10 times better than the one on his electric Palantino. Of course my son couldnt resist bowing Iron Man right away and the bass sounds wonderful bowed as well.
Steve Koscica of String Emporium was very helpful during the buying process and spent a lot of time answering questions over the e-mail. What I liked about him was his honesty about competing brands. He didnt down talk them. Rather, he convinced me that this Thompson would be every bit as good, but less expensive than any other plywood bass on the market. I havent looked at every other bass on the market, but of those Ive seen and heard, this Thompson is superior.
After we placed the order, he called and spoke with my son for about 20 minutes so he could get the setup right. He actually switched the stock strings out for a better set after speaking with my son. He then e-mailed us tracking and pickup information with helpful tips about what to do at the shipping terminal to make the process of getting the bass home very easy. Then he e-mailed us after the bass arrived to see how things were going. I think his biggest problem is the price of this bass. I believe he would sell more if he priced the bass at $1700 because I think people are too skeptical of $1250 for a plywood bass.
My son's instructor, who plays a Shen SB100, was envious. In fact, she compared the bass favorably to the newer SB100 that she had her eye on to buy, but didn't have the money at the moment.
Anyway, I wanted to post because, like me, at $1250 I was very reluctant thinking this might be another temporary bass that my son would outgrow in a couple years. Hell no! this is a beautifully made and superb sounding bass that will last him a lifetime. So impressed was I with the build quality, finish, and sound that we sprung for a deluxe Mooradian bag to protect it. Those go online for about $400, so you can see that I believe this bass is worth way more than $1250, otherwise why invest in such a bag worth 1/3 of the instrument?
Dont walk, run. . . .. . .
