This identity has been confirmed by the shop. It has a carved willow back. Again, the owner states it's quartersawn -- I wouldn't know how to tell -- which makes it sturdier than a slab-cut back.
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Double Bass Upgrading to a hybrid...
- Thread starter vanderbrook
- Start date
Assuming you are dealing w/ Bob Ross, you can be confident trusting what he says. If I were shopping in the Denver area, he'd be my easy 1st choice, and it would be tough to convince myself to even consider a 2d choice. His offer to buy back the ply is one good indicator. Plus, he's the sort of person I like to support when I spend $.
Just one opinion who lives a couple thousand miles from the shop in question.
Just one opinion who lives a couple thousand miles from the shop in question.
Yes, it's Bob, whom I have dealt with for years, and whom I trust. He has explained that the X bracing in the Shen largely mitigates the main problem with flatbacks, which typically have long braces glued perpendicularly across the back. (Such braces, he says, constrain the back from changing with humidity changes, leading to stress in the wood, which usually leads to some degree of cupping and in the worst case scenarios, braces coming loose or cracks developing in the back.)
Twenty years ago, while studying TB in preparation for the purchase of my first carved bass, I made a Permanent Mental Note: never buy a flatback. They're trouble. If not now, soon.
Of course, Bob can't guarantee I won't have problems with the Shen. If it didn't sound so good, I'd write it off and look for something else, but there don't seem to be all that many options at my price point ($4,750).
I've had an SB200 for 8 years, and I've put good mileage on it. I have yet to have the first issue of any kind.
Also, concerns about weather and such are mainly about old basses or extreme weather. If you pay attention you shouldn't have issues with Shen or better new basses. Just get a humidifier and keep the bass in that room during the dry months.
im also ~95% sure that bob offers a 3 year warranty on shens... thats what he gave me for my bass.
As long as the bass is kept in an environment of stable 40 percent humidity you’re fine.
If you play a lot of winter gigs in bars with cold, dry drafts then you should be concerned.
If you play a lot of winter gigs in bars with cold, dry drafts then you should be concerned.
John Sprague
Sam Shen's US Distributor
- Mar 10, 2003
- 998
- 360
- 63
- Disclosures
- Sales Manager, CSC Products Inc.
I'll try to clarify a few things.
Our willow is slab-cut, which will produce a few pieces of quartered out of a tree. Bob Ross insists on quarter-sawed-everything due to his harsh climate, so when we get that occasional quartered back, Bob is the first to know.
The SB200 FW flat back willow bass is our most popular carved bass. We changed the ribs from solid willow to a three ply willow rib to reduce cracking. We still consider it a carved bass, but it's just semantics. We're delivering better quality by doing it that way, and that's what we care about.
The brace is an X-brace, designed to expand and contract in the same direction as the back plates to reduce cracking. The added bonus is the back is free to move more than a ladder-braced back.
I think I hit all the questions, holler if you have more!
Our willow is slab-cut, which will produce a few pieces of quartered out of a tree. Bob Ross insists on quarter-sawed-everything due to his harsh climate, so when we get that occasional quartered back, Bob is the first to know.
The SB200 FW flat back willow bass is our most popular carved bass. We changed the ribs from solid willow to a three ply willow rib to reduce cracking. We still consider it a carved bass, but it's just semantics. We're delivering better quality by doing it that way, and that's what we care about.
The brace is an X-brace, designed to expand and contract in the same direction as the back plates to reduce cracking. The added bonus is the back is free to move more than a ladder-braced back.
I think I hit all the questions, holler if you have more!
John Sprague
Sam Shen's US Distributor
- Mar 10, 2003
- 998
- 360
- 63
- Disclosures
- Sales Manager, CSC Products Inc.
Greg Clinkingbeard
Commercial User
I have a new SB200 in the shop with the laminated ribs and can’t tell that it sounds different than those with solid ribs. Over the last few years I have done enough repairs on those that it seems like a good change.
The X bracing on the back is a beautiful thing.
I know of at least three other makers who are using laminated ribs on ‘carved’ basses. One Chinese maker’s basses had serious problems with ribs cracking and made the switch a few years ago.
The X bracing on the back is a beautiful thing.
I know of at least three other makers who are using laminated ribs on ‘carved’ basses. One Chinese maker’s basses had serious problems with ribs cracking and made the switch a few years ago.
I have an early Solano with doubled ribs that was subjected to 20 years of questionable maintenance before I got it which has never cracked. It’s just a bit heavy.
