• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass Violin Family Shoulders

#21
Don Hergert said:
Yes, I listened intently to one being played yesterday at a local Mexican restaurant... I talked to the player about how good it sounded. Very resonant, very pure deep tones. He described the tuning to me, which I've since forgotten, but it's not simply an octive guitar tuning; I described 4ths and 5ths tunings with him but I don't think it meant anything to him. He did say his dad used to play tololoche, which interestingly is tuned in 4ths, but a 4th higher than double bass (ADGC).
Click to expand...

There seem to be two sizes of guitarron, one of which sports a near gargantuan body. Unfortunately, this large body is almost eggshell fragile. To try to make an ABG of one would require some serious bracing and top reinforcement. I do believe the lowest note on the guitarron is that bottom A, just like on a toloche.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Don Hergert
#22
Well, as I understand it, the defining characteristic of the viols is that they are bowed AND fretted. So you've got:

Lutes - fretted and plucked - guitar, ukulele, lute
Viols - fretted and bowed
Violins - unfretted and bowed.

Within these groups there are all kinds of tunings and numbers of strings. The viols have certain typical construction characteristics, and it's easy to imagine someone trying to build bass violins using some of those viol construction characteristics to build their bass violins, especially since a lot of these people were "string instrument makers" wtihout specialization. Heck, Stradivari made some guitars.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Don Hergert
#23
turf3 said:
...
Lutes - fretted and plucked - guitar, ukulele, lute
Viols - fretted and bowed
Violins - unfretted and bowed.
...
Click to expand...

I really like this, it seems logical; in the depths of my memory it seems like I've seen it somewhere before, decades ago in college (or possibly earlier), but I can't find more about it so far online... Would you happen remember a source where I might find out more about this?

turf3 said:
... Heck, Stradivari made some guitars.
Click to expand...

True, and at least two mandolins...

I really like this kind of material to study... History, especially of musical instruments, intrigues me.
 
#24
Here's a big English bass I got to play a bit at my last lesson-the rib depth at the neck heel is abut 9". Thumb position past C would be daunting for someone less than 6' or taller, but the sound.......
upload_2019-11-24_19-27-20.jpeg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Eric Hochberg and nogbert
#25
I think Hammond Ashley used to have a big violin-shaped bass. It's been like 15 years since I saw it, but I think they said it was a Prescott? Or maybe it was one H-A himself made? Anyway, it was huge and sounded great. They told me that they'd sell it periodically but it always came back because the owners couldn't really play it.
 
#26
Mark_T said:
I think Hammond Ashley used to have a big violin-shaped bass. It's been like 15 years since I saw it, but I think they said it was a Prescott? Or maybe it was one H-A himself made? Anyway, it was huge and sounded great. They told me that they'd sell it periodically but it always came back because the owners couldn't really play it.
Click to expand...

I remember that bass too. I'm pretty sure they told me that Charlie Haden used it for a gig in Seattle, loved it and said he'd buy it if they cut the shoulders down...
 
#27
Mark_T said:
I think Hammond Ashley used to have a big violin-shaped bass. It's been like 15 years since I saw it, but I think they said it was a Prescott? Or maybe it was one H-A himself made? Anyway, it was huge and sounded great. They told me that they'd sell it periodically but it always came back because the owners couldn't really play it.
Click to expand...

Those are actually two different basses you're thinking of, both violin shaped. The Prescott has moved on as far as I know (it really did sound great), but the giant 5-stringer that Hammond made is still there at the shop. Someone here posted about it a while back:

5 String Full Size DB Technique
 
#28
Michael Glynn said:
Those are actually two different basses you're thinking of, both violin shaped. The Prescott has moved on as far as I know (it really did sound great), but the giant 5-stringer that Hammond made is still there at the shop. Someone here posted about it a while back:

5 String Full Size DB Technique
Click to expand...

Interesting. In my mind it was the Prescott, but that H-A bass 5-stringer looks awfully familiar. Maybe I played both at different times and got them muddled up. This would almost certainly have been back when they were still in south Seattle, before the move out to Issaquah. I was spending some time there when I decided to pick up the bass again after a hiatus.
 
#30
downunder said:
View attachment 3614165 View attachment 3614166 I have a bass with cello shoulders. Not sure about it’s origin. It truly is one of the best sounding basses I’ve ever heard. It is also maddeningly difficult to play the upper register, and the upper register starts at about E on the G string. It’s like being in love with a crazy woman.
Click to expand...

If you like crazy women, then you need to get a vintage Gretsch 6070 or 6072 electric to go with this bad boy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SAlcott

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back