Yet another UK Stentor thread!

Well both Olie Brice and I have been using Stentors - I met up with Olie at Jazz Summerschool at the university of Glamorgan, where he played his - I wasn't brave enough to take mine!!

Olie's had his a bit longer than mine and it sounded great on stage and we reckoned it to be the loudest bass amongst the students - maybe a dozen DB players..?

Olie was put in a group with a trumpet/flugelhorn player that I play with locally and he mentioned how much he liked Olie's tone and said that he was glad I'd got a real DB like that - he's only heard me on EUB and BG so far!!

I am really loving mine - which does seem to be improving in terms of sound - but that may be down to several other factors - so, I put on better strings - Spirocores, changed the endpin for one from the Contrabass Shoppe...plus I'm sure my technique is getting better, as I am so motivated to practice now!!

I haven't found any flaws and my teacher (Jazz Pro) has looked at it extensively and the only thing he mentioned was changing the endpin - otherwise he was pretty impressed.

I have the Elysia and I think Olie has the Conservatoire...he might chime in soon...I saw him post the other day, but mentioned he was busy!

 

The difference is in the back and sides - so the top on Olie's Conservatoire looked exactly the same as mine - but the back and sides of my Elysia are in flamed maple, which has a nice tiger-stripe wood grain look - whereas Olie's Conservatoire has plainer-looking wood.

The main difference looked to be the back on mine swells a bit more ...maybe.... it's difficult, as I'm going on memory an we didn't have them side by side to compare?

Olie said there was a definite increase in volume with a better endpin and I've noticed that the bass feels more stable as well. I was also getting a kind of "fluttering" sound when playing high up on the G string, which my teacher told me was due to the flimsy endpin and since changing it, this problem has gone!!

 

Well there have been a lot of discussions around her about size and you could have a look though a lot of these - but generally the feeling I get from all the experienced players is that size is not really as relevant as getting a good bass that suits you - there is no standardisation of sizes and Ken Smith (who should know) told me that there is no such thing as a 4/4 bass!!

Most Jazz players use 3/4 or occasionally 7/8 basses and I remember seeing Dave Holland play live a few times and his DB looks pretty small compared with a typical Orchestral bass, but of course he gets a great sound!

I tried two new, German-made basses in Footes (Golden Square Soho) and was told that one was 3/4 and the other was 4/4, but I noticed very little difference apart from about £700 extra on the price!!

 

I've been playing a stentor conservetoire for just over 2 years now, and am still very pleased with it. Since buying it I've chnaged the endpin for a very nice hollow one, and it did improve both tone and volume.
It is small, which suits me as I don't drive and carry it to gigs and rehersals most days of the week in a hilly town!
It is louder than most basses I've come across, and for its price is surprisingly rich and 'growly'. Hard to say how much its changed over the past 2 years as I was a beginner then and have worked very hard ever since, so obviously my tone has improved.
Everyone I know who's tried my bass has been very complimentary, including some established pros and teachers.
However, they do vary a bit. Some of them have a horrible metal tailpiece, and I played on in a shop that was the same model, but didn't sound as nice. Mine has been well set up and has spiros on it, but I'm not convinced that was the only differnece.
Only problem I have with it is that the sound isn't very even wen you go up the e,a & d strings towards the octave. Also, I do get some wolftones playing arco, although as my technique has improved these are less noticable.
I wouldn't reccomend it necessarily for classical playing, but as a student/beginning pro level jazz instrument I don't think you'll be disappointed. And if you prefer playing without and amp as I do you might find it loudr than some far more expensive basses.

rant over!!

 

re:improving sound - the sound that the bass will get as time passes will be a richer and more complex version of the way it sounds right now. Depending on where you are buying the bass, just be aware that there may some set up issues. If the bass hasn't been set up properly, you may not be hearing its "true" sound.

Buy a bass because you like the way it sounds RIGHT NOW, not because you hope it will sound more like you want it to at some point in the future. I would DEFINITELY get somebody who plays to come by and play the basses, that way you are hearing the actual instruments and not the weaknesses of your physical approach.

 

put it this way, (as far as i'm aware) basses tend not to deteriorate in sound terms as they mature, provided you're nice to it! (as i would imagine you would be if you shelled out the £ for a nice new stentor! )

 

there were quite a few little setup issues with mine - I had some work done by a good luthier very early on - a bit of planeing on the fingerboard, a new bridge, couple of other things.

 

You've got me worried now that I need to replace my bridge and get some more work done...

Seriously I am happy with having had somebody I trust and who is a very good player, looking at it and playing it !

The big issue for us in the UK is just getting something to play that is reasonable but doesn't cost the earth - i.e. more than my car!!

PS. Did you ever find out what bass, the student tutor at Glamorgan was playing - that looked bit like a Stentor...I can't remember if you did?

 

He told me, but I can't remember. It looked very, very similar to mine though. Same factory different company?

 

Yes - I vaguely remember it - but just can't get the name out of the recesses of my memory!!

 

No, but neither do they substantially change. A bass that sounds thin and nasal will CONTINUE to sound thin and nasal. It's not going to suddenly start sounding like a Panormo just because it's been played for 20 years.

Buy a bass that you like the way it sounds RIGHT NOW.

 

Let us now how you get on and where the shop is, how they seem - customer service etc.

 

Hmm... Watford's the other side of London for me - I'm not sure I could handle all the way round the M25 - no matter how good the shop was!!

 

I saw and tried one around here... at a music store. Cheap, really cheap... I didn't realize they could be good... Of course, the one I tried had a bad bad bad setup...

 

Agreed!!

Well on the train it would be several changes and getting on and off the tube - not really feasible with a DB !!

But if they had any interesting stuff it might be worth a visit?

PS - I'm not sure that Stentor in Canada is the same - I couldn't see that they had Elysia and Conservatoire DBs...?