Alleged Jean Baptiste Vuillaume bass.

[Joshua Daniel Walker]

Hey Ken and Co.

I'm trialing and thinking of buying a French bass. The bass I'm trialing is an alleged Jean Baptiste Vuillaume bass because of the tag on the inside and that it is exactly like the other Vuillaume basses of the kind. My luthier is asking $16,000 for it, which seems fishy for a Vuillaume bass. But he also isn't totally specialized in double bass, and focuses more on violins (he's the dean of violin making in Quebec or something). However, this still seems fishy as Vuillaume made a lot of violins as well.

I took a large amount of pictures last night, and here are a bunch. Perhaps you guys can tell me more about it.

Also, here's the link to the talkbass thread: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=10092360#post10092360


http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy330/Abobobass/IMG_8522.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy330/Abobobass/IMG_8523.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy330/Abobobass/IMG_8530.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy330/Abobobass/IMG_8534.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy330/Abobobass/IMG_8543.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy330/Abobobass/IMG_8519.jpg

Also, the full album of pictures is viewable on the talkbass thread or here:
http://s804.photobucket.com/albums/yy330/Abobobass/

Thanks guys.

[Ken Smith]

$16,000 and he doesn't know about basses? His playing dumb is a good weapon of attack. You get excited, sell yourself on the possibility of getting a steal on a Vuillaume and you end up with a modern Hungarian fake!

Hatpeg gears on a French basses? Never!

Come here in a month or so and play the Mougenot (http://www.kensmithbasses.com/doublebasses/vuillaume/). THAT is a Vuillaume model as he worked for the brother and used the Vuillaume f-hole pattern and bass model. I have seen a few Vuillaume basses and basses from makers that built basses for Vuillaume. This may be a nice bass but nothing like a Vuillaume from what I have seen.

[Arnold Schnitzer]

Have the bass looked over by a savvy pro. The label looks too good to me. Still, it could be a steal, or it could be a dog. Keep in mind that it is really difficult to re-sell a cello-shouldered bass, should you fall out of love with it.

[Joshua Daniel Walker]

Hey guys,

thanks for the feedback. I do have a few worries about the bass. I know now that obviously it is a copy. There is no way that it's a Vuillaume. I also don't know how I feel about buying a copy.

I feel a bit of despair on finding a new bass! I've spent a week with this one, and it seems like everything is so confused in my mind. It's such an exhausting thing to do.

Do you guys think $16,000 is reasonable for this bass? I don't mind the big shoulders, and find that they don't get in my way too much, but I haven't had a ton of time to play all over the board. Also, it's an Eb board, and I'm use to a D. I'm getting use to an Eb neck, and actually prefer it, but it's still going to take time and practice to get use to it.

I love the huge tone that I get from it. The other DB player that I showed it to found that it had a huge tone as well, and said it reminded him of Ray Brown or Ron Carter, but these comments don't really mean anything to me. I asked him to play it so I could hear it from the front, but he has such light pizzicato that I couldn't really hear him over the other people in the hall. That raises another thing. I find the action is a bit to high for me, and it makes it hard to make the bass really 'sing', like a lot of basses do with lower action. I'm worried that if the bridge was lowered, then the volume would not be as it was before, and I'd lose that 'huge' tone that I like from it.

Also, I find that the tone on the D and G string is a bit nasally. I HATE this, but I haven't heard it from the front, so I don't know if it's just nasally for me. Really, I just want the bass to be loud with a good tone, not be nasally when bowed, and to sing very easily.

[Martin Sheridan]

Sorry, but that's a German bass; a nice one though. It might be worth the money anyway.
On second look the body might be French, but the scroll is definitely German.