Here here!
Too often German basses are misrepresented as French, English or Italian. Sometimes it's an honest mistake. I'm sure that I, myself, have been fooled by the "style" and missed some indicators of German craftsmanship. Sometimes, basses that were made in what is now The Czech Republic are called "German." I can't blame anyone for making that mistake because the schools of construction are so closely related and the political borders have been so blurred over the last few centuries.
Sometimes the mistake is not what is seems to be on the surface. For quite a long period of time, Germans did "rough work" for known makers all over Europe. Sometimes a bass that is, for all intents and purposes, an English bass willl have been "started" by German craftsmen who were very skilled and would work for very very little money. Instrument-making is an art, but has rarely been done for free.
The business has always looked for ways to create quality products for less money. To think otherwise is naive.Today, the same thing is happening with Hungarian, Romanian and Chinese makers. A bass might come out of the shop of a French, English or American maker with an "authentic" label affixed to the back that began its life (if you will) in the workshop of a skilled worker in a country that could do the work inexpensively. Once the bass was finished by the maker whose name the label bears, the bass is officially "made by" that maker. This is a reality I am uncomfortable with, but have had to tolerate as to not call into question the work of men and women who make their living providing fine instruments for the market. It is the maker's final work -- whatever that might be-- and his or her skill at choosing fine materials, models, and techniques that the player is investing in, I have come to believe.
As Ken says here and as I (and Jeff and Arnold and Andrew and Barry and Gary and Aaron and Aaron and Don and Bryce) say(s) often, an instrument is a good instrument if it is constructed well, maintained diligently, produces a good sound consistently and is comfortable to play. Some of these criteria are objective and some are subjective. A person can describe some of these things and some of these things need to be experienced to be understood. I, more often than not, find German basses to be fantastic investments because they are almost always constructed well and, to my tastes, often produce a nice sound while never being priced at the top of the market.
Ken, you should come and see the Mittenwald bass that Mike and Sprocket are finishing up now. It will been completely restored here and has had a long career in orchestras. From what I can tell, it will be a cannon.
Johannes, that bass you have is great, but we encourage you to have it looked at by another shop before you purchase it. The person who owns it now brought it to us because they knew that we would represent it fairly. We always try our best to get prospective buyers to put their opinions contexts other than the one we have here at the shop. Although our collection is huge, and the luthiers here are trusted by most of the world's jazz and classical bassists, there is no substitute for another well-informed opinion. We don't want to sell something that you will not like. That is not a good business model. David Gage has been here for more than 30 years. He has not lasted that long looking to pass something off for a one-time sale. If you find that another dealer or luthier disagrees with our assessment of condition or value, we want to hear that opinion and often we want to talk about with you and the seller of the instrument to make sure that the deal is fair on both sides.
German basses rule. Get lots of opinions when spending a lot of money (duh). Play something that you like, not something that someone says you should like (double duh).
Sorry for the long post,
Sam Finlay
DGSI
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