Now that the deal has gone down, I'll tell you the rest of the story.
For about 10 years I've played an old German shop flatback. Lovely jazz bass, but it didn't really deliver the big fundamental for orchestra.
About a year ago I played at the opera house in Oman and my section was loaned three Tom Martin Concert basses for the gig. We were very impressed with them. These basses are roughed out in Hungary and finished by the Martins, so they cost about half as much as full-fledged Martins.
As I shopped for a new bass, trying every bass in California from Lemur at the south to Steve Swan in the north, there was nothing at my price point (low 5 figures) which compared to those Martins. There were several good candidates from $20K+, but that was really pushing my budget and quite of few of them needed a significant additional investment to make them really workable.
So, I started looking for US dealers with Martin shop basses, gambled on having one shipped to me, and it paid off. Yes, travelling around the east coast trying basses would have been cool, but travel expenses and days off work (and away from my wife) seemed like too large an addition, while the few hundred for shipping did not. At worst I'd have paid to send it back.
The video the dealer sent me wasn't decisive - as Ken pointed out, the frequencies that make a bass sound big in an orchestra can be hard to record - but it helped a little. Shipping a bass is expensive and risky, so I wanted to get as much info as I could before committing.
This worked out for me. I took the bass to a jazz jam, an orchestra rehearsal, and had it checked out at L.A. Bassworks and by my teacher. It was impressive in all situations, so I bought it.
However, I understand that shopping for a string bass by brand is unreliable and, having spent afternoons playing rows of Fenders at Guitar Center, it's not all that great for some other instruments. Still, with a contemporary instrument, there's a lot less mystery about who actually made it, maintenance history, etc.
That's the story. Thanks for the advice.
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