Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Maneri
I played this bass. It's really something. One of the best Pollmanns I've played. If it's the same one I played at Arnolds a month before it's the only Pollmann I've liked, if it's a different one I must say they are making better basses than they used to not all that long ago.
The carvings are astonishing but not my cuppa. The arching of the top, the flame in the maple, the little detail work is fantasticly done. Nice balanced player, has all the right stuff.
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This Bass was up at Arnolds around that time as he was finishing up the Neck Graft/string length modification. He does have a few other Pollmans there as well but this is the only one with the modified String length so it could be 'the one'.
I personally like it myself all around and that is the main reason I bought it. From time to time, I have what I call a 'secondary' or 'alternate Bass' around that I can take to Orchestra rehearsals, Concerts or Jazz gigs when I don't feel safe about bringing one of my 'Classics' out as far as stage size or venue. Basses get 'bumped' way too easy by 'non-Bass playing musicians'! I have in the past done this with another Pollmann I had, the Bisiach labeled Bass with and without C-extension, the Bollbach Lion, the 3/4 Bohemian, the Batchelder, Lombardi, Sirleto, and even the Loveri and Candi Basses which are fairly expensive Basses but still need to go out for that occasional ride once in awhile.
I did a test the other day with a listener about 30 feet away in the shop to see if he was hearing what I was hearing when I playing one of my 3 main Basses. These are the Gilkes, Hart and Martini. The results were almost what you hear on top of the Bass but carry power and depth is another thing. I always thought the Gilkes to have less power then the Hart or Martini but turns out they only have more depth and low end spread. The Gilkes is the loudest, the Martini the smoothest and the Hart in the middle sounding half Italian on the bottom and half English on the top. Perhaps he was a Pasta eater..lol. These differences (from one spectrum to the next) vary only about 10-15% between Basses on volume and tone depth. From the loudest to the softest or the deepest to the brightest it's a bigger difference.
Then, I decided to test the Pollmann Busseto to see where it would fit in that mix. I played the Martini first, then the Pollmann, then the Gilkes and then the Pollmann once more. The Pollmann is actually louder then the Gilkes but not as deep, smooth or mature. The Martini has less volume than both of them but still wins in depth and spread. The Pollmann needs another 150 years or so before it can compete with the Gilkes on tone but I have to say this. For a 7 year old Bass, it sounds good enough to sit in any orchestra with only that same 10-15% difference on the sound scale as tested. In a big hall, the tonal differences will be much less and the blend within the section will be just fine as it does have a smooth deep low end already. It just doesn't have the mature development to match the 1814 Gilkes.
When Arnold has some time for me (he has 2 other big projects of mine on his bench already) I will have him make a C-Extension like I have on my other Basses and get this 'puppy' set-up as my new 'alternate Bass'.
Also, I am thinking of making this into an Eb Neck to match the Hart. The Heel has plenty of room and for my taste, too much to get around. The Batchelder and Tyrolean Bass I have are Eb Necks as well and this is what I am most comfortable playing when changing registers from regular to thumb'. The distance from my Thumb in the Heel to my 4th finger on the F# varies on my Basses from 5 3/4" to 7". That's way too much variation when switching Basses. The Gilkes is the smallest but also a 41" string length and a D-Neck. The Hart is 6" but a 41 3/4" S.L. Eb-Neck. I would prefer that stretch closer to 6" (+/-) rather than 7" which one of my Basses measured. The D or Eb thing for me is less of a deal then the bigger stretch when moving into thumb position or just going for that middle ground between F and A. Once up in T.P. it's not a problem either way but getting there can be 'shaky ground' is the 'Heel stretches' vary greatly.
Bottom line, shes worth keeping!