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Old 05-01-2013, 12:05 AM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
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Cool Changing basses..'Finalized' (Not!)

Having more than one bass has been my dilemma in the last decade or so. As I sell some of them, I narrow down what's left that I like and play that one. Sometimes when I get a new(old) bass, I take it out to a rehearsal (or gig) and try it out. At that point, I decide what I want to do with it set-up wise and if it should get a C-extension for orchestra work.

In the last couple of years, my main favorite bass was an English bass by John Hart. This has about the best sound and playability combined of the basses I have had in recent years. One problem is that I have to protect it on most of my gigs because the other musicians walking around have not a clue that they can damage a bass by just bumping into it and even more clueless as to the value of some of these instruments.

To cut my risk down with the more expensive basses, I often take a less valuable bass out to rehearsals and only bring my main instrument to the concert or to the dress rehearsal as well.

While bringing these other basses out, I have found some to be quite good in comparison but at a fraction of the cost/value/risk of the Hart. One bass that's only 60 years old now is a modern looking Italian bass made by a master maker in Brno, Czech Republic, formerly Moravia. Brno is less than 100 miles straight north of Vienna. This maker also worked in his earlier years in Germany and Switzerland before returning back to Brno. I had an Extension put on after doing a few gigs with it and now I find it most useful. I also have a pick-up on now so I use it for all my Pops-type gigs and shows where an amp is needed. It also does Mozart just as well as modern pop music so it's quite the versatile instrument. It just doesn't have that 200 year old plush feel and sound but it's in near mint condition!

The other bass I have been 'romancing' is this old German school Lionhead bass. I used it on some gigs at first and then had a C-extension put on as well, carved around the Lion without any holes. Since then, I have found even more uses for it in Concert. This one IS and old bass and has that old plush sound but quite different than the type of sound the Hart has. The Hart has more spread on the bottom while the old Lion has more punch.

The Kreutzer is the smallest of the 3 in string length with the Hart and Lion about the same. The upper body of the Lion is slightly smaller but not by much. The main advantage of these other basses is 'risk' and enjoyment as well. I seem to worry less with these on stage than the Hart. Still, I protect them all equally.

Looking back at the last 16 concerts/gigs I did (mostly orchestra but 1 show and a jazz gig, not including rehearsals), I used 4 other basses 1 time each just to try them out on the gig. Of the other 12, 6 were with the Kreutzer, 4 with the old Lion and only 2 were with the Hart and that was before the other 2 had C-extensions. Had I put C-extensions on them before, the Hart might have stayed in the rack all season. In fact, on one of the concerts, I brought the Lion to the dress rehearsal but realized I really needed the Extension so the next night, I came with the Hart out of need, not necessarily by choice.

Doing the math regardless of the types of gigs I did, on the 12 concerts between the 3 basses, the Hart was used only 2 of the 12 mainly because of the Extension.

Now, I have had top pro Orchestra players here playing my basses and for them, the Kreutzer doesn't get a second look and the Lion to one guy said "use that on a jazz gig"! That player favored my Panormo school bass over the Hart despite its size difference. Another player a few weeks later barely gave the Lion a look but preferred the Hart to the Panormo.

Playing all the basses myself in the orchestras that I play in, the old Lion and Kreutzer do just fine. Last year I had an old Neuner Mittenwald bass and that also replaced the Hart on a few concerts for the above mentioned reasons. All the people here in the office says the Hart is the best sounding of all the basses but what do they know?..

So, it looks like I am scaling down my gigging bass but it is what it is. I have a new Viennese style bass now that is quite old and the string length is about the same as the Kreutzer. I will use it on my last concert of the season and if I like how she does, it too might get a C-extension. Next season if all these basses are still here, I will have just as much confusion on which bass to take. The Viennese style bass has a great sound and is quite plush. The sound however is different than the old Lion but compared to the Hart, equally different but in another direction of type of sound.

Selling basses and playing bass is not as easy as it one would think when choosing a bass to play. I often spend more time testing basses to take out and play than I do practicing the music I have to perform.

So, if still interested after reading all this, here are the links to the basses mentioned above. Hart, old Lion, Kreutzer, Panormo, Viennese.
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