Stantor
“Shiney” and I went on a mission to check out a Stentor yesterday. I’ve tried a few of these basses before.
This model, I was surprised to discover, was a ‘Conseratoire’ – I was told the others I’d tried in this shop previously (over a few years) were also Conservatoires. If that’s the case, there is a huge difference in each bass I’ve seen in this range!
This one was smaller than a standard ¾ and had Mittel strings on. It sounded a bit ‘honky’ to me under the bow – I don’t think this was caused by the strings; they felt good and bowed easily.
The fingerboard was a bit buzzy in the middle (pizz) and the action was a bit high. The octave C on the A string, and some notes around it, sounded ‘wolfy’.
I remember the other Stantor basses I’d tried as being bigger, and looking different. A local luthier spoke very highly of one of them.
The Conservatoire model is evidently fully carved. For what it’s worth, I felt that my old German plywood sounded much better (and warmer) than this particular bass and my 500 series Christopher was in another league.
Has anybody else had experience with Stantor basses?
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