Ok, I am back from the Show now a few days and recovering from the long hours I have been putting in over the last few weeks between my two branches of the business, the DB's and the Smith products.
Big Ben as we now call it (or is it Gamba Supreme? I forgot..) was a HIT at the ISB. Everyone who played it stopped after a few notes or just after the 'A' sting and paused before continuing. I was told by many people that it was the best Bass at the ISB. Just about every dealer came over to check it out as well after hearing all the talk about it.
Several of them examined the bass carefully trying to figure out what it was. They all were puzzled and said things like, 'I'm not sure", "Very difficult, very..", I'll have to think about it", "ENGLISH".. the usual call and then I heard one dealer whisper to another, "Gagliano?"...
So, even after several first hand looks at it, we are about where we started some 5+ years ago. The Bass even has some old Mittenwald qualities to it but we are not sure what exactly is original on the bass as well as the lower bout shape which one dealer/maker thought it could have been cut down even in that area as well as the outer Bouts which do not have any purfling left either.
So, she is big, she it powerful, she is beautiful, sweet sounding, colorful and complex sounding and she's big.. I said big twice, I know.. lol
What is it? A big and quality sounding bass that is actually fairly easy to play. One of the European pros performing at the ISB mentioned that it's a very special bass as fat as good basses go and was playing on it as if it was a solo bass hitting the high harmonics and double stops with the greatest of ease.
I was told by two pros there giving me separate informal private lessons in the booth that I needed to pick ONE bass and play it. Part of my problem in playing is that I switch back and forth between basses which have different lengths and measurements making hand position training impossible. Maybe I should just play this one and leave the others in the rack just for sale. In NYC when I made my living playing bass, I used one instrument primarily for about 15 years. Maybe that's what I really need to do again. Play only one bass for the most part, practicing and performing. Sitting, standing, classical or jazz, whatever. Just one main bass..
This was the second old bass I bought this time around when I started playing again about 8 years ago. The Batchelder was the first and that was just sold. My intention was to have this fixed and use it for myself. Sounds like I should stick with that original plan. These other basses I have been buying for my hobby/business has become such a distraction..
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