9-1-1, 9-1-1, 9-1-1, Luthier on the loose..

[Thomas Erickson]

Basses are big and do break on their own or get damaged by being so big anyway. Why does a Luthier have to injure the handicapped on purpose. Isn't that a shame? A crime?

It is a shame, and in many cases should be a crime. I think there are two distinct reasons, coming from two different types of luthiers. There's the ignorant one, who probably has good intentions but doesn't know (much) better, and then there's the one I object to most - the "gambler". The guy who isn't so much repairman, caretaker, or even dealer so much as he's a bass pimp. All that matters to him is maximizing the apparent value of an instrument, whether it's the sound, pedigree, or both, so that he can not only market and sell it for as much money as possible, but reinforce his own image at the same time by becoming known as "the guy with the goods" in town. The bass suffers from the tactics employed to make it seem "better" - new label/papers, thinned top, short string length, sloppy repairs etc. and the customer ends up with a problem bass that he's not only upside-down in, but that probably doesn't really play and/or sound as good as he initially thought it did; or, if it does, it won't someday soon when it starts coming apart...