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Josef Budil
Ever run into one of these basses?
Mine seems to have been made in Luby in the mid eighties. I bought it in Amsterdam about ten years ago and at the time I was told it was a Grancino copy. Maybe not a very good one. Anyways, when it is being played regularly, it is a freaking cannon. They seem to be somewhat rare in the states. |
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??
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#3
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pictures
Here are some pictures.
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more pics?
BAck, ribs and more angles necessary?
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#5
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I think I have seen this before when you posted it on TB. Interesting looking bass. If it is holding up well then you are in good shape. If the sound is not what you expect, maybe it can be opened up by a good luther, the top graduations adjusted and a new bass bar. That can do wonders for a bass. He can use a magnetic gauge before opening the bass to check the graduations.
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#6
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This was noted by Hammond Ashly when I brought it over from Amsterdam in 2003 and had them appraise it. Not to much movement in those eight years, but I figured it was time for it to get fixed so we went for it. Have you seen any of these Budil basses here in the states? A european guy suggested that they were to be found throughout Europe and in Asia to some extent. I love the sound of it. Wonderfully deep and rich, especially with the Genssler Jazz Quint set I am running on it. 5ths tuning on this bass has made an already lovely sound go from great to even better. I have been thinking about something with a slightly smaller scale. 42" is fine, but whenever I play a 41.5" or a 41" is just feels a tad more comfortable. A loud chamber / solo bass with a 39-40" scale is on my GAS list. Perhaps I can just wait patiently for Mr. Sypher to sell me his Lombardi. I was, after all, born in 1976 on the 14th of April. Or maybe save up the ducats for a Prescott. I love the look of the Gamba that Upton has. Now I just have to get up to Boston to try it out. |
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First off, I don't see any 'carving' around the f-holes. The Varnish looks all original. Second, IF the Bassbar came loose then, it was probably 'sprung-in'. A HUGE NO-NO for bassbars and basses. The Top will deform, cave in, split or the bar pop loose or all of the above with a sprung bar. If he reattached the same bar, then you might have a problem waiting to happen. That bass needed a NEW Bar. Not the same one glued back in. This isn't as Kay bass. I hope you were misinformed. I have never seen nor heard of a Budil bass before this. I don't know if such a person exists or it was a trade name for this model as many instruments have fictitious names. So, I can't give you anything past what you have heard in Europe, sorry. On Jason's bass, that came from me. It's a nice bass. I had 2 Lombardi's. That one was a better jazz bass, the other a better Orchestra bass. They both found good homes, so happy endings for both Lombardi's. Now, you mention smaller size and then Prescott? This is reverse thinking. Jason had a nice old bass before the Lombardi. Maybe Yankee or Austrian school as opinions were mixed but, it was HUGE. That is why he got the Lombardi. For a smaller more manageable bass. You can also come here and try basses. I have basses of all sizes from nice comfy 3/4s to some that are considered 4/4 or 5/4 in Europe or big 7/8ths here. Regardless, don't go bigger on your next bass if you are struggling in any way with the size. |
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Unfortunately, caving, not carving.
Not carving. Caving. And I know it is bad. In person you can see pretty clearly around the bass bar area where the roundness of the top seems to have flattened out quite a bit since it was new. I could have sworn that Hammond Ashly told me when they first looked at it in 2003 that it would need to be reattached at some point. I related that info to my luthier here in Anchorage, AK and he went ahead and did it for me.
What he described doing sounded fairly unorthodox and I can imagine it will have anyone who knows what is what holding their heads in sadness. He explained that he had carved a very small type of cross brace to fit the very end of the bar into and then glued the whole thing down. I winced a bit when he told me this and thought, well... no one else to take it to in Anchorage so I better hope that it holds for a good long time. Josef Budil (b.1932) seems to have been a real person who worked in Luby for many decades. Studied under Hrib and Pechar and was a double bassist himself according to this scan. The owner of Lemur thinks he may have met him 20 or so years ago while bopping around Eastern Europe looking for basses. http://www.mtmmusicalinstruments.com/page36.html As for my wish list, apologies for taking the discussion of the Budil off topic, but I am a man conflicted about what I want and sometimes I don't accurately convey how I am full of contradictions. I don't mean to sound confused, I just have a number of different, sometimes conflicting desires. The ease of playing and transporting a small bass for most gigs that are slightly amplified anyway is mighty appealing. Hence the desire for something small. But the sound of a big old bass is ultimately what I want acoustically so the idea of a Prescott is also kicking around in the back of my mind. My brother is currently a member of the bass section in New World and the last time he visited he agreed to remind me whenever I started talking about wanting something different that the Budil sounds damn good for my needs. So back to the Budil. How important is it to get a new bass bar installed? And can you suggest someone that would be able to do that well AND turn it into a removable neck instrument at the same time? |
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Interesting info on the maker Budil and the Strunal masters profiled. With this information post dating most of the books written on the makers, it's nice to see a website that continues to name the names that make the instruments. I have a JB Allen Bass (1841, Springfield Mass.) that would compete easily against any Prescott but the condition is immaculate. If you get up this wass and the bass is still available, don't miss it. It is the most powerful bass I have including my Panormo school and Tarr bass, two other cannons I own. I had and sold a big Prescott a few years ago. This Allen bass I consider to be even better. |
#10
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Posta played a Grancino very similar to your bass. Maybe this was the bass budil copied. EDIT: if you do a google picture search for "posta grancino" you can see it on the LP-covers. (I own one of them) i think the bass was for sale in the US some time ago. Edit 2: http://www.smithbassforums.com/showthread.php?t=1579 Last edited by Anselm Hauke; 02-05-2013 at 11:24 AM. |
#11
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The other one of course for comparisons sake is the Grancino at the Contrabass Shoppe in the UK. Both of theses basses seem to have somewhat narrower upper bouts in proportion to the lower bouts that mine does. |
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