This Upton Bohemian double bass was built for the pit! We're referring to the substage area musicians working on Broadway and touring musicals work. Pit musicians need reliable instruments that can perform night after night for weeks on end without fuss. The instruments they use must play extremely well and sound phenomenal, all while being subjected to ever-changing climates and touring schedules that can take them to all corners of the globe. This Bohemian features a deluxe top for tone and a canted flat back for projection. Built as a hybrid with warm poplar veneers, a German spruce top, and a domestic maple neck.…
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THIS IS AN ACTIVE REPAIR, BE SURE TO CHECK BACK OFTEN! This is one of the great Mittenwald basses we have had through the shop. The varnish is to die for, and tone is even better! But, these things we like to haul around are BIG and AWKWARD, and sometimes you bump it on things. This one took a little bump and got a rib crack...so the owner, a dear friend of the shop, brought her in for a patch and since we would have the top off, let's reglue that upper brace that's been working itself loose. When tops come off...that usually…
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This American Standard double bass came in with a "loose" bass bar and arching deformations around the bridge/soundpost as well as the lower bout. Upon an internal inspection, the bass bar had not let go, the laminations had failed. We took off the top and were able to easily remove a layer of wood. Testing a few areas, we decided that just the one layer had failed and the others were holding. American Standards use fewer layers, but thicker layers, than other vintage laminates and even our own newly made laminated basses, so we re-laminated two thin layers into the…
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For a change of pace, let's start off with the finished pictures! [gallery link="file" size="medium" ids="67447,67444,67441,67445,67443,67442"] This old bass has been restored, badly, numerous times before...with the most recent restoration utilizing a lot of epoxy and wood filler! The bass was brought in because it was feeling too tight, and the owner wanted to look at setup items needed to reduce the feeling of tension. Once on the bench...we started pointing out structurally deficient areas, most notably the damage and "repairs" around the end block. So, what started off as just some setup tweaks turned into a top off, new…
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