Another classic restored - this Czech double bass is ready for the next chapter with a complete refresh, taken down to the bare wood and restored with a patina befitting a century-old Bohemian. After sitting for ages in attics and finding its way to our loft, this great bass heads to the West Coast newly prepared to swing any bandstand! Rings like a bell! Original hat pegs and brasswork Vintage mojo courtesy time This bass was neglected and even spray-painted at some point, but underneath were the makings of a great Bohemian Czech instrument from the 1920-30s. Fully sorted with…
View Full Post
The bass shop was splashed all over the pages of a European travel magazine this week - the travelogue American Trails caters to tourists from Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. They found us in Mystic for a chat with Gary and some great bass building pictures! The full American Trails article can be found here on page 114 Let us be your musician tourist destination! Find Upton Bass on the coastline, the Upton Bass shop is easily reached from anywhere in the Northeast, also by Amtrak to Mystic between Boston and NYC. Give us a call first, we'd love to…
View Full Post
The Brescian Model Double Bass was being designed and prototyped at the same time we were raising our post-and-beam workshop in 2012. From the original Upton Hawkes pattern, our gravitational pull was always towards giant Italy-via-England contrabasses - violin patterns with broad proportions built enormous for lavish orchestra sections. The Upton Brescian Model was our new push to create a wide-ribbed bass in this classic style, while applying all of our invention in construction and ergonomics. When we think of a 'Brescian' style (from Northern Italy), we reference the masters such as Gasparo da Salo, Maggini, and Rogeri. Vincenzo Panormo…
View Full Post
The Concord Model double bass was one of our first ambitious design projects once Upton Bass moved into our own post-and-beam workshop in Mystic. It was born out of a long admiration for Prescott basses and a realization Upton Bass had to have a model paying tribute to New England stringmaking history! An homage to Abraham Prescott, the Concord would incorporate the 'Busetto' recurved c-bouts of the most famous Prescott double basses. The Concord would also carry forward ingenious design principles from the original Concord, New Hampshire Prescotts - deep ribs and high-arched tops carved thin with attached ff-holes to…
View Full Post