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…
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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…
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Basses take a LOT of tonewood - and as we work and watch the scraps fall, we couldn't help but think - they don't all have to go into the wood stove! Here at the workshop we get some nice trim pieces cut outside the lines on our bass backs once joined - they are now being repurposed as inspirational wall art for our bass playing friends! This is our first series of artist-approved bass-centric wisdom. We'll be debuting them on Etsy, but as we ramp up we're offering you, our friends on the mailing list early dibs! These corners…
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A quick look at some great double basses new to our Vintage & Used page - a big, light and loud New Standard, a compact German classic and a large-voiced player from Patagonia! New Standard (Schnitzer/DeSola) with C-Extension, 2003 Emanuel Wilfer, 1997 Marcos Gabriel Martorelli, Argentina 1999 Nice to see the aging patina on this familiar New Standard (with that American Standard plywood shape) - this one's a great value for performing or student musician. The Wilfer is compact, very flexible, easy to live with and fully-carved. The big Martorelli is really fun to play and actually comes from the…
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