From Gary Karr's French bass to the stately JTLs, here are a few of the stars everybody gravitates to here in the Upton Bass loft! Big Band Martin 25% OFF! Gary Karr's Own Bass! Beautiful Red JTL Our big Martin 4/4 seeks a good home and is on deep sale - it spent it's formative years pushing the Frank Sinatra Jr. big band. The French Mentec was broken in from new by Gary Karr himself and has graced recital halls with some of his finest students. And every visitor has to pluck a few notes from our Betelgeuse-red JTL, or…
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This big crazy Alcoa has been hanging at the shop, now fully sorted with a fresh setup and for sale on our vintage page! Shiny underneath, with weathered paint. Very few come through in original condition - it's pretty cool! Many have been stripped and polished to hot rod chrome, they definitely have a cult following. Eric wrote on aluminum bass history here, going back to 2005. These Alcoas actually were prewar, and may have been built for Interlochen music camp so they were easily stored. The Alcoa basses differ from the Pfretzchner versions in that aluminum is used throughout.…
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What's in a name? Here at Upton Bass we name our bass models after the region that influenced them, as in the Brescian, Mittenwald, Bohemian and Concord. Here we'll take a look at some notable Brescian-style instruments. Pictured - Giovanni Maggini early 1600s What do we mean when we use the term "Brescian?" Brescia is a region of northern Italy which was home to hugely influential makers such as Gasparo da Salo, Vincenzo Panormo and Giovanni Maggini. Panormo would emigrate to England in the 1700's and brought this style of double bass with him. His influence became so widespread that…
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Reverb = Rando! In addition to listing used basses and bows on our Reverb page, we often post electric uprights, guitars and other string instruments that deserve good homes. The Upton Bass Reverb page changes all the time - it's a good outlet for the many non-basses that we end up with! Recent offerings have included Walter Woods amps, Acoustic Image amps, fine vintage Gibsons and Martin Guitars, even a century-old banjo. And as always - if you're searching for a certain bass or bass accessory that you can't find - let us know! +1 (860) 535-9399.
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