Our Featured Bass is this new Concord Model, a fully-carved, flat back 3/4 size double bass directly inspired by the instruments of Abraham Prescott. Gary Upton and Eric Roy began plans for a Prescott-style double bass in the spring of 2012. Their central goal was to build a Prescott pattern with modern ergonomics from our finest stores of seasoned spruce and big leaf maple. The result was the Concord Model, with scores of custom versions built in its first decade. Our New England flagship! This latest example features sloping shoulders (the same upper bouts as our Gary Karr Model), Busetto corners,…
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This Upton Brescian Hybrid double bass, one of the first of the new year, is built with sugar maple veneers on the back and sides with matching neck. German spruce top. Upgraded tuners and "micro-dot" inlays. Spirocores and a Rev Solo pickup for reinforcement and recording. Somebody's new gigging partner - what a great list of choices! Brescian HybridGerman spruce topVermont Sugar Maple veneer for back & sides with matched neckGerman made "Lauren Pierce" tuners, antiquedSolo "Swoop" FingerboardMicro dot inlaysCold brown top coated varnish over intense yellow ground coats with building layers of ambers
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Yet another amazing Brescian build completed! The "Camp" Brescian double bass features deeply figured Big Leaf Maple and a very special back. One centered piece of this select tonewood makes up the vast majority of the carved back, including nearly all of the arching. Gary thoughts on the Camp Brescian: "This really reminds me of this Flemish cello we had by Ambrose De-Comble, late 1700s... I love that we chose to do a three piece back, so there's not a center seam. I love what this does for the sound and for the flames traveling through." The hat peg tuners…
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Introducing a new generation of The Ergo double bass! This modern contrabass is a joint collaboration between Upton Bass and Arnold E. Schnitzer, developing his unique Ergonomic Contrabass for production here at Upton Bass. At Upton Bass, we're always trying to apply tabula rasa, or "clean slate" thinking. That's exactly what drove our colleague Arnold to design this futuristic, ergonomic double bass: "It is asymmetrical as a matter of form following function. The upper bout is wide enough to allow for a deep, punchy tone, yet the reduced treble side shoulder provides outstanding access to the upper register. The lower…
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