Double Bass Repair & Restoration

An inside view of Upton Bass String Instrument Co.'s Instrument Repair & Restoration Workshop. Our sister website, www.StringRepair.com was originally created to communicate with our clients about the progress of their project, as well as to better display our double bass repair & restoration capabilities in conjunction with UptonBass.com. StringRepair.com was launched in 2005 and was one of the first active repair blogs on the web, opening the door to better transparency to the client from the back room of the workshop.

Today, Upton Bass String Instrument Co. continues to offer world-class repairs of all instruments in the violin family, and our active repairs are showcased below and on the following pages.

While StringRepair.com is not actively updated today, we keep it up as it's become a great reference source for many workshops worldwide. We hope you enjoy the collection!

Claudio Marquez and Mod Society

Remember when you might play in a 12-piece band, crushed on the bandstand in a hip little venue because the crowd was so packed and couldn’t stop dancing and sweating? Oh, sweet sweet yesteryear… Our Friend Claudio Marquez knows that feeling well. Claudio plays double bass and bass guitar in NYC’s Mod Society, which he…

“Camp” Brescian Model Double Bass

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…

Upton Bass Ergo Double Bass by AES

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…

The Best Double Bass Pickup for Recording – UB Rev Solo!

A hidden talent of our Rev Solo pickup is that it’s simply the best double bass pickup for recording direct. The clarity of the Rev Solo really shines in digital recordings, and it’s the only quality bass pickup that can easily be adjusted by the player for tonal characteristics. That flexibility really sets it apart…

“Bullet” Brescian Model Double Bass

Luthier’s notes from Eric: “Most amazing Brescian yet! Deep ribs (almost 9″!) spalted big leaf Maple that kept ruining blades as it had a bullet in it!” We imagined several stories – was the tree outside Elvis’s window? Was the lumber in the trunk of Steve McQueen’s Mustang? The depth in the wood and pathless…

“Hull” Brescian Model Double Bass

Upton Bass Brescian Model Double Bass, 2020, Opus 203 This new Brescian was particularly rewarding to make, it’s a state-of-the-art fully carved version with exceptional wood – figured Spruce top and rippling Big Leaf Maple back and sides cut from the same board. The new owner knew he wanted a premium bass from the start,…

“Watts” Mittenwald Model Double Bass

This beautiful Mittenwald model Upton double bass was built as a big flatback five-string hybrid. The Mittenwald is a great gamba pattern for the low B, with plenty of depth and air volume. A classic build kept the straight fingerboard and antiqued hat pegs, plus rib bumpers and a custom angled endpin block. What really…

Still Building at Upton Bass!

The Upton Bass team is safe and making basses! We will continue to do so as long as we are allowed to. Other than some power tools, not a lot separates our shop from an 18th Century version – there’s plenty of space and fresh air, just with a lot more Ramones coming from the…

The Upton Report v2.9

EB players always want to try URB…and Adam’s video, while open to critique from seasoned DB players, has some good meat in it for the BG players looking to add to their arsenal!

The Upton Report v2.8

Going “viral” for the double bass usually means a few thousand views, but as I write this, Davies video has 1,191,277 views and only dropped on Dec 11, 2019! This puts it currently at #30 on the trending video list on YouTube. That’s impressive!