![]() My goal is to work with you and your bass whether it's fine tuning, repair, or restoration. experience as a full time double bass luthier, I can quickly and accurately determine any flaws in a particular set-up. I believe the experience of living the life of a professional bassist provides me with an advantage as a bass luthier. I know the discomfort and tone issues that can inevitably come from playing a poorly set-up bass. Im sure theyd have some good suggestions at the very least. Cant remember his name, but he was described to me as their cello/bass specialist. ago and I will always apply the great attention to detail they taught me. I think hes freelance but works in their workshop upstairs from the showroom. They keep a pretty low profile these days, but my timing was good some 18 yrs. and both extensively classically trained in the art of building, repair, and restoration of the violin family. My shop is 12 minutes north of down-town Santa Cruz, 1.5 hours south of San Francisco.Īfter playing the double and electric bass professionally for over 25 years, I began studying luthiery of the violin family of instruments under Dennis English and David Morse, both of Soquel, Ca. ![]() A secret material history.For whatever Double Bass related reason you’ve arrived at my website, I’m glad you’re here! I encourage you to take a little time to check out all of my pages. Another world I am in contact with daily, but unseen. ![]() I love this glimpse into, well, the underbelly. I’m always amazed by the fact that the pressure and tension of these stringed (highly strung) old instruments are simply held together by … animal glue. I did wonder to Martyn, slightly tongue-in-cheek, if any vegetarian or vegan alternatives were available and he said no-one had ever asked him that before. Martyn took the opportunity to glue up some other potential cracks and previous repairs while he was at it (‘off-glue’ being the term used by luthiers to refer to where parts of an instrument have come unstuck, and often started buzzing). There are drips of varnish I guess that give it a touch of an action painting. The front is probably spruce, the rest of the bass maple (ebony fingerboard, top nut). In addition, he does incredible repair, restoration, and set-up for any style. The bass bar (the thin strip running vertically on the right) is original. Bob Ross has always supplied me with instruments that bring out my very best. (I did count these and thought of my age, though I’m trying to avoid the metaphoric pull.) This is pretty much par for the course for basses of this era, as you can see by looking at other such photos on Martyn’s website. In this section you will find articles concerning my repair & restoration work, new double bass and cello making, C extensions & more. Our set-ups can include any or all of the work below: Carving a violin bridge. It shows around 150 years of damage and repair on the front alone, including a soundpost patch at one stage (the oval shape between the f-holes), as well as getting on for 60 cleats glued on various cracks and dints. While the front was off Martyn took this photo of the inside. He had done a brilliant and sympathetic new set-up on it a year or so ago, including a new bridge and shaving the fingerboard, and taking into account my need for a really low action for maximum ease of playing with diminishing physical strength. And then to glue with some small wooden cleats, and clamp.Įxcellent Essex-based luthier (and double bass specialist) Martyn Bailey did the work. This involved removing the front or belly of the instrument to access the crack. Although relatively minor damage, it required slightly more major attention to repair it properly. A small crack, 6″ or so, appeared in the upper rib of my bass last summer (see below).
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