Speyer 3/4 Double Bass

Here's my upright bass I purchased from they great people at Prussin Music in Vancouver. I believe these basses come from a shop in Korea by the name of "Speyer Instruments" that has now gone under new management. With this new management, apparently the company has built instruments of lesser quality... or so I'm told by my luthier at Prussin. This one, is from the last shipment of basses berfore the company was sold. It's a Speyer 3/4 fully carved bass, affordably priced at around 4k

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The Bass is fully carved with spruce top, ebony board, rosewood tailpeice and flamed maple sides and back. Construction is really good compared to other basses I've played in it's price range and overall, is a very sturdy, great sounding instrument.

It sets up really well for Jazz or folk with the adjustable bridge, and sounds really smooth and even over all the strings. It took me a while to find the right strings for this bass. I tried at least 6 types before finally settling with Thomastik-Infeld Dominats, a vinyl core string with a detailed, warm and woody sound with good projection.

I'm amazed at how good the bass sounds sometimes, being so young and all, it has a long way to go before it'll really open up tone-wise. When I started shopping for an upright, I bought a poorly made plywood bass made by an outfit called "Menzel". I can't stand playing it, and can't even sell the thing... it just sits in storage. I wish I knew basses of this quality were available for under 5k, because I certainly would have never spent 1500 on my plywood doghouse. For twice that price, you can get a really nice 3/4 carved by some makers!

Summit Audio - TD 100

The Summit Audio Tube Direct is a no frills preamp/direct box made for warming up DI tracks. It is also a great tube preamp. Summit audio is perticulariy well known for their distinct tube character and beautiful transparent sound. And let me tell you, this box rocks.

Upon first plugging in this box, the first thing you notice is the high quality pots and switches on the front panel, all mounted firmly to it's rugged steel chassis. It's got a VERY sturdy overall feel to it.

The unit is SILENT and when used with my bass in active mode, is very quiet. It colors the tone of your instrument beautifully. Very warm, articulate and open, but has a kind of "glassy" sounding warm sizzle with a great 3d texture that I haven't experienced with any other tube gear. I suspect this unit would really shine when re-tubed with some high end NOS tubes like Telefunkens, Mullards, or Brimars.



Technical specs are available here, other than that...

Front Panel-



Rear Panel-



Under the Hood-





Very impressive construction, and even more impressive in the tone department. I have owned other tube preamps (Demeter hbp-1 and vtbp 201s) that have tone sections with eq, but what this box lacks in versatility, it's makes up in simplicity and quality of tone.

FBass BN6

Here are some photo's of my custom FBass BN6, proudly built in Hamilton, Ontario by George Furlanetto. I was told by George that It would take 9 months to build. He then contacted me six weeks after I made my deposit, and sent me these photos of my bass nearly complete!! It will have taken 9 weeks instead of 9 months!! Bravo everyone at FBass.


Three weeks till completion!! Check out the specs and full review below.
















































Specs are as follows:

NECK: 6 string 24 fret, 5 piece maple/bubinga
BODY: BN6 body- Swamp Ash, one piece, with figured Bubinga top
FINGERBOARD: Madagascar rosewood fretboard
SCALE: 34.5 inch, (87.63 cm.)
BRIDGE: Black Hipshot Type B @18mm spacing
TUNERS: Black GB70, mini with 20:1 ratio
NUT: bone
ELECTRONICS: F-Bass 3 band, Bubinga knobs
NUT WIDTH: 54mm (2 1/8”)
WIDTH @ 24th FRET: 89mm (3 1/2”)
STRING SPACING: 18mm
FINISH: Natural Hand Rubbed Oil
OTHER OPTIONS: Heel, Headstock and pickup veneers
Pearl Inlaid serial # and TKL Hard Case




Here are pictures of the finished product on Aug 24th 07'. This bass is truly a masterpiece by a group of master luthiers, and is well worth it's high price tag. I am completely blown away by the craftsmanship, and baffled by it's excellent performance. So fast, comfortable and resonant. Beautiful!