Double Bass Edgar Meyer's Italian Bass

#21
A copy by Nick Lloyd

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#26
A few months ago I went down to Nashville to shoot pictures of the original, and had a chance to catch up with Edgar. He shared the opinion of a top-class violin dealer and authenticator that his doublebass likely isn't Gabrielli per se, but definitely that region of Italy, and from the era of 1769. Good to know.
 
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#27
Roger Mouton said:
And don't forget the story of The Boston Symphony bass section all crowding into a front row seat at a jazz performance to watch, and wonder, how Slam Stewart could get such sound from a Kay bass, presusmably with Kay bow. This not to compare Edgar Meyer to Slam Stewart, it just puts the equipment thing, for me, into better perspective.
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Slam gets a great, personal sound. It is very much a gut & plywood sound smoothed out by his voice.
timshacklock said:
Thanks!

I've been trying to figure out how he gets such a good sound with pizz and arco and the more I find out about his setup the less it makes sense :meh:

I've heard a lot about people not going for spiros because their arco sound isn't very appealing but Meyer seems to make it happen.
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I met a few St. Louis Symphony players that were all in on Spiros. They are great arco strings, all others are pretty one dimensional & lifeless.
Having said that, the solos at what ever tuning are much easier to bow clean. If you are looking at getting both a great arco & pizz sound, Spiros are the answer.
 
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#31
Earl said:
In that picture he is using this:

ISI Pickup

Paul Kowert also uses it.
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Just to confirm, I have had the chance to spend some time with Edgar's bass and as of current he is using the ISI pickup. I also have the ISI on one of my basses for and would recommend it. It does want a good preamp like a Felix or similar.
 
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#33
crd said:
Is it drilled in the bridge? Is it similar to a single element Wilson?
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You send your bridge to Eric Aceto, the person who makes the ISI. Eric cuts the bridge in half and inlays it in the bridge and glues it back together. This sounds worrisome (at least it did to me at first) but I have had it in my bridge for going on a decade now and have had zero issues. He also will sell a bridge blank with the pickup already installed for your luthier to fit but I know at least one person that did that and had some issues with the quality of the bridge blank.

I will say you need to be aware that it will lower the string height a couple MM, that was and still is a little bit of an issue on my one bass because I adjust the string heights via my removable neck joint and in the winter I can't get them quite as high as I prefer, but not enough to be a major issue and was just something I overlooked.

I am not sure what the element looks like or anything like that, I haven't tried the Wilson so I do not have a good companion but I will say that this pickup, with the correct preamp, is one of the more microphonic sounding pickups I have used. In the end it still sounds like a pickup but blended with a good microphone sounds pretty good!
 
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#34
NicholasF said:
He likes that bow specifically tightened all the way, he gets a different sound from it vs his other bows.
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I had he opportunity to make a copy of Edgar's bow last year and just to clarify, Edgar's bow is not tightened to the point most think it is. It is an extremely strong stick with much less camber than most other bass bows. So instead of it being a bow where it has a more standard camber and you tighten it to the point if it being straight, Edgar's bow, even in a relaxed state has less camber.

It is a different animal than something like a Vigneron or Sartory but what it does, it does very well, but there are things it does not want to do at all... like bounce for example. It would not be favored by many or maybe anyone in an orchestra but if you are playing in the style of Edgar than I find it to be beneficial over a more "standard" bow.

People talk about this bow as if it is a piece of junk that only Edgar can make work but after getting to play it I have to say there is something special about it on that bass and played in that style. From a bow makers stand point it's nothing to be excited about, but from a players stand point it certainly is, this is if you're trying to do what Edgar does. That then made me excited about it as a bow maker. My copy is in function but I used a head and frog shape of my own design. The player who owns it (who also owns the first previously mentioned Lloyd copy of Edgar's bass) Is very happy with it and I have also had positive feedback from Edgar himself.
 
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#35
Mgaisbacher said:
I had he opportunity to make a copy of Edgar's bow last year and just to clarify, Edgar's bow is not tightened to the point most think it is. It is an extremely strong stick with much less camber than most other bass bows. So instead of it being a bow where it has a more standard camber and you tighten it to the point if it being straight, Edgar's bow, even in a relaxed state has less camber.

It is a different animal than something like a Vigneron or Sartory but what it does, it does very well, but there are things it does not want to do at all... like bounce for example. It would not be favored by many or maybe anyone in an orchestra but if you are playing in the style of Edgar than I find it to be beneficial over a more "standard" bow.

People talk about this bow as if it is a piece of junk that only Edgar can make work but after getting to play it I have to say there is something special about it on that bass and played in that style. From a bow makers stand point it's nothing to be excited about, but from a players stand point it certainly is, this is if you're trying to do what Edgar does. That then made me excited about it as a bow maker. My copy is in function but I used a head and frog shape of my own design. The player who owns it (who also owns the first previously mentioned Lloyd copy of Edgar's bass) Is very happy with it and I have also had positive feedback from Edgar himself.
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Post pictures!
 
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#36
garrett2 said:
Post pictures!
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Here ya go! I guess I don't have any that really show the camber but here is what I have of the frog and the head. Since I took these picture I did put a silver tip on the bow to help with the balance. This has a smaller head than a typical French bow so it ended up needing some weight in the head.
 

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#37
nicklloyd said:
Last year I built a bench copy of Edgar Meyer's Giovanni Battista Gabrielli, originally made in 1769.
The string length is 41".
It is a small 3/4 bass in length with full 8"+ ribs, tapering of course at the break/bend in the back.
This bass is unique in so many ways, and Edgar's daily playing of it for 50 years has had a massive impact on the sound and clarity of the overall voice of the instrument.
The one change, as requested by my customer, was to install a detachable neck. The owner has compared my bench copy to the original Gabrielli, with Edgar's permission of course, and the feedback was very positive and affirmative.
If I am allowed by the Talkbass TOS, here is a link:
#55 – A bench copy of Edgar Meyer’s Giovanni Battista Gabrielli (1769) – Nick Lloyd Basses
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did you take measurements from the original, or are they readily available for luthiers?
 
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