Double Bass Gerard Samija RIP

[bassmanbrent]

For those that knew him here, Gerard Samija passed away today. Sad news to say the least. He was a really talented luthier and great friend of the bass community in Vancouver. Always made time to look after emergency repairs, was generous to a fault with his time, did great work and consistently charged too little. He made two basses, both of which live in Oregon now. I have some pictures of the most recent one that I’ll post here tomorrow. His instruments are quite innovative in a lot of respects and both sounded excellent to me when I got a chance to play them. He wasn’t here on TB a whole lot but he did pop in from time to time. I’m going to miss that guy. Vancover has lost a really important member of our music community. Safe journey, Gerard.

 

[MynameisMe]

RIP.

 

[Matthew Tucker]

yes I remember Gerard from Way back in around 2005 when I started becoming interested in making double basses.
He was generous with his knowledge and obviously had some really interesting and initiative ideas. He gave me a lot of things to think about and was encouraging to me in my luthier journey even from halfway around the globe. I wondered what had become of him. please pass on my best wishes to his family.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

WHAT? Brilliant luthier, bursting with ideas, and so kind and generous with his knowledge.

It was a pleasure to have known him, even from so far away.

 

[CaseyVancouver]

Such sad news for us. Always kind. Gerard will be missed. I hope he is at peace.

 

[bassmanbrent]

Here are some pics of Gerard’s last bass. Lots of innovative ideas at work here, I think. Easy on the eyes too. The bass was made for a 5ths tuning player, so I couldn’t really get around on it very musically, but it had a great sound. The lowest string (C) sounded fantastic right up to thumb position.

 

[Matthew Tucker]

I remember he was working on some fancy neck adjustment mechanism that didn't require tuning, but I think I also recall it he never quite perfected it.

 

[bassmanbrent]

I remember he was working on some fancy neck adjustment mechanism that didn't require tuning, but I think I also recall it he never quite perfected it.

I know he made quite a few refinements on the mechanism for the second bass. I think he was pretty happy with it, but less so with other aspects of the build. There was a sense of urgency to get this one done at a certain point. I guess the reason for that is pretty clear now.

 

[Mark_T]

I know he made quite a few refinements on the mechanism for the second bass. I think he was pretty happy with it, but less so with other aspects of the build. There was a sense of urgency to get this one done at a certain point. I guess the reason for that is pretty clear now.

I don't know how old this bass is but I had heard from bass playing friends in Vancouver that he'd been facing health challenges for a while now. That instrument has a lot of beautiful details on it.

 

[bassmanbrent]

I don't know how old this bass is but I had heard from bass playing friends in Vancouver that he'd been facing health challenges for a while now. That instrument has a lot of beautiful details on it.

This bass was finished a few months ago. Yes, Gerard was facing some very serious health issues for a while now. Things were already quite advanced by the time he got his diagnosis. He was still managing to fit in some work for people until very recently. He was also pretty freaking pragmatic about everything, but that's the kind of guy he was.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Matthew, I remember discussing that neck adjustment mechanism with him by email. His use of lignum vitae as both load-bearing surface and self-lubricant blew my simple mind.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

Hey, it works for submarine propshaft bearings. Then again, I think they've also experimented with vacuum-impregnating hard maple with oils for an easier-to-source material.

 

[Francois Blais]

RIP Gerard!
62? He was much too young!

 

[LouisF]

Gerard very generously made one of his bass bibs for my Swanson bass, which had very large shoulders. When I sold the bass, I kept the bib and have it on my Tyrolean bass, which I use daily. My few interactions were always warm, cordial and informative. A big loss.

 

[bassmanbrent]

RIP Gerard!
62? He was much too young!

That's for sure. He should have kept working and perfecting for many years and was hoping to, until just recently. F@@k cancer

 

[Francois Blais]

Very sad!...

 

[bassmanbrent]

@Matthew Tucker and @KUNGfuSHERIFF, I think Gerard was pretty happy with the refinements to the neck system. Enough so that he sent me these pics of the neck anyhow.

 

[Matthew Tucker]

thanks - i never saw it complete!

 

[MichelD]

He was indeed extremely knowledgeable, talented and skilled athis craft and equally generous to musicisn. He could have charged double what he did for his work, it would have been worth it, but he didn't.

 

[darkocuk]

I was shocked and saddened to hear this. I kinda lost touch with him in the last decade as I've been out of Vancouver for a while but back in the 90's I used to visit him regularly. At one point he passed on a job of crating totem poles for the Hills Indian Crafts store in Gastown to me, as he was too busy by then with luthier work. It was an awesome sporadic job paying really good cash money. He did numerous repairs on my crappy old checz bass for next to nothing and gave me loads of advice. The nicest of guys, and a fellow Croatian at that.
I shall miss him..