Mandolin bass

[Jerry Byers]

I see there is a mandobass up for <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-Gibson-Mandolin-Bass-Roy-Huskey-Jr-Estate_W0QQitemZ260071674795QQihZ016QQcategoryZ
10179QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">auction</a>.

[JeffD]

I sure hope that goes to some great mandolin ensemble to be played and enjoyed, rather than a museum somewhere.

A plucked string bass just doesn't have the same sound as a mando bass.

[BBarton]

Starting bid of $20K seems pretty high for one of these...

[Greenmando]

Last time I was at McCabe's (http://www.mccabes.com/) they had one hanging on the wall for a small fraction of this one's starting bid.

[mandolooter]

for 20 g's I'll take a old Kay bass and a new mando.

[Martin Jonas]

Trevor at TAMCO in Brighton has one on his web site for 7000 Pounds.

Martin

[Jim Garber]

I had one many years ago but they are a bear to play -- 42 inch scale (like an upright) as opposed to 34 inch for a std guitar-style bass. Not only that but the back split a couple of times and after tallying up repair costs I figured iot was time to say goodbye.

The funniest thing about this post -- aside from the absurd asking price -- is this comment:

It is missing the end pin. But that is an easy item to get.

Hah!! Try going into your local Guitar Center and asking for one of those. It is possible that a std upright bass pin might work but I tend to doubt it.

Somewhat similar to this one (http://www.mandolinarchive.com/perl/show_mando.pl?3011) in the Archive.

Jim

[mingusb1]

for 20 g's I'll take a old Kay bass and a new mando.
For 20k you could do (a lot) better than an old kay, and still have enough for 2 or 3 nice mandos!

Z

[Elliot Luber]

I was in a Mexican restaurant on New Years, and the Mariachi band had a surprisingly good bass guitar player with a seven-nylon-stringed bass. Rest of the band was awful, but the bass player really knew his stuff and stood out. Must have been painful to have to play with those amateurs, particularly when the audience wants to hear the same six tired songs all the time. He was innovating with the bass line though, and making the most of it. Probably has a family to feed, but his talent was evident.

[violmando]

If you check out some other threads on this subject, many prefer contrabass balalaikas or double basses with nylon or gut strings to mandobasses anyway; mandobasses are cool only for looks and 20K seems like an awful lot for looks. I'm a bassist and I'd love to have one, but NOT at that price! Yvonne

[Elliot Luber]

I think the P-Bass standard has hurt music as much as it has helped -- over the long term at least. I love Fretless standup bass, and nylon bass guitar, and I'm sure I'd like Bass Mando. It's unualness is refreshing -- granted at quite a price.

[August Watters]

Of course value as a collector's item vs. value as a player are two different issues.

I got my 1914 mandobass at the Skinner auction recently, for about 10% of the starting bid of this one. Mine however has replacement tuners and bridge, so doesn't have the value of a collector's item. I question however whether this one does either:

- missing the original endpin is likely a big deal to a collector. That detail means this is not in "all original" condition;

- I'm skeptical of the bridge -- doesn't look like another I've seen that was said to be original. Anyone else more familiar with this?

As to the other details:

Admittedly the mandobass has neither the projection nor versatility of a good string bass, and it's far more fragile -- but for a mandolin ensemble nothing else will do, because of the identifiably mando-family tone.

As to "only 5 in the US" -- I could probably find that many in New England. Granted most of the old Gibson mandobasses did not survive, and there were evidently only 200 or so made.

Ain't the web wonderful? Otherwise every mandobass owner would be confident of owning the last one. Except I wouldn't have found mine at all. . . . .

August W

[allenhopkins]

A Kalamazoo mando-bass sold recently through the Cafe classifieds, and it weren't no twenty grand either!

There was also a lovely Vega mando-bass for sale at the Music Emporium in Massachusetts last year, and here's (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=13;t=32958;hl=vega+bass)
a recent thread on the subject, with pictures.

[Jim Garber]

Admittedly the mandobass has neither the projection nor versatility of a good string bass, and it's far more fragile -- but for a mandolin ensemble nothing else will do, because of the identifiably mando-family tone.
I played in the New York Mandolin Orchestra for a number of years and the bass player when I joined was playing a contrabass balalaika using a square piece of shoe leather as a pick. This guy was the only bass player in the orchestra but he filled the room with his sound.

I asked him if he ever tried a Gibson mandobass and he said he had had one but it didn't project like the cbb.

After he retired to Florida, we had an upright player as well. I frankly don;t think the ensemble needed a mandobass, except perhaps for the visual effect.

Jim

[trevor]

My price of £7000 is 'priced not to sell' its part of the shop and me, kind of a TAMCO mascot. Its been here so long now I am going to change it to not for sale, just in case anybody tries to tempt me or thinks I overcharge. I would say real value is about half that..

[trevor]

How about this!!!

"Per information just received, the price is now higher. I knew the price was lower than it should be, but I did not realise how low."

Starting price is now $28500, that must have been some very dubious information....

[Jim Garber]

Unbeknownst to many of us, Roy Husky, Jr. is like a god in the ever-increasing mandobass circles. At the last Mandobass Symposium -- with a total attendance of about 10,000 -- they had a huge statue of Husky made of molded tube socks. I don't foresee any end in sight for this craze or the cult of Husky.

Jim

[Jerry Byers]

I'm scratching my head over this one. He relisted it at $28,000, up from the original auction price of $20,000. Then he claims to have new information and raises the opening bid to $28,500. Okay?!

[LeoR]

All it takes is one naive buyer...

There's lots of them out there.

[trevor]

Jerry,
If you look at the feedback I think its a she. Experienced in clothes and crystals... Nuff said???

[allenhopkins]

So this kid says, "I love my dog! I wouldn't take $1,000 for him!"

Later he's seen carrying a couple of kittens. He's asked, "What happened to your dog? I thought you wouldn't take $1,000 for him."

The kid says, "Nah, I traded him for these two $500 kittens."

Everything's "worth" what you can get someone to pay for it.

[trevor]

Well, it didn't get a bid...
Now re-listed with a $25499 start price... perhaps the information received, mentioned in the last listing was not so good. She's also asking for 'offers'..

[Ray(T)]

They could have yours for only £7000 - and you don't even want to sell it!!

[trevor]

This is more like it
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws....=1&rd=1 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=008&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=180075752393&rd=1&rd=1)

[violmando]

Yep, if I had the money, it'd be mine.....Lovely bugger, huh? Yvonne

[Riccardo]

Is the Mandobass' sound captured on some recording uploaded to the Internet? I am very curious what such a beast sounds like...