New Bass Incoming!

I’ve been on my main bass, a 40s Kay, for about 8 or 9 years now. I love the amplified pizz sound that I get out of it. I love that it was made just a few years after my dad was born, and I dig the aging and patina. However, it’s fully laminate, and it has a short overstand and shallower fingerboard angle. These features translate to a less satisfying arco sound (I practice arco quite a bit), as well as ergonomics that don’t favor thumb position all that well. At the time, I knew that I wanted to upgrade at some point, but had no idea where to begin with finding a better instrument.

Every bassist dreams of getting to play on an Upton, and I’ve known about Upton since before I bought my Kay. However, at the time I bought my Kay I had to take out a loan just to be able to afford it and the instruments at Upton bass were worth quite a bit more than that. Fast forward about eight years, and I found myself in a lifestyle more focused on generating income and less focused on teaching, performing, and recording music. In the summer of 2024 I learned that my employer was allowing employees to cash in some equity if they wanted. Should I keep my shares? Should I finally upgrade to something better than a two door hatchback from 2009? Is it finally time to get my dream bass? Initially I decided to keep my shares because they were being cashed out at a reduced value. In typical musician fashion, I decided to put my extra money into gear instead of upgrading my ride ;]

I started spending tons of time on the Upton Bass website, in the Talkbass Upton Bass Club thread, and digging through videos on YouTube and old podcast interviews. I found the Upton Bass podcast and listened to those episodes. Went into full research mode. When I finally reached out to the folks up in Mystic, they set up an initial Zoom meeting with Mattias and Gary and they started sending me the raw video files of what later would become their free bass buyer education course.

Right away I knew that I wanted a ⅞ instrument because I am attracted to the physicality and power of the bass. Carrying and playing a big upright bass feels like the visceral experience of bass frequencies vibrating through my body. I am also used to my Kay which is itself a larger instrument. I'm about 5’9” with proportionately long arms and larger instruments feel pretty natural to me.

I spent time checking out their models. I was initially drawn to the Brescian because I play cello and having violin corners on my bass would be a sweet way to call back to my cello roots. However, I decided to go with a Mittenwald because it has gamba corners like my Kay and because it actually has narrower shoulders than a Brescian which improves upper register accessibility. Having experienced many injuries, I am big on ergonomics.

Next I knew that I wanted an extended low range. I think that every bassist wishes that they could play a low Eb or a low D on a tune sometimes. I considered a C extension because it would lead to a standard width neck, less tension on the top, the flexibility of changing the resonance characteristics of the open strings, and because C extensions are more popular in the USA. I ultimately went with a low B string because my main electric basses have always had five strings and I didn’t want to have to deal with the extra chances for mechanical failure that having gates on a C extension would entail. Having recently explored jazz on a five string with a new NS Design electric upright bass, I am wondering if maybe having that extra string is going to slow me down in terms of my jazz comping technique. I am finding that it’s been very hard to remap my brain to having that extra string. I’ve been quite surprised at this.

In my experience, an improviser doesn’t just have to learn where the notes are vertically along the length of the string, but horizontally as relationships between strings. The relationships within a string as well as  between pairs of strings on a four string bass are:

G
G-D
G-A
G-E

D
D-A
D-E

A
A-E

E

This yields 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 10 total relationships. On a five string bass they are:

G
G-D
G-A
G-E
G-B

D
D-A
D-E
D-B

A
A-E
A-B

E
E-B

B

5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 15 relationships! So adding a B string doesn’t add 20% more relationships, it adds 50% more. I feel like maybe I just made my bass 50% harder to play! In any case, I am enjoying the challenge of remapping my brain and rebuilding my jazz chops. I am just hoping that folks on the gig don’t notice my reduced fluidity and bum notes as I get up to speed ;]

I wasn’t ready to place my deposit just yet, though. I knew that if I was going to invest $$$ in a bass, it absolutely must not be painful to play – I needed to catch a flight to Mystic to get my hands on an Upton five string neck. One challenge was that they don’t keep builds in their bass barn for that long before they get shipped out. I knew that I was going to have to catch a flight on short notice and it so happened that I had to fly out from Savannah Georgia while I was on vacation to be able to play one of their five string builds.

I gotta say, rolling up on the bass barn and smelling the wood shavings of the shop was a sweet experience. Gary and the staff were friendly and quickly set me up with a beautiful round back ash five string instrument – I think that it was a Bostonian with full-depth ribs. The neck felt incredible. No awkwardness or feelings of excessive width and thickness. I could swear that I was playing a four string neck yet the five strings didn’t feel crowded on the fingerboard at all. I was immediately sold. Next was wood selection. To help me decide, Gary drove me out in his Beemer out to the old location where they keep their lumber stores.

We initially spec'd out a fully-carved round back spalted maple instrument – I love the look of a round back and the character of spalted wood. Gary did share that the wood was fragile and sometimes hard to work, though. Apparently it’s a smelly wood to work with as well! We drove back, I wrote a big, scary number on a check, and then drove back to the airport to catch a flight back to Savannah. I hope to be able to make it back to Mystic again with a little more time to enjoy their basses and try out different designs. I did get to play a Gary Karr model at ISB last summer that I fell in love with. If I ever go for another bass I might go small and nimble next time ;]

The Wait

September 2024 was when I placed my deposit, and now I am writing on January 31st to share the final build pictures. Along the way, we made a few changes. Gary offered me a wood upgrade in late fall of 2024. I was originally invested in the spalted maple but I sensed that Gary was steering me toward a wood that was a little easier to work with and would maybe get me better results for the sound that I was trying to go for. We settled on figured ambrosia maple. More than a year passed as I waited for the bass to go into production. Over that time, I watched it start to come together as disconnected front, back, and ribs. It was time to make choices regarding varnishing.

I initially requested a pretty unorthodox varnish based on Chelsea Gwizdala’s custom F Bass BN5. I love the look of a dark top and light back and sides on an electric bass and wanted to bring that style into the double bass world. However, during a health scare, I thought that maybe I might never play or gig on upright again and decided to go for a more traditional varnish in case I needed to sell the bass. During my initial varnish research I came across Blake Hinson’s Santagiuliana and fell in love with the execution of the varnish on that bass. I approached Gary with my concerns and he was honest about how my unconventional varnish concept would affect the resale value. They would happily change the varnish to the approach used on Blake’s bass.

While I waited for my bass to be built, I continued learning about bass luthiery and started digesting the sonic differences between flat and round back instruments. Even though I still really love the look of a round back, I was beginning to think that my personal style would be better suited by the pointed and focused projection that a flat back instrument can sometimes provide that a round back instrument may be less inclined to support. I regretted my choice of a roundback slightly. However, it came to pass that during the changeup in woods, to keep my bass within budget Gary meant to steer me toward a flat back and was certain that he had communicated that to me and that I had consented to the change. I found out that my new bass was going to be a flatback when I caught Gary describing it as a flat back instrument during a shoutout on Instagram just a few weeks ago ;] I have no resentment for the miscommunication because I ended up with the instrument I actually wanted. For me, sound comes first, then ergonomics are a close second, and aesthetics come only third.

I should add that I debated if I should even share that experience publicly, but there was something about the way that I ended up with exactly the instrument that I wanted that felt eerily perfect. Gary is incredibly kind and gracious and admitted to the miscommunication on his end. As a busy creative in a leadership position myself, I know that crucial decisions can sometimes fail to get communicated properly.

As it comes to pass, I am still waiting. The next step is to ship the bass to me. I had hoped initially to fly up, play the bass a little and maybe ask for small adjustments, and then drive it down. Unfortunately, I had to use up my hard-earned vacation days during medical leave for a major procedure so I won’t be able to make that happen.

The Verdict

While I don't yet have the instrument in hand, I can say that the buying and build experience has been amazing. Gary, Mattias, Jack, Antonia, and Dan have been wonderful to work with. Despite the small miscommunication, I ended up with exactly the instrument I wanted and I think that I might have felt a small regret for having a roundback instrument. If I ever find myself in the market for another custom build, I will definitely check out Upton Bass again.

Full Specs

• Mittenwald ⅞ Solid Ambrosia Maple Flat Back
• D Fingerboard dressed for a dry sound suitable for arco
• Fingerboard dots: 12, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 27, 29
• Side bumpers
• Rev Solo pickup
• Bridge adjusters
• Bridge radius carved to facilitate arco playing
• B, E Spirocore Mittle
• A, D, G Evah Pirazzi Weich
• Antiqued ebony shaft tuners