G. Edward Lutherie Inc. - Eminence
Reviewer: Mark Anderson (
http://www.deadlynightshade.net)
- Vintage: 2000
- Number of Strings: 4
- Double bass strings compatible
- Bowable: Yes
- Playable Seated: Yes
- Balance While Playing:
(8/10)
I'm lucky enough to be in Minneapolis, the home of the Eminence bass. I've know Gary for several years and have had the opportunity to watch the bass in development. Every time he made some improvement I was invited down to try it out. The basses were always well crafted, meticulously detailed and a treat to play. The tone was always better than any of the other "puppy house" basses I'd played, but it never sounded like a BASS.
I'm I didn't want something skinny that would be good enough, I wanted something I wanted to play. The tone of my bass is just as important as it's feel. I put a lot of time and money into my bass to make it sound unamplified on stage. I had an Underwood and a Shure 98a mounted. I had been through the Baggs and everything else on the market. I was happy with my amplified tone, not thrilled but happy. It was especially difficult to tell Gary that his basses didn't cut it because I knew him. I hated having to tell him "Not quite yet."
That is till his latest series. I purchased one of his basses about six weeks ago (number 66). My new Eminence, running through a SWR California Blonde, has replaced my old bass completely. In my bands, I'll switch between pitz, slap and arco in the same song. I bang on the sides like it was a dumbec. I do lots of other stupid stuff to get sound out of it. It always sounds like a great, loud acoustic bass. The Eminence has completely replaced my old bass. We just got done recording demos for my bluegrass band, Monroe Crossing. We took the direct from the SWR and ran it right into the board. The tone was far and away better than any recorded bass tone I could afford to achieve.
You may not have the opportunity to take an Eminence to your local shop and compare it to the other "real" basses in the store. Trust me, I did. And few basses sound as good as Gary's new basses.
Text copyright © Mark Anderson.
