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This bass is amazing. The tone is
amazing, great string suggestion. I love the sustain. It was
set up perfectly, so easy to play. I've never played a bass
that plays so well and sounds so great. I have a gig
tomorrow and I can't wait to see the trio's reaction to how
this bass sounds. Great definition on every note on every
register. Thank you.
Is there any special care? Partly
smelled like linseed oil. What strings did you out on it?
You said spirocore, but I don't know if there's different
models. How often should I consider a string change? I play
a couple two hour gigs a week and practice a couple more
hours.
Thanks for everything. I'm beyond
happy.
Todd (Portland, OR)
Steve,
Got the Bass. It was love at first sight! Couldn’t stop
playing it. Very rich sound. Looks beautiful too. It’s just
what the Dr ordered for my hand. Everything you’ve steered
me to was right on the money. For my info: what brand and
size are the strings. Also I didn’t see a serial
number on the inside label. Is there one on the bass?
Thank you,
Rick Arthur,
Seattle, WA
(I cannot remember if Rick bought a
nice plywood or a hybrid bass, but I do remember him having
some worrisome left hand issues. He needed an 'easy'
set up, with a string action that would feel loose, not
tight, high or hard to play.)
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Wow. The bass is awesome. You were
right, I much prefer it over the Shen. I told my wife I
would like to get a fully carved bass from you
Do you have some suggestions? Also I will notify the credit
union of this debit card purchase at 9 am when they open.
Thanks again
Milton Ruffin
Sent from my iPhone
(Milton bought a
Thompson Hybrid bass)
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Steve,
I just wanted to thank you for shipping the bass before you
left for Asia. We received the bass today, and I have to say
that EVERYONE(my son, wife, and even me) are pleased with
the craftsmanship of the bass. Even, my youngest son likes
the bass.
We had been working with Musician's Friend for over a month
trying to find a good bass for our son. After being very
disappointment with the craftsmanship of the Florea and
Palatino bass, I was tired of dealing with a company that
did not take the same pride in quality craftsmanship. Prior
to last Friday, I had never heard of String Emporium. After
receiving the second bass on last Friday, I just started
looking for other bass manufactures online, and I happen to
come across String Emporium. Thanks for taking our order on
last Friday and shipping the bass out as promise. I'm glad
I came across your website when I did.
Shawn & Johnnene Gay
Steve,
The bass arrived in perfect condition and I couldn't be more
pleased, the set up and action is spot on, wonderful
playability and the quality of sound is fantastic! As for
looks the finish is beautiful.
looking forward to getting on stage with it!
I can't thank you enough, awesome experience working with
you and an instrument I'll be proud to play !
Jim Newkirk
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Hello Steve,
I picked up the bass at the airport and
I wanted to let you know that everything turned out amazing!
The bass has a great tone and the bow feels great too. I'm
very satisfied with my new bass. Thank you for the great
customer service! I'll be sure to recommend you to any of
my colleagues.
Stay in touch!
Hunter Isbell (Florida)
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Steve,
We picked up the bass at air cargo
this afternoon and Fox played it during his weekly private
lesson an hour later. As you suggested, we inspected
the bass upon receipt at the air cargo terminal and there
was no shipping damage. I noticed some rub wear on one
of the side edges, but my son said that was common to all of
the basses. Fox's instructor had very complimentary
comments concerning the new bass and especially the Finale
bow. I think it sounds great and the Finale bow will
make an immediate improvement in my son's progress.
Thanks for the outstanding set up and I'm sure Fox will
enjoy many years of playing his new bass. We'll let
you know how everything works out with the bass solo recital
in February and the Carnegie Hall performance on Easter
Sunday. Take care and have a great year!
Aloha, Scott Kajimara
(A happy Dad
in Hawaii, who bought his college bound son a nice Thompson
Hybrid for Christmas!)
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Hey Steve-
Sorry been off the
radar. So I have been playing the bass religiously and am
really enjoying it. I am very pleased and look forward to
getting up to speed and having a little better grasp of
technique etc.
Thanks again for
everything
Patrick Ryan,
New York
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Hi Steve, just wanted to let you know I
picked up the bass and everything was in order. I love it!
The guys at the airport knew of you.
When I asked if it would be ok if I opened it up they said
no problem, they said they had a woman pick up a bass one
time and they even setup a stool for her and she sat right
there on the shipping dock playing it for an hour!
Thanks! -Mitch
(Albany, New York)
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Hi Steve,
I just
wanted to thank you so much. I've had the new bass for a
week now and I have nothing but good things to say about it.
The bass was comfortable to play right from the start and I
ended up playing it on a gig the day after picking it up
from the airport. Within an hour on the first gig I had
received several compliments on the sound of the instrument.
Eventually I will raise the action but as is, the bass is
able to sing and growl at any register and that is exactly
what I was looking for. Thanks again and for the quick
shipment and the awesome bass!
Chris
Sprague, Maine
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We picked up
the bass and Ethan has already started playing. He spent
over an hour with it yesterday. It looks and sounds great.
Thank you for a great bass.
Thanks,
Jerry Paradis
Reno, NV
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Picked up the bass last night and just returned from a
gig in which I used. It's great! everything about it is
perfect! I will happily and gladly recommend anyone I run
into to your shop. Excellent packing by the way.
Thanks again!
(I LOVE the action and playability.)
Ian Nye (Atlanta)
Hey Steve,
I just wanted to thank you for the bass. I really like
it. Its beautiful and sounds great. I really
enjoy playing it. or learning how to play it.
The bow is really nice too. Thank you for eveything
you did to make this bass great.
Rita
(Charlotte, NC)
OK.
This bass is great! You gave me eveything I asked for. The
best upright tone I've ever heard and great playability.
Nice tuners too. Thanks Steve you really came through for
me.
Scott Hadsell (W. Palm Beach, FL)
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I love this bass. I left the set-up alone-keeping it just
as you sent it. After playing for a week or so, I have
gotten use to it. If the strings were any lower, I wouldn't
be able to "dig in" as much with the right hand, and my tone
would suffer. I have played an assortment of basses in shops
all over town after receiving my Thompson--plywood,
completely hand carved, etc. For what I paid, there is no
comparison. This bass has an incredible growl, even
throughout the fingerboard, and just sings! Steve
thanks for the incredible bass, incredible service, and
great conversation about the good ole days. When its time to
upgrade, you will be my first call.
Mark Sligh, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
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I bought my Thompson Bass from the String Emporium back in
October of 2008. I previously purchased an inexpensive upright
from an e-bay store for use in college in pursuit of my master's
degree but ended up paying almost as much as the bass just to
make it playable. After searching the internet for other
options, I discovered Steve and the String Emporium. The page
Steve had up under the "Cheap Bass" heading peaked my interest
(and I'll be honest a little wary). There were two different
basses listed and one of them was the Thompson. I called and
spoke to Steve personally for information on the bass and was
significantly impressed with his passion for his product. He
gave me a history of how he found the company and his personal
philosophy in regards to customer service. Right off the rip, I
wanted the bass. Steve worked with me on arranging payment and
shipped the bass to me in Albany,NY. Steve explained to me that
the bass would be playable right out the "box" and it was. As
previously mentioned, I am using the Thompson for college and my
private instructor (who can play all of the sting family
instruments) was extremely impressed with the bass and surprised
at the price tag. I am currently using the bass to study
classical and jazz. I equipped it with a pickup to play jazz and
plug it into an Ashdown combo amp. It sounds absolutely amazing
pizzicato. Unplugged in the orchestra setting with the bow, the
Thompson speaks extremely well (very warm and rich). I
definitely recommend this bass if price is a factor and
recommend Steve to get it from. Steve is a fellow bass player
and loves to talk shop (another reason why I give this
recommendation) with a true passion and not the typical salesman
just trying to get your money. Talk to Steve and get one and I
guarantee you will write a testimonial like just like this one.
Christopher Ruth, Albany,NY
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Thank you so much for the bass that you
send me. I really enjoy it. Good bass, good set up, everything
is perfect for me. You'll have good publicity from me.Once
again, thank you.
Louis-Martin Grimard,
Montreal
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Hey
Steve,
loving
the bass so far!
Thanks
Andrew
Steiner |
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A few months ago I purchased a Thompson plywood bass for my
college bound son. I have been playing jazz in the southwest for
30+ years and was impressed by the craftmanship and attention to
detail found in such an economical package. The set-up for jazz
was also very professionally done and I have used this bass on
occasion with great satisfaction. As I also teach, I have
recommended this same bass for my students and will continue to
do so. Thanks for doing the research and leg work necessary to
bring this new instrument to the U.S. market.
Warren L. Jones III (Phoenix, AZ, Professional Jazz
player)
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Received the bass and I love it. It's
been putting a huge smile on my face all night. It was
definately worth the wait. My only regret is not getting the
pick-up because the annoyance of transfering the realist is a
pain. Thank you very much for everything I will keep you in mind
if I know anyone looking for good basses.
Dan Filipak
(New Jersey)
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Not only did the Thompson bass meet my
expectations for quality and workmanship, but it exceeded them
by far. This is a superbly crafted instrument in both design and
sound, which is big and even across its tonal spectrum. I
especially love the feel of the thoughtfully shaped neck. It
provides for an amazing ease of playing, and its fine
ebony fingerboard alone is damn near worth the price of
admission! Except for a few tweaks of the adjusters, I haven't
changed the set-up since I first got it. Thanks Steve, for
making it so easy to obtain such a terrific ax. I've not seen
any other bass in its class (and believe me, I've looked) even
begin to approach it in value. Keep up the great work.
Dean Crandall (professional player, NYC)
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I just received the Thompson bass from String Emporium for
my 13-year old son. He was playing an upright electric,
but really wanted a “real” upright bass and since he’s been
enjoying playing upright bass with a passion for more than a
year, my wife and I decided we wanted to get him a bass that
would be a top-notch instrument that he could play with pride
for years. In other words, we were after something a bit
more than a “student bass.” Frankly, though, we didn’t
think we could afford one and considered ebay. We had been
around town and looked at various basses from Englehart, Shen,
Kay (used) and a couple other brands that were way more money
than we wanted to spend. I looked at his instructor’s bass, a
Shen SB100, in detail. I do believe this Thompson is
superior in construction quality and fit and finish to anything
we looked at. For example, the F-hole edges are nicely sanded
and finished whereas the other plywood basses we looked at had
rougher F-hole cut outs. The neck is solid – SOLID – and
smooth as . . . well . . . fill in your own metaphor. The
ebony fingerboard is just beautiful and consistent in the grain
pattern. And the tuners are very nice with a very positive
feel and no slop or loose winders to buzz. There’s no
sloppy glue, no gaps in the joints, no filler that I can see,
and even looking at the inside you can see the superior
construction. The plywood is really beautiful with no
flaws that we could see and the finish is a beautiful medium,
though rich brown. Most importantly, the bass sings!
It has a beautiful growl to it for jazz and pop. I guess
we’ll at some point consider a pickup and amp for rock. The
adjustable bridge with the delrin adjustment knobs works 10
times better than the one on his electric Palantino. Of course
my son couldn’t resist bowing Iron Man right away and the bass
sounds wonderful bowed as well.
Steve Koscica of String Emporium was very helpful during the
buying process and spent a lot of time answering questions over
the e-mail. What I liked about him was his honesty about
competing brands. He didn’t down talk them. Rather,
he convinced me that this Thompson would be every bit as good,
but less expensive than any other plywood bass on the market.
I haven’t looked at “every other bass” on the market, but of
those I’ve seen and heard, this Thompson is superior.
After we placed the order, he called and spoke with my son for
about 20 minutes so he could get the setup right. He
actually switched the stock strings out for a better set after
speaking with my son. He then e-mailed us tracking and
pickup information with helpful tips about what to do at the
shipping terminal to make the process of getting the bass home
very easy. Then he e-mailed us after the bass arrived to
see how things were going. I think his biggest problem is
the price of this bass. I believe he would sell more if he
priced the bass at $1700 because I think people are too
skeptical of $1250 for a plywood bass.
Anyway, I wanted to post because, like me, at $1250 I was very
reluctant thinking this might be another temporary bass that my
son would outgrow in a couple years. Hell no! this
is a beautifully made and superb sounding bass that will last
him a lifetime. So impressed was I with the build quality,
finish, and sound that we sprung for a deluxe Mooradian bag to
protect it. Those go online for about $400, so you can see
that I believe this bass is worth way more than $1250, otherwise
why invest in such a bag worth 1/3 of the instrument?
Don’t walk, run. . . .. . . MJ in Louisville, KY
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