Antoni Debut DB

[27 frets]

Disappointingly inaccurate/inadequate review of the Antoni Debut DB in Bass Guitar Magazine by someone called Harrison Wood.

He gets some basic details of the spec completely wrong:

- a 30" /754mm scale - I doubt it (unless it's a small scale children's model - 30" is short scale BG length!)
- 'ebonised tuning pegs' - that may be what Antoni fit on cellos, violins and violas, but these are clearly metal machine heads.

Is this guy actually a DB player?

Hardly a stock model either - this one has been fitted with a Fishman Full Circle, which he admits is a £300 upgrade, which of course means there's an adjustable bridge, and presumably it's had a luthier set-up too.

What was the Antoni set-up like with the standard bridge?

Interesting that even then the fitting of the Full Circle doesn't feed it through the bridge, as it should do, to keep the wire neat and tidy.

They wouldn't review a budget bass guitar with the benefit of an expensive upgrade and set-up, so why treat the Antoni any different?

4 stars - questionable

Edited June 18, 2011 by 27 frets

[2wheeler]

I have a slightly tatty example of a budget Antoni double bass. I don't know if it is the Debut model but I guess it is. It is really a very good instrument indeed for the price. My biggest issue with it is that the fingerboard has almost no relief.

With regard to the bridge, mine has been tweaked but that action is still high, especially on the G string. Presumably this compensates for the lack of relief in the fingerboard.

The other thing I would say is that the depreciation on a £2000 double bass should be virtually nil and and so I couldn't really recommend one of these budget basses to somebody unless they really, really cannot afford to tie up capital in a better instrument.

Edited June 21, 2011 by 2wheeler

[JakeBrownBass]

[quote name='27 frets' post='1274077' date='Jun 18 2011, 08:07 PM']Disappointingly inaccurate/inadequate review of the Antoni Debut DB in Bass Guitar Magazine by someone called Harrison Wood.

Is this guy actually a DB player?[/quote]

I know Harrison well, he studies at the RNCM (my uni) and he's an astounding double bass player.

He's also Mark Basses youngest endorsee.

You can check him here, [url="http://www.harrisonwood.com"]http://www.harrisonwood.com[/url]

His list of work that he's done, people he's played with and his reputation really is amazing, and he's only 20 years old.

[27 frets]

[quote name='J.R.Bass' post='1277254' date='Jun 21 2011, 04:15 PM']I know Harrison well, he studies at the RNCM (my uni) and he's an astounding double bass player.

He's also Mark Basses youngest endorsee.

You can check him here, [url="http://www.harrisonwood.com"]http://www.harrisonwood.com[/url]

His list of work that he's done, people he's played with and his reputation really is amazing, and he's only 20 years old.[/quote]

OK: Fair point about Harrison Wood - maybe it was the BGM people who messed up on the scale length in the technical spec, but I still don't get the bit about ebonised tuning pegs, whuich is included in the text and the technical spec (they look like typical chrome/brass machines to me), and it would still be a fairer review for readers if the Antoni had been a stock model, not one with a luthier upgrade costing half as much as the bass itself (or more).

[2wheeler]

It is pretty much the rule in journalism that your editor will appreciate flowing prose before the deadline over correct facts.

I have NEVER read a mass media article on a subject I know without being shocked by inaccuracies. And I have to confess that, when working on the student newspaper, my copy probably wasn't that much better