Hector Posted April 14, 2014 Posted April 14, 2014 (edited) [quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1365769166' post='2044180'] [u][b]South London (Clapham): Laurence Dixon[/b][/u] Laurence did some great work on my Kolstein bass and is a talented luthier (he made the Ray Brown DB replica for Ronny Scotts) as well as a very amiable guy. He is hard to track down though as he doesn't have a website and I had to find his details circuitously. So in case anyone in London needs his skills (especially now that Malcolm Healey is semi-retrired and moved out of the M25 - see below), here are his contact details: Laurence Dixon 78 Rectory Grove Clapham Old Town London SW4 0ED Tel 07947 377520 [/quote] Just dropped my bass off with Laurence and thought I'd update with his new workshop address: 3a Princes Close Clapham Old Town London SW40LG His email is [email protected] Edited April 14, 2014 by Hector Quote
Owencf Posted April 19, 2014 Posted April 19, 2014 I Just got my Bass back from Tom, all work carried out in good time and less than the price originally quoted. If you arrive by train he will probably meet you at the station and transport both you and the Bass to the workshop. He works on all stringed instruments. [email protected] [size=2]Road End cottage, Aberdalgie, Perth . PH2 0QB[/size] [size=2]5 minutes from Perth. [/size] [size=2]01738638928[/size] [size=2]07816637470[/size] Quote
Peter Luby Posted May 27, 2014 Posted May 27, 2014 For anybody in Ireland needing a luthier my cousin, Tom Barrett has a shop in Galway. The Double Bass Workshop 39 The Elms College Road Forster Street Galway http://doublebassireland.com/index.php Quote
Lazybirdpete Posted May 28, 2014 Posted May 28, 2014 Wells, Somerset [url="http://www.johnsydenham.co.uk/John_Sydenham_Luthier"]http://www.johnsydenham.co.uk/John_Sydenham_Luthier[/url] John did a great job of setting up my starter bass. Quote
gypsyjazzer Posted July 28, 2014 Posted July 28, 2014 Sam Wells. Altrincham, South West Manchester area. 07742 600748. Great guy-Knows his DB. Recommended. Quote
Marc S Posted August 21, 2014 Posted August 21, 2014 Hi folks, Anyone know if there's a DB luthier who can supply me with a Centre Screw for a Strunal Tuner? One has dropped out of my David Gage bass, and apparently, the tuners are made by Strunal... Any ideas folks? Cheers Quote
Legion Posted September 11, 2014 Posted September 11, 2014 I can highly recommend Martyn Bailey: [url="http://www.mjbl.co.uk/"]http://www.mjbl.co.uk/[/url] Quote
Old Horse Murphy Posted October 30, 2014 Posted October 30, 2014 Edward Gaut based in Brislington, Bristol has just done some work on my DB (including new bridge, sound post, set up, putting on new strings etc). I dropped the bass off on Tuesday night and it was all done by this evening. A lovely guy who also makes his own stunning violins, violas and cellos. Very reasonably priced and happy to talk you through the intricacies and foibles of stringed instruments. http://www.edwardgautviolins.co.uk Quote
Paul Galbraith Posted November 13, 2014 Posted November 13, 2014 (edited) Update for the 1st post on this thread by Clarky... website details for Laurence Dixon in Clapham, London are as follows : www.LaurenceDixon.com * Cheers for the recommendation Clarky - I've taken my bass to Laurence & although he's not done yet, am very confident in his skills... his workshop is amazing One thing I would say about Laurence is : he's does Double Basses ONLY & plays bass... he's not a violin guy, taking on Double Bass work - I think it's important to mention he is a bass only expert... so he will probably have more knowledge than a violin technician who has double bass skills. Helped me think about a few things which a 'general orchestral stringed instrument' luthier might not have thought about or have as detailed knowledge of : it's like the playground fight of guitarists claiming they can play bass !! There are huge similarities - but also certain things that are very different... One thing I learnt after visiting Laurence is : it's certainly worth considering 'are they double bass exclusive?' when choosing a luthier UPDATE AFTER WORKS : Laurence did a cracking job & at a good rate considering he's based in central London - price was less painful than I expected. Highly recommended & he's a nice, straight forward guy to deal with. Edited April 5, 2015 by Paul Galbraith 1 Quote
dove Posted March 7, 2015 Posted March 7, 2015 Haven't seen him mentioned yet so if you looking in kent jerome is superb luthier and player. [color=#006621][font=arial, sans-serif]www.[/font][/color][b]jeromedavies[/b][color=#006621][font=arial, sans-serif].com/[/font][/color] Quote
Brodiebrodie Posted May 24, 2015 Posted May 24, 2015 Hi, I am looking for an upright bass Luthier in South Devon or Cornwall to replace or shoot the fingerboard on an upright with a bowed neck. So far I have not been able to find anyone? recommendations? Cheers Quote
bassadder Posted September 1, 2015 Posted September 1, 2015 Has anyone had any work done by Samuel Wells, he recently moved Manchester?, I need my neck re-angled and slightly shortened and some edging and purfling re-do. I'm also contemplating a C extension Quote
Paul Galbraith Posted October 26, 2015 Posted October 26, 2015 Just discovered a crack on the rib of my double bass - gutted I'm in Leeds... have previously used Laurence Dixon as a luthier who is great (but is in London). Can anyone recommend a good luthier in Yorkshire ? I've found [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]www.KoplinViolins.co.uk on this thread in York... also [/font][/color]www.ViolinMan.co.uk in Harrogate. I frequent Harrogate, so tempted to give that chap a go... Cheers Quote
oggiesnr Posted October 27, 2015 Posted October 27, 2015 [quote name='Paul Galbraith' timestamp='1445902865' post='2895319'] Just discovered a crack on the rib of my double bass - gutted I'm in Leeds... have previously used Laurence Dixon as a luthier who is great (but is in London). Can anyone recommend a good luthier in Yorkshire ? I've found [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]www.KoplinViolins.co.uk on this thread in York... also [/font][/color]www.ViolinMan.co.uk in Harrogate. I frequent Harrogate, so tempted to give that chap a go... Cheers [/quote] Peter Hall in Beverley [url="http://www.peterhallviolins.com/"]http://www.peterhallviolins.com/[/url] Very good and very reasonable. Quote
Hector Posted November 15, 2015 Posted November 15, 2015 Guys just to let you know that Laurence Dixon has moved shop out to Herne Hill (very close to the station). New address is 123 Dulwich Road, Herne Hill. Excitingly, he also has a number of lovely medium-range (£5000-£7000 ish) hungarian basses for sale which, in my opinion, are rather underpriced compared to some other places! Quote
Owen Posted January 22, 2016 Posted January 22, 2016 Anyone have any experience of http://thedoublebassroom.com/ ? I have a friend fancying something there and she just wants to make sure he is ok. Quote
philparker Posted January 23, 2016 Posted January 23, 2016 [quote name='owen' timestamp='1453500182' post='2960187'] Anyone have any experience of [url="http://thedoublebassroom.com/"]http://thedoublebassroom.com/[/url] ? I have a friend fancying something there and she just wants to make sure he is ok. [/quote] I've not had any direct experience, but Ben has been selling DBs for quite a few years both on eBay and on Musical Chairs without any negativity that I'm aware of and he does have 100% feedback with a 201 score. I have been quite tempted on a few occasions as he does have quality DBs in terms of they all seem to be ex-orchestral or jazz imported from Europe (mainly Eastern) as opposed to ply DBs. I don't think there's anything to lose other than a long journey to Hildenborough, so long as you have a rough idea what you are looking for and listening to. He does have to make a profit, but he seems up for cash deals. If I wanted to replace my 2nd DB with a higher quality instrument in the £2k - £5k, I would definitely pay a visit! Quote
Owen Posted January 23, 2016 Posted January 23, 2016 Thanks Phil. The good news is that my friend lives 2 miles away so she will likely just pop in Quote
JoeEvans Posted January 23, 2016 Posted January 23, 2016 [quote name='owen' timestamp='1453500182' post='2960187'] Anyone have any experience of [url="http://thedoublebassroom.com/"]http://thedoublebassroom.com/[/url] ? I have a friend fancying something there and she just wants to make sure he is ok. [/quote] I bought a cheaper bass from him (a somewhat battered but charismatic Hungarian solid top) and I liked him a lot - he seemed to be very much in it for the love of the instrument and he's very straightforward to deal with. It also looks like pretty much the only place in the country where you could try out five or ten interesting basses for under £4k in one morning. At some point soon I'm going to go down there and buy myself a nice solid wood bass - he's got a couple at the moment that I would love to try. Quote
Owen Posted January 24, 2016 Posted January 24, 2016 Thanks Joe, I have copied and pasted both responses to her so she knows that he is sound Quote
chrkelly Posted January 25, 2016 Posted January 25, 2016 [quote name='owen' timestamp='1453650309' post='2961384'] Thanks Joe, I have copied and pasted both responses to her so she knows that he is sound [/quote] Tell her to bring a tuner, I went round recently & every one of the basses ranged from a couple of tones to a full fifth flat! Spent more time tuning than playing, not good. Keep in mind too that most have got rubbish strings so it's difficult to tell how they actually sound. He seems like a nice guy though. Quote
Owen Posted January 25, 2016 Posted January 25, 2016 [quote name='chrkelly' timestamp='1453716480' post='2961966'] Tell her to bring a tuner, I went round recently & every one of the basses ranged from a couple of tones to a full fifth flat! Spent more time tuning than playing, not good. Keep in mind too that most have got rubbish strings so it's difficult to tell how they actually sound. He seems like a nice guy though. [/quote] Thanks again. I hate to embarrass you on a public forum but the downtuned ones are meant to be like that. They are for Metal Quote
chrkelly Posted January 25, 2016 Posted January 25, 2016 [quote name='owen' timestamp='1453721713' post='2962043'] Thanks again. I hate to embarrass you on a public forum but the downtuned ones are meant to be like that. They are for Metal [/quote] Awesome! Quote
JoeEvans Posted February 10, 2016 Posted February 10, 2016 A quick update - I succumbed to temptation and drove down to Ben's in Kent yesterday (www.thedoublebassroom.com), coming away with a lovely 1970s violin-cornered bass. I was able to play at least five basses for £3k or under and had a hard time deciding between them; there were some really characterful instruments and the prices seemed very reasonable to me. Anyway, there were a couple there that I didn't buy but which someone needs to snap up - an 1880s German flatback that looks like a barn find on the outside but has an amazingly subtle, rich tone (apparently fully restored inside and recently set up); and a scrumptious-looking busetto that was a bit beyond my price range but looked absolutely fabulous. Quote
bassace Posted February 27, 2016 Posted February 27, 2016 I have just collected my Bryant from Laurence Dixon. I was never completely happy with it, having got through all sorts of pickups and speakers to get a decent sound. It is such a sweet bass that I was determined to try to sort it. Laurence has done an amazing job on it, new bridge and adjusters, fingerboard plane, new sound post and some other small tweaks. All within a two-week window and at a reasonable cost. I am very happy that the Bryant has been rescued. And yes, those Hungarian basses are very good value and nice basses. Highly recommended. Quote
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