G. Edward Lutherie Inc. - Eminence w/ Detachable Neck
Reviewer: Christopher
- Vintage: 2002
- Number of Strings: 4
- Double bass strings compatible
- Bowable: Yes
- Thumb Reference: D
- Playable Seated: Yes
- Balance While Playing:
(8/10)
The Eminence is a production model instrument that's made in China and set up professionally at Gary Bartig's shop in Minnesota. The design of the instrument caters primarily to upright players; no concessions have been made to bass guitarists (though position markers are available as an upgrade). The bass adheres to conventional double bass/violin construction: body is comprised of an arched, laminated spruce top, nicely flamed maple ribs and back, soundpost and bassbar. Looks like a squished and flattened Bussetto, or an elongated violin. Finished in a dark amber; glossy, but understated. A hole in the back of the instrument accomodates the upper bout, which looks like the head of a golf putter and fits in the hollow of your hip. The endpin has a "T-bar" foot with a pivot in the middle, so it can rock left and right. With a little adjustment, the instrument will stand up without any left hand assistance. Yay.
There's a brass tailplate in lieu of a tailpiece, affixed to the bottom with four screws. The tailplate also provides a mount for the output of the Realist pickup. Fingerboard and nut are ebony. The bridge (which looks like it might have been made from a cello blank) comes with aluminum adjusters. The neck is of standard DB dimensions. It's lightly flamed and unfinished, except at the minimalistic scroll and heel. The detachable neck is secured to the body with a sturdy steel dovetail joint that's held in place with a screw on the back.
Since the Eminence is essentially an acoustic instrument, it produces enough acoustic volume to practice with. Due to the shallow body, the G and D speak more loudly than the A and E unamplified. Through an amp, the instrument produces a very close approximation of a full-sized double bass, both pizz and arco, with balanced volume across all strings. (No pronounced boominess on the A and E.) With medium low action, you can get a great pizz jazz growl and sustain out of the Eminence. Being a passive piezo, the Realist pickup could use a preamp to cut down on high end crispiness. The instrument comes strung with Helicore Hybrids, which I don't mind; a lot of people seem to dislike them.
The included bag is ingenious; like the bass, the neck section is detachable, thanks to the miracle of velcro. You can sling the neck bag over your shoulder and carry the body separately, or you can stuff both pieces in an SKB golf case, not included. My only gripe is that the body bag (uh...) has no shoulder straps and no pockets for bows, music, etc. In its bag, the Eminence weighs about as much as my BG in its HSC. Overall: great instrument and great value. This instrument will appeal to you if you fly a lot; you don't own a car; you're just sick of the inconvenience; and/or you need an amplified instrument that doesn't sound like a large fretless bass guitar. Bartig is also a stickler for customer service. If you order one, expect a phone call from him. Bravo.
Text copyright © Christopher.
