Electric Upright Bass Database

Grazioso^* - Arco

• Vintage: 1960
• Number of Strings: 4
  • Double bass strings compatible
• Bowable: Yes
• Balance While Playing: (6/10)

The Arco bass was made by Grazioso in Prague, former Czechoslovakia ca 1958-1961. Design-wise, while not a strict copy, it owes a lot to the old Framus Triumph Bass.

These basses were sold under the names Grazioso, Arco, and Futurama. It is quite clumsy, and the huge magnetic pickup (volume control only, no tone controls) gives a rather boomy sound, which can be vastly improved with the addition of a piezo pickup. Since the wooden bridge has no slots, an Underwood cannot be mounted without modifications, but it takes a Fishman without problems.

The fingerboard material is a bit unusual: beech.

When German improviser ace Eberhard Weber crossed over to electric in the early 70s, it was on an old Arco, which he modified extensively. Another noted Arco user is John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin.