Steve A Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Hi, Does anyone know of any trusted double bass workshops in the Oxford area? Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve A Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 What, none?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassace Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Steve I have used Simon Dubber Violins at Witney, 01993 772587. As the name implies he is really a violin guy but does some work on basses. He has done some soundpost adjustment for me and also replaced an end pin. He has a methodical approach to things, works from home and is definitely worth a try. Also Waters Violins in Wallingford but the only time I've had any dealings with him he came over a bit fierce. My Martin bass is looked after by Thomas Martin who is a few miles north of Banbury but he is so busy making the things that I doubt whether he would take on any set up/repairs to non-Martins. Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve A Posted March 6, 2010 Author Share Posted March 6, 2010 Thanks Bassace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdstrings Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 Jonathan Githero in Witney -doublebass specialist. Get back to me if you can't find him and I'll dig out his contact details... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve A Posted March 12, 2010 Author Share Posted March 12, 2010 Thanks JD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassace Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 [quote name='jdstrings' post='772355' date='Mar 12 2010, 03:21 AM']Jonathan Githero in Witney -doublebass specialist. Get back to me if you can't find him and I'll dig out his contact details...[/quote] Interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 [quote name='jdstrings' post='772355' date='Mar 12 2010, 03:21 AM']Jonathan Githero in Witney -doublebass specialist. Get back to me if you can't find him and I'll dig out his contact details...[/quote] Just to say I've recently had some work done by Jonathan and he was speedy, professional and friendly. Not to mention that he's also very reasonably priced! I usually have my work done by Malcolm Healey, who Jonathan used to work with, but my bass was damaged whilst at uni here and Jonathan was kind enough to meet me in town to collect and return my bass. Definitely check him out. I have his card on my desk somewhere, so PM me if you'd like contact details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete1967 Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 Sorry I'm bit late to the party on this one, but just to add diversity, Tom Martin's in Banbury if it helps at all. Very Classical if that's your thing, an absolute font of knowledge. [url="http://www.thomasmartin.co.uk"]http://www.thomasmartin.co.uk[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassace Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 Strange echo in here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daflewis Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 (edited) I know this is quite an old post, but i feel i must share my experience of thomas martin for repairs... Appalling! A huge catologue of errors - I'll list... Took a bass for renovation in february.... that one never got done - it's now November - they kept putting it off....but that's another story! took a second bass there for front off repair, cracks and generally make good - new fingerboard bridge etc... estimate £1800 finally got it back after 4 months and they charged me £2800 - there was a buzz on the open G and the set up was awful - the nut was cut too low. Took it back and left it with them. i got a call and was told there must be a new crack or seam come loose as it was still buzzing and there'd be extra charges to sort it. (front off again so min £500) No way i was giving them any more money so i picked it up today and it's now also buzzing on the A as well as the G - looks like one of the internal braces is loose. also there are now 3 new arrows drawn on the bass showing the location of other loose seams and a crack - which, according to them all must have opened up in the 1 day that i'd had it back.... Beware! Edited November 25, 2012 by daflewis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarah thomas Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Crikey Daf, that's awful. £2,800 for a bass that's worse than when you left it with them ... You must be furious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daflewis Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Absolutely bloody livid! I shall certainly be spreading the word... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLoydElgar Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Rodger Dawson would've been your best man for the jobb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daflewis Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Yeh, thanks for that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Martin Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 (edited) Dear Daf I am sorry that it is under these circumstances that i am making my first BassChat post! We as a team at Thomas and George Martin Violin Makers feel terrible about this situation, customer service and quality of our work are absolutely paramount in all that we do here. I am wondering if it is ok if we post pictures of the restoration work that we did on your bass, we were very proud of the work and you were very happy when you collected the bass from us (apart from unforeseen extra cost). Perhaps this will give perspective and people can judge for themselves the quality of our work. All the best George Martin Luthier at Thomas and George Martin Violin Makers Edited November 26, 2012 by George Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daflewis Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Hi George, As you know, it's not the quality of the woodwork that is a problem (though please feel free to post pics). There are two issues as we spoke about; the first is that an estimate, whilst open to some fluctuation, shouldn't change by 50%+ especially without a call to check that it's ok. Second, is that you said the work would sort any cracks and buzzes and I should have a good workhorse at the end of it. Well I certainly don't have that at the moment and it looks like it's going to cost me at least another £500 now to get it playable. I'm sorry I had to resort to going public like this, but you made it quite plain on the phone that you'd washed your hands of the whole affair. If you'd like to talk about it again, I'm happy to have a chat. Cheers, Daf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Martin Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Dear Daf Thanks for replying. This whole situation is terribly saddening, at no point did i wash my hand of anything, i feel that is perhaps a little unfair. Here are the photos of the 108 plus hours work we lovingly did on your bass trying to help you. The new fingerboard, endpin and bridge cost us over £300 and we charged only £20 per hour or less where we normally charge £45 (much cheaper than our competitors) plus VAT. I did repeatedly apologise for the extra cost as it was so much over the estimate we did all we could to help because you were such a nice guy and i am very sorry about everything. I did happily offer to make the set up good for no charge at all. There are no cracks open on the bass and the arrows where areas that during the return investigation we glued up as the old glue looked like it was [b]possibly[/b] weak. I think that after the 20 minutes or so playing you did due to the open sound of the bass something has shaken loose inside. Im afraid that no luthier can guarantee that wood will not crack and that glue will not weaken and if something else goes wrong with a bass that is out of our control I'm afraid that we are not able to do anything for free specially as we bent over backwards keeping the costs of this seemingly small job which turned into being a big job as low as possible for you. I can not apologise enough for this whole situation and i wish you luck with getting the bass sorted out. As i said our door is always open. I am used to our hundreds of happy customers and dealing with this is very strange for me! Apologies once again. All the best George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Martin Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 how on earth do i put pictures! I'm afraid that my basschat skills are not as good as my bassmake skills! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daflewis Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Hi George, For pics, you have to put them on an image hosting site like photobucket or Flickr and then you can post the links on here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Martin Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Dear Daf Please find a link to Flickr below..... i hope it works. http://www.flickr.com/photos/90536321@N04/8222884919/ Looking back at the photos the job we did was excellent and exactly what was requested by yourself. I am still very happy to go over and get the set up just right for you any time at no charge. Regarding the rattle that appeared after leaving, again we are happy to investigate but i think that it is either around the top brace or between the neck block and the rib. Neither of these things are predictable when repairing the rest of the bass and we are not able to second guess when something will start to buzz after you have left with a well working bass. As i say please do feel free contact me any time as we are happy to help in anyway we can. We really pride ourselves on happy customers and it would be nice to turn this round. All the best George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevcooke Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 The finished bass looks beautiful! George set up my bass and improved the tone and playability beyond anything I thought imaginable from my lower-end instrument. I was shown around the work-shop, met they crew and was clear that they all care massively about their work and their customers. Daf, I understand a lot of time and money has gone into this already but I'll hope you'll consider using the Martin's to repair any further issues, and claim the free set-up, so you can reap the full benefit of their work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daflewis Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Hi Kev, Yes, George is a really lovely guy and I find it hard to be mad at him, However, I can't believe that they're not offering any kind of warranty on the work, and the fact remains that after spending close to £3000 with the specific aim of sorting any cracks and buzzes, the bass sounds like this... [url="http://soundcloud.com/daflewis/buzz"]http://soundcloud.com/daflewis/buzz[/url] Can anyone honestly say they'd be happy with that? As for going back for another set up, we've already tried that, but it was never going to take away the rattles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbassist Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Hi Daf, I'm with you on this one and would have felt very let down if this had happened to me. To charge 1k more than the estimate without consulting you is plain wrong. To then end up with a bass that still has rattles; which need the front off to fix them, is just not a reasonable outcome when the job was to remove the front and fix all the rattles (glue cracks/open seams/loose joints etc). I just cant imagine anyone thinking that this outcome represents an excellent job. Good luck getting it sorted out. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daflewis Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Hi Geoff, Thanks for the support, it really is much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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