James Ham is a legend in the double bass luthier world. After a multifaceted background that landed him in Victoria, British Columbia, James Ham created a series of revolutionary designs for the double bass.
His first instrument was commissioned by Gary Karr after a deep analysis of the various positive and not-so-positive traits of the Karr-Koussevitzky bass, Jim created a marvelous instrument on which Gary Karr still plays. In fact, Gary will only perform somewhere these days if there’s a Jim Ham bass waiting for him! Here’s a photo of me with Gary and his lovely Jim Ham bass.
We dig into Jim’s adjustable and removable neck system, which eliminates the need for bridge adjusters. We also talk about Jim’s founding of the Violin Society of America Double Bass Workshop at Oberlin. We even dig into our shared South Dakota roots!
This is a great chat with a luthier that has had a big impact on the lives of many bass players. Enjoy!
Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:
Upton Bass String Instrument Company
Upton’s Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long “Karr neck” has even become a favorite of crossover electric players.
This episode is brought to you by D’Addario Strings! Check out their Zyex strings, which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut.
An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440‘s commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools.
Contrabass Conversations production team:
- Jason Heath, host
- Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing
- Mitch Moehring, audio engineer
- Trevor Jones, publication and promotion
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This week we bring you a conversation with Chicagoland double bass luthier, teacher, and performer Steve Reinfranck. Steve runs