TrebleBass

[Octavio Brito]

Greetings from Brazil!

Does anybody know where one can purchase a Santucci TrebleBass?

Thanks and good tapping to all.

Octavio

[traktor]

Once upon a time, I bought a couple of them from Sergio Santucci, who was listed as living in New York and in Rome. I spoke to him by phone in New York.

At that time, Santucci Corporation's address was: 69 W. 38th Street, #405, New York, NY 10018, and the phone number was (212)302-6805. That was somewhere around 1995-1996.

He was also a NAMM member, so the member list at www.namm.com might turn up his name.

It'a a really interesting instrument, and I enjoyed mine a lot. In fact, I owe Sergio a debt of thanks, because while playing the TrebleBass I learned how simple and powerful the standard bass tuning can be (with ascending notes going in the same direction as the melody side).
If you'll mount strap buttons on each of the four shoulders and hips, you can then install two guitar straps, and use them like suspenders, and in this way hold the guitar with tuners high, in best touch-style position. It works out very neatly.

Good luck in your hunt, and if you find one, please be so kind as to post back here how you found it. And any news of Sergio, a very fine gentleman.

[Octavio Brito]

Dear Traktor:

Thank you.

Called that number, got a gentleman that spoke little english. Asked me if I wanted "the instrument"and promised to email info.

I am trying to collect a variety of Touch instruments for myself.
The TrebleBass and the BassLabs Stick are very interesting, as well as that Blues version Megatar.

Happy Tapping,

Octavio

[traktor]

Hi, Octavio,

Well, of course IMHO no collection would be complete without a megatar, but ... What is a BassLabs Stick?

Any info?

[Octavio Brito]

I only saw the Blues megatar on the first edition of the site, nowadays, if it's in there, it's hard to find.

Do you have one? Can I check it out next time I'm in town?

Regarding the BassLab Stick, check out www.basslab.de

This gentleman Heiko makes these hollow (yes, hollow) instruments that sound very interesting.

By the way, what is IMHO?

[traktor]

Those BassLab instruments are something!

The BluesBuster is actually just a pickup array, and can be installed on most Megatars. I can still make the BluesBuster pickup, but there seem to be no photos on the main site. Probably in the newsletters at http://www.megatar.com/documents you would find a picture. Contact me privately if interested in this pickup array.

If you're in town, it would be fun to meet. The only question is timing. If you're going to be in town, let me know.

IMHO is one of those abbreviations that people use. Here are the most common ones --

IMHO - In my Humble Opinion
BTW - By the Way
LOL - Laughing out Loud
ROFLMAO - Rolling on the Floor, Laughing my A** Off
YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary

So I could say: IMHO, BTW, LOL is not as funny as ROFLMAO, but YMMV!

[rockola]

Octavio, when you get more info on the Treblebass, please post it here. I'm sure there are lots of interested people.

[Octavio Brito]

Greetings to all!

As requested by Ola, here is my final report on the Treblebass.

Calling the old number in NY for Santucci Treblebass (the manufacturer), yielded no response. The gentleman that answered the phone, spoke little english and no italian, asked me if I was calling about "the instrument", but had no more information.

A careful search via internet let me know that Sergio Santucci is engaged in an active carrer as a studio musician. But no contact info.

I did receive some offers on used instruments, but no one could give me a price. ???

It seems to me that the Treblebass is now relegated to the history of touch instruments.

Happy Tapping,

Octavio Brito

[vsteele]

In case anyone is still interested, there are 2 days left on a Santucci Treble bass on Ebay. The starting bid was $500 US and there have been no bidders. The Item Number is 2373624792. I am sure that this instrument would like a new home. For an entry style touch instrument, you can't beat the price. Better hurry!!!

V

[traktor]

If the instrument is in any decent shape at all, this is a *very* good price.

[rjgoos]

Traktor wrote:


>Well, of course IMHO no collection would be complete without a megatar...<


Since you mentioned it, Traktor....is MM back in production?


R. Jay Goos

[traktor]

Mobius Megatar is slowly back in production. Shop has been almost reassembled, and a couple of orders in house are starting to be processed.

[ update: 5/1/04 ] Shop completely functional, expanded even, and instruments shipping with reduced assembly time.

[traktor]

Today I see there's a Santucci TrebleBass listed on eBay, here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3730598907&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1

I have no information about this instrument, don't know who's selling it, etc. Cavear Emptor, etc etc.

[rjgoos]

Rumor has it that the Treble Bass is back in production. Anyone heard about that?

Also, on the Yahoogroup called Taptalk, it seems that Stu Box is at least thinking about an expansion of his line of instruments.

Given the high prices for used instruments on eBay, I think we have a global shortage of touchstyle instruments.


RJ Goos

[Blackbird]

Originally posted by traktor
Today I see there's a Santucci TrebleBass listed on eBay, here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3730598907&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1

I have no information about this instrument, don't know who's selling it, etc. Cavear Emptor, etc etc.

Man, this is so funny!

I was the winning bidder on that Treblebass. I was researching the scant info available on the instrument when I stumbled on this site!

While we haven't ever spoken, Traktor, I have been aware of you and your work for a while now. We also have a common acquaintance: Jeremy Cohen used to be my bass instructor at Blue Bear. I would have loved to see you play the Megatar.

I now live in SoCal and I've found that I'm not too far from Larry Tuttle. Maybe I'll get to see him play sometime.

Talk to you soon!

E Octavio, se voce quiser uma resenha do TrebleBass em Portugues, e so perguntar.;)

Will

[traktor]

Hello, Blackbird,

Nice to see you here. I had a TrebleBass once upon a time, and in fact, that's where I learned how powerful a set of bass strings tuned in normal fourths could be.

If you see Jeremy, please tell him hello from me. He did the introduction in the Mobius Megatar method book. (If you don't have a copy go to http://megatar.com/documents and download it for free.)

Jeremy paid me one of the nicest compliments I've ever had in this lifetime. I'd signed up for a composition class, and at that time was attempting to play synthesizers. I never got any good at playing them, but programming sounds and composition came pretty easily to me, and so for my homework I would do the composition, then record it and bring a tape to class.

I wrote a song called "Fly like Summer Love," and when he played it in class, he said, "Wow!", and then rewound the cassette and played the entire thing again. Man, didn't I feel ten feet high. (I actually have this song on a shockwave player at traktortopaz.com, but I've let the links get all broken, so it's not playable right now. Maybe one of these days ...)

If you enjoy touchstyle playing as much as the rest of us do, you're in for years of fun!

[Blackbird]

Hi, Traktor. Thanks for the warm welcome.

I found the method book before I stumbled onto Tappistry.org. That's how I became aware of your association with Jeremy. I took that same composition class once too, by the way.

I haven't seen him in a couple of years and since I moved to Southern California, I don't think I'll see him again for a while.

I hope you'll put those audio files back on line at some point. I attempted to play your jukebox and downloaded the macromedia player in the hopes of hearing some samples. I'd love to hear them sometime.