Oh, and about the name ..... this big fella is named "Cleophus" which means vision of glory.  Most of my basses are female (in name and soul) but this guy is a bit too big for a "girly" name.  Having recently met a chap named Cleophus, the bass reminded me of him in so many ways that the moniker seemed to be just perfect! 

I began my bass playing career using a double bass (sometimes called an upright bass, bass fiddle, doghouse, bull fiddle, etc) , but for the past several years I have not owned one.  I recently came across this 1948 Carl Meisel 3/4 bass which is in excellent condition and I have joyfully re-started my relationship with the DB again!

This bass is a fairly rare item.  The Meisel Family were makers of fine stringed instruments dating back to the mid-1600's, always based in the eastern European countries.  When the political climate became totally unstable, Meisel opened a factory in Mittenwald, West Germany and began exporting stringed instruments to the United States.  This DB is one of the first of a group of instruments to shipped to the US. 

Like many of these earlier basses, this DB (Model 9000) is a laminated plywood bass.  However, the craftsmanship employed in this time period was still hand construction as compared to modern ply basses which are factory-line machine stamped instruments.  You can tell from the construction of the bass that it benefitted from its human interaction

I recently picked up this older (mid-1950's) Kay bow, a wonderful find for the limited amount of bowing I do these days.  My very first "good" bow was a Kay, and this one feels like home to me.

With "Zoned Out" at the Blue Moon, South Amboy, NJ.  1st gig with Cleophus, he did a beautiful job!  My chops? ... well, not so great but played the big boy for the entire date!