By Jesse Blue
After working in an ultra high end
boutique bass factory for a number
of years, I was always frustrated
that the instruments very rarely found
their way into the real world -- that
of the "working stiff", gigging musician.
I started designing electric uprights in
about 1990-91 and continued to develop
various approaches to the EUB (electric
upright bass) over the years.
While working in the bass factory, I often used my off-time to make these designs
for personal basses and, through numerous trial and error projects, began to refine
what a quality upright should be: paying particular attention to the sound quality
when playing arco (bowing), and refining still further the concept of portability
without compromising certain aspects of a quality uprights performance...and feel.
Finally in late 2002, my tenure at the bass factory ended, and I set out to design
and manufacture the EUBs in earnest. The goals were very simple: make the
absolute most instrument, for the least amount of money possible, and offer them
direct to players thereby having a "hands on" relationship with the people who
would be in the trenches so to speak.
One of the first prototypes went to Greg Campbell: a real, gigging, savvy "bass
geek" (term used affectionately, of course) who I thought would be a good test
dummy for the basses. I'm happy to report that he still has that prototype bass, and
gigs with it regularly (in fact one of the bands he joined shortly after getting the bass
wouldn't let him play any other instrument with them!).
As Greg was working on his website, he called me to say that he needed to know
what to call the bass, as it was going up with his other endorsement lists. I literally
stammered for a few minutes, and then blurted out Ergo...and the name sort of
stuck. After a few more refinements, and some "tooling up", I did the first run of
production basses and sent the other "Guinea Pig" (a good friend of mine of many
years named Jauqo III-X) an instrument. He was also happy to report that he had
been quite pleased with the instrument, and with that support, I felt it was time to
offer them to the public at large.
While I'll continue to try new things such as corsed strings, extended range, and
even resurrecting a baroque period instrument called a 'violone', I remain
committed to offering the most compact, and importantly, affordable instrument
possible by the simplicity of the design, and manufacturing process.
For pricing as well as instrument and sales info, please visit our Products page!
 |  |  |  |  |
