{"id":184477,"date":"2025-11-05T18:25:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T18:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uptonbass.com\/?p=184477"},"modified":"2025-11-06T19:04:44","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T19:04:44","slug":"the-art-of-honing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uptonbass.com\/the-art-of-honing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Honing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Honing Your Instrument: Gary Upton In Conversation with Blake Hinson\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JRfbq1HSDRg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We recently welcomed&nbsp;<strong>New York Philharmonic Assistant Principal Bassist Blake Hinson<\/strong>&nbsp;for a conversation about the lifelong process of honing a double bass. Honing is an involved practice, encompassing everything from the decisions that go into building the instrument, to setting it up for a player\u2019s specific needs, choosing the right strings, and finally learning and accepting the instrument\u2019s idiosyncrasies. It\u2019s the fine tweaks that make an instrument begins to respond as if it truly belongs to the player.&nbsp;Blake takes this process very seriously, and the conversation between Gary and Blake, combining the luthier\u2019s and musician\u2019s perspectives, gives a lot of insight. The response to the video has been amazing, and it\u2019s clear this topic resonates deeply with serious players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, Gary wanted to dig a bit deeper into it from the luthier\u2019s point of view. We do this a lot, and our expertise combined with your vision is what goes into the honing of each double bass we make or tweak for you as a client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Honing Your Double Bass Explained by Gary Upton of Upton Bass\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/G0Bm3IJS8lE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Every bass that leaves our shop begins as a vision from the player. Whether it\u2019s&nbsp;<strong>Nina Bernat\u2019s travel version of her father\u2019s bass<\/strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Blake\u2019s copy of his Gagliano<\/strong>, or&nbsp;<strong>Dan Kinchen\u2019s six-string<\/strong>, each instrument is born from collaboration and trust. Once it\u2019s built, the honing begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this video, Gary describes how a&nbsp;<strong>2024 Brescian model orchestra bass<\/strong>&nbsp;will be transformed into a jazz powerhouse. This bass will undergo a redress of the fingerboard, removal of the C-extension, installation of new tuners, a lighter tailpiece, and a fresh set of strings. Listening and feeling at every step is how we achieve the final result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The longer we can work with a bass after it has been built, the more&nbsp;<strong>Gary, Jack, Chris, and Dan<\/strong>&nbsp;can reflect and adjust how the instrument responds to the player\u2019s intentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s honing. And it continues long after you take your bass home. Every tweak and adjustment add to this ongoing process. It\u2019s also a process of acceptance of both the bass and yourself as a player. Sometimes it\u2019s about working with the instrument instead of against it. You might need to work around a wolf tone rather than trying to eliminate it, to really let the bass shine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The relationship between maker, player, and instrument is very fascinating. When all three align, that\u2019s when a bass truly finds its voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We recently welcomed&nbsp;New York Philharmonic Assistant Principal Bassist Blake Hinson&nbsp;for a conversation about the lifelong process of honing a double bass. Honing is an involved practice, encompassing everything from the decisions that go into building the instrument, to setting it up for a player\u2019s specific needs, choosing the right strings, and finally learning and accepting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2245,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-184477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-upton-report-archives"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.1 (Yoast SEO v26.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Art of Honing - Upton Bass String Instrument Co.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We talk about honing, the process between making, setting up, and playing a bass, that makes it truly sound like you.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uptonbass.com\/the-art-of-honing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Art of Honing - Upton Bass String Instrument Co.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We talk about honing, the process between making, setting up, and playing a bass, that makes it truly sound like you.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uptonbass.com\/the-art-of-honing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Upton Bass String Instrument Co.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gary.uptonbass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-05T18:25:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-06T19:04:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mattias\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mattias\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uptonbass.com\/the-art-of-honing\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uptonbass.com\/the-art-of-honing\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mattias\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uptonbass.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2d07856fed3263174a0f1708a9030121\"},\"headline\":\"The Art of Honing\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-05T18:25:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-06T19:04:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uptonbass.com\/the-art-of-honing\/\"},\"wordCount\":437,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"The Upton Report\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/uptonbass.com\/the-art-of-honing\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uptonbass.com\/the-art-of-honing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uptonbass.com\/the-art-of-honing\/\",\"name\":\"The Art of Honing - 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