Shen Gemunder 7/8, SB200. $6,300, (list price $7,575)
This 7/8 size bass is actually a very manageable size. Its 42” string length is only marginally longer (about 1/2” at most) than the average 3/4 size bass and the bout widths and upper bout dimensions make for very easy playability. It features a “d” neck.
Shen’s description is that “This floor shaker of a bass was designed with the orchestra section in mind, with a big room sound for auditoriums. However, it continues to get picked by Jazz players for the forceful pizzicato generated by the wide flat back.”
I don’t think that’s in anyway overhyping its powerful low end and generally gutsy punchy sound.
The bass is constructed with all solid woods, a fully carved spruce top and willow back and sides. Shen’s x brace system makes for a zero trouble flat back, and I have seen very few issues, if any, with the willow Shen basses and I’ve sold dozens of them over the last 14 years. Shen’s oil varnish has an attractive hand applied sheen.
Probably one of the best features of their basses is the quality of the ebony fingerboards, which are well seasoned and thick enough to keep the neck the way it’s intended to be.
We do all our own regulation of the basses when they arrive, fitting a French made bridge with height adjustment wheels, planing, testing, and polishing the fingerboards, and making a perfect soundpost as well as regulating all aspects of how the bass plays- right here in our shop.