CARRYING A TUNE

Land Rover’s LR4 has a new string to its bow; official transportation for one very large string bass, writes Dan Muggli, Center Manager at Land Rover Portland, Ore.

Let me introduce you to my daughter Georgia. She’s 18 and an extremely talented musician. But instead of playing something small and compact – like maybe a piccolo, or flute – she plays the double bass.

This is a large, fragile and, yes, rather heavy instrument, measuring over six ft. long and around 30 in. wide. Add to that an amplifier and music stand, and you can see why her mother and I have become “roadies” for her various gigs.

As you would imagine, the bass doesn’t fit into the average family sedan. And with something this valuable, strapping it to a roof rack isn’t really an option.

But as we’ve discovered, it’s as if the Land Rover LR4 was designed especially for the task. Simply fold flat the third row rear seats and flip forward the second row center seat. Perfect. The neck of the bass slips right in and there are seats on either side for Georgia and a friend.

That’s the beauty of the LR4 vehicle's second row seats. Instead of being split 50:50 or even 60:40, like in most SUVs, they’re configured in three equal parts. It all just adds to the LR4 vehicle's flexibility and versatility.

We’ve been transporting Georgia and her bass quite a lot recently. First there was the 2,500‑mile road trip from Portland to Denver and back, where she auditioned at the prestigious Lamont School of Music. Beyond the utility of the LR4, we truly appreciated its comfort, security and capabilities as we travelled through the remote expanses of Idaho, Utah and Wyoming in the dead of winter.

More recently we flew to New York City, where Georgia was invited to audition at The Juilliard School at Lincoln Center. Having the use of an LR4 for three days made negotiating the urban canyons of Manhattan a breeze.

We’ll know in the next few weeks where Georgia will be studying. One thing’s for sure; it won’t be the last time our LR4 will be called upon for string bass transportation.