First double bass

[Pkomor]

Hi, Im studying jazz electric bass at RWCMD and ive started to take up double bass and Im now looking to buy one.
I dont really have a clue when it comes to buying, so I thought I'd ask on here!
Im after somthing probably around the £1000 mark (if thats enough to buy somthing useable!) and it would be used for jazz work, mainly pizz.

Ive heard that some of the thomman basses are ok starter basses, Is that true?


Cheers,
Pete.

[BobVbass]

yep thomann are ok but a better idea is to get a second hand boosey and hawkes - they're normally 6-800 quid and are superb

[Cat Burrito]

Your budget should get you a reasonable instrument at worst & a great bass at best. I'm always a little weary of buying acoustic instruments online & would prefer a secondhand one I could try out or getting one from a shop who help set it up properly

[Pkomor]

I had though about second hand, but i dont really know where to start, I'll check out some B&H basses!
Any others I should look out for?

Edited November 28, 2010 by Pkomor

[Stompbox]

Hi - good evening - of course, I'm biased - BUT.....

You could always have a look at mine! It's a carved top bass with various improvements I've had done to it, a really good padded gig bag & bow - there's a sound clip on the ad as well.

See "Stentor 3/4 Bass for Sale £600" in this part of the site!

[Mike]

I had a similar budget. I decided to get a cheap Zellor second hand and spent around £600/700 on getting it properly set up by a top luthier and have things like the bridge and sound post replaced - now it's extremely playable and sounds great!

[Bilbo]

There are several options and some are likely to be better than others but I would argue (and I am no expert) that whatever you get, for £1K it is not going to be a top class instrument but a useable introduction. If you spend £1K, you will soon hanker for a £3K bass, if you spend £3K, you will want a £5K bass and so on up to five figures and beyond. My research tells me Stentors, Christophers, Thomanns , Zellers, B&H etc are all credible starter instruments and all of them have models in your proce range. I bought my 5 string from Gedo Musik in Germany (£1500) and its working for me. Its not the bass of anyone's dreams but it gigs well and I have no real complaints. Lots of people have tried all of the above models and noone has really trashed any of them so, for my money, I say get one and get playing rather than spend months trying loads out but not getting started (you can hire them for £30 a month, by the way - another option to consider).

Is Paula teaching you?

[Pkomor]

Hi thanks for the replys! Lots of info to take on board!

Yeah, Paula is one of my teachers, Along with Nick Weldon and Dudley Phillips - Theres some great stuff going on!

[Mike]

Wow, I've been on jazz courses with both Nick and Dudley as tutors. Nick's bass is absolutely stunning! He let me have a quick play recently. Love it! Tell him I'm getting on really well with Tony Hougham, a teacher with whom he studied!

[Pkomor]

Someone is selling a 1950s/60s plywood bass localy to me, I have it on loan at the moment for a few days to try it out, hes asking £700 for it.
Is this too much to spend on an all plywood instrument?

[Beer of the Bass]

If it's one of the better laminated basses with an ebony board, and it doesn't need any work doing, that price seems OK, I'd say.

[Pkomor]

Hmm it sounds ok, but no ebony board, and the fingerboard seems to rattle a bit on certain notes! (not string buzz, the actual fingerboard!)

Ive also been looking at these three, although ideally im after somthing second hand... any veiws?

[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_kontrabass_33_02.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_kontrabass_33_02.htm[/url]


[url="http://www.omegamusic.co.uk/shop/music-shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2100&ref=1"]http://www.omegamusic.co.uk/shop/music-sho...=2100&ref=1[/url]


[url="http://www.gear4music.com/Woodwind-Brass-Strings/Archer-3-4-size-professional-Double-Bass/8UV"]http://www.gear4music.com/Woodwind-Brass-S...Double-Bass/8UV[/url]

[NDH]

As a recent starter on DB, I agree with Bilbo; get a bass and start playing. I had a beast of a hire bass that nonetheless got me going.

The awfulness of the hire bass pushed me to go for a new bass as there was nothing second hand I wanted to look at within 250 miles of where I live.

I decided on a Zeller eventually and bought the 1408 model from a local supplier - not specialists but with a technician who was able to guarantee a basic setup. I think this bass is similar to the Zeller model on the Omega website - but bass only. This bass looks a horrible orange colour on the site photo, but is actually a quite pleasant subdued lightish brown,

I've only managed two decent sessions with the bass so far but first impressions are favourable; I have been able to replicate a number of walking lines I use on my EUB, and the bowed sound is much improved with the Obligato strings I have used. I'm happy that, after three weeks bowing on the EUB, I can wrestle with a real bass again and think that I have made the right decision to go for one of the recognised starter instruments just to get playing.

The other bass I seriously considered was the Thomann 33 you mention. The reason I didn't go for this was that my teacher told me that local luthiers were very busy at present and there would likely be a wait to get it set up.

Wouldn't surprise me if the Zeller and Thomann were made in the same Romanian factory.

Good luck with your choosing.

Nigel