Newbie Question - WHICH EUB PLEASE

[itsmartin]

Hi there,
I'm new here.
I did a search, but didn't find the answer I was looking for.

I Used to play bass professionally from 17 to 27, then got married and left music behind.

I kept my old G&L Bass Guitar and amp, but sold my DB 20 Years ago.

I am now confronted with a problem.

I was looking around on t'internet and found a link in gear4music to a very inexpensive EDB ( a "real one" would take up too much room )

Because of this I started to look around to see what else there was,
and (remembering that price is a BIG concern to my wife) found a couple of budget ones

[url="http://www.gear4music.com/Woodwind-Brass-Strings/Electric-Double-Bass-by-Gear4music/8HS"]http://www.gear4music.com/Woodwind-Brass-S...-Gear4music/8HS[/url]
and a STAGG EUB

Having never been in the same room, and Youtube is a pants way of hearing the true sound.

Is it possible to get a semi realistic Upright Bass sound out of one of these
Can't find ANY info about the G4M one

Be nice to me .


Martin

[BassBus]

That looks like an interesting bass. Would be interesting to hear what it sounds like. Most players change the stock strings on cheaper EUBs for proper DB strings. That usually helps with the sound. Made a big difference to my NS CR4M. The sound on that G4M bass is going to depend on the quality of pickup. If that's no good you might be able to attach a DB pickup to the bridge. Be interesting to hear anyone's experience of that bass.

[BassBus]

There's always the [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f101/stagg-eub-megathread-344951/"]Stagg Megathread[/url] on Talkbass. Loads of info about it there.

[BobVbass]

I had the g4m one it was surprisingly good - preamp was a bit naff but was all very useable - I sold it to one of Danny thompson's mates so it can't have been all bad - not a patch on my db of course and the original strings are crap !

More of a db neck than the stag's i've played

Hope that helps

[geoffbassist]

I played a G4M eub last week. I didn't like it at all and way prefered the stagg.
The G4M one in their store was in very bad shape and seemed to be really poor quality. The main problem which for me is a huge one, is that the neck has no heel. Well it does but it's WAY past a D or Eb stop. More like an octave higher! If I wanted a 'heel less' neck I would go for a NS wav.

I've also recently tried a stagg which seemed very good value. If it had a proper set up then it would have been fine.

Good luck with the search
cheers Geoff

[BobVbass]

that's interesting - mine had a proper heel; maybe they've changed it.....

The other thing to bear in mind is secondhand availability and resale value - the Stagg is a widely available secondhand and if you go that way you'lll almost certainly get whtat you paid for it if you sell it....

[derrenleepoole]

That G4M bass looks like an evolved Palatino model. The introduction of a heal and retractable rest is interesting. I'm betting though that the model will be very top heavy, and not having a proper bass to lean into means you'll be compensating for this weight shift by adding more support in your fingering arm. This is will certainly affect playing etc.

You're obviously on a budget, but for an extra £100 - £150 you could get a NS Wav 4 eub second hand. I got mine of BC for £550, and it's a significant improvement over cheaper basses. If you can push to a better price, I would consider it. The amount of money you'd spend of getting a cheaper model up to scratch could be spent on better instrument to begin with. This was my experience at least with owning a Dean Pace, an early model Palatino and a Stagg.

[geoffbassist]

The G4M one I played was quite different from the paltino. It looked great on the site, good design. The one in the shop was very badly put together and was really disappointed.
I actually thought the neck looked like the materials were ok but I couldn't work out why the heel was no where near a useful position. However I can belive that they might just have ran out of wood and knocked it up. Perhaps it was just a bad one.

[BobVbass]

Thinking about it mine came from thomann - although it looked identical - can't remember how much mine was but it was no where near four hundred quid - and it had a proper set up done on it as well - there's always secondhand staggs coming up for sale ( or wavs or sometimes bassixs) I'd get one of them

Edited March 29, 2011 by bob_pickard

[itsmartin]

So............

Is the Stagg any good?
is the G4M any Good?

Thanks for your replies.

If I was to get a Stagg, could I get more of a DB sound out of it, or will it always be an upright Fretless BG.

I saw a youtube thingy where the guy had bypasswd the pickups, by adding some "transducer" type ones jammed under the bridge, and the I saw some
[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/J-tone-REDS-Double-bass-cello-transducer-pick-up-/190370473777?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments&hash=item2c52f6e731#ht_698wt_843"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/J-tone-REDS-Double-b...31#ht_698wt_843[/url]

on ebay for 26 squids.

As i probably mentioned in the beginning price is the main stumbling block,
as I am not gigging (yet), only starting back up after a 20 year pause
AND i am married with a 5 yr old who sucks my wallet dry constantly.


School Shoes or Bass ? Hmmmm Hard choices.....

[BobVbass]

The eubs will always sound like eubs - upright eb unless you spend a fair bit of money on them or get an expensive one to start with.

If you want something that sounds like a db - get a db - or hire one - most schools have a hire scheme, mine was ten pounds a month when I started

Hope that helps

Edited March 25, 2011 by bob_pickard

[BobVbass]

When I got my db I wondered why I bothered with an eub to be honest - unless you specifically want one due to space etc just get a db

[nig]

Hi, Plenty of good advise there, I got a dean, the one on the stand, its not really an EUB but got me interested in them,
so I purchased a used stagg for £220, it was unplayable in reality, as ive been a musician for 30 years and can set up basses and guitars I knew it wasnt nice and had high and low points on the fingerboard.
My friend a luthier had to plain the fingerboard, as in his words, its a ski slope, then make an ebony nut, when he had finished he asked me what I wanted to do as he had gone thru the black polymer finish.
I knew it was maple underneath, so I now have an oiled maple board and it plays amazingly.

[GarethFlatlands]

[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='1174240' date='Mar 24 2011, 10:01 AM']You're obviously on a budget, but for an extra £100 - £150 you could get a NS Wav 4 eub second hand.[/quote]

Basically it seems like:-
The G4M one is hit and miss. Get to York and try one or check their returns policy
The Stagg and Palatino/Harley Bentons are alright if you're prepared to mod them slightly to improve the sound and/or playability and can get them for cheap
All would benefit from a proper set of DB strings.

FWIW, I've palyed the Palatino and liked the feel and sound but I was coming to it from an EB background, not a DB one so it's shortcomings weren't a massive issue to me. The only real problem was the bridge which was solved by sticking a jumper or a tennis ball under it to stop it vibrating and sounding terrible. The Stagg is supposed to be more like playing a proper DB.

The advice quoted above is obviously good, but I call first refusal on the 1st £500 odd NS Wav that comes up on here!

Edit: - The Dean Pace looks nice but the low radius means it can't be bowed so I'm ignoring it.

Edited March 28, 2011 by GarethFlatlands

[Cat Burrito]

I've played a couple of Stagg ones and the quality is right up there. I've only played a couple of other brands - both a lot more than the Stagg but neither played as well.

[4-string-thing]

I sold my Stagg a couple of weeks ago to Michealg on here.... I'm regretting it already! Coming from a bass guitar background I can't really say if it felt like a real DB or not, but the quality was good and great value for the money!