artisan Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 (edited) well i've sold my Big Al so can buy a bass very shortly but i'm having a wee problem deciding what to buy. i quite fancy something with an interesting paint finish,i'll be ordering from Thomman btw,so do i a.. buy a Euopean plywood bass (blueburst/checkerboard or flames) b.. buy a 22 3/4 hybrid (boring plain wood) c.. buy a 33 3/4 fully carved (boring plain wood) d.. i will be playing 50's rock 'n' roll & rockabilly (providing i can learn how to slap it) how much difference in tone is there going to be ? will they all stand up to lots of pub gig abuse ? also i plan on getting a bassmax pickup will i need a preamp ? (i use a Roland D-bass 210 combo & mighty fine it is too) e.. will i ever stop asking stupid questions ? my budget is £900.00 (i know OHM has one for sale but he's to far away & seems reluctant to travel) cheers. p.s. i've been offered locally a battered old bass that "might" be German,but needs setup,strings & some cosmetic work for £550.00 but since i no nowt about these i've given a wide berth. Edited January 27, 2012 by artisan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJ Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Even if you get a "boring wood" model, there is always paint! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin spangles Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 [quote name='artisan' timestamp='1327682852' post='1515386'] well i've sold my Big Al so can buy a bass very shortly but i'm having a wee problem deciding what to buy. i quite fancy something with an interesting paint finish,i'll be ordering from Thomman btw,so do i a.. buy a Euopean plywood bass (blueburst/checkerboard or flames) b.. buy a 22 3/4 hybrid (boring plain wood) c.. buy a 33 3/4 fully carved (boring plain wood) d.. i will be playing 50's rock 'n' roll & rockabilly (providing i can learn how to slap it) how much difference in tone is there going to be ? will they all stand up to lots of pub gig abuse ? also i plan on getting a bassmax pickup will i need a preamp ? (i use a Roland D-bass 210 combo & mighty fine it is too) e.. will i ever stop asking stupid questions ? my budget is £900.00 (i know OHM has one for sale but he's to far away & seems reluctant to travel) cheers. p.s. i've been offered locally a battered old bass that "might" be German,but needs setup,strings & some cosmetic work for £550.00 but since i no nowt about these i've given a wide berth. [/quote] A good plywood will stand up to pub gigs and will be your best option for rockabilly etc. Be prepared to pay around £300 for a good set up. Tone depends on many factors. Aside from a good instrument good technique is important. I'd not worry whether it was plain 'boring' wood or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 For rockabilly I would suggest a good plywood bass - you'll get more amplified volume out of it without having to worry about feedback. If you're also interested in playing other kinds of music on db, and maybe learning to bow and stuff too, it might be wise to get a second bass for that because the string compromise for playing slap won't really work out for playing jazz and stuff (IMVHO). So yeah, to start with, I reckon a good ply would do you right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artisan Posted January 28, 2012 Author Share Posted January 28, 2012 (edited) thanks for the replies guys it is much appreciated,so its looking like a it's plywood jobbie then i have my eye on 2 but cant decide what to go for,i'll list them in order of my favourites & see what you think- [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_hot_flames_wh_bass_3_4.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...wh_bass_3_4.htm[/url] made in Romania [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_checkered_black_bk_bass_3_4.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...bk_bass_3_4.htm[/url] made in europe (forgot to ask them where) i'm going to order a K&K bassmax at the same time. my budget is £900 so if i buy the most expensive i'll have to buy a gigbag at a later date,but i'll not be gigging with it until i'm comfortable playing it. will i need a preamp or will it be ok plugged into the piezo input on my amp (roland d-bass 210) sorry for all the questions but i'd hate to buy the wrong bass cheers Neil Edited January 28, 2012 by artisan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Factor in the price of some strings too because it will likely come fitted with steels which will be too high-tension for slapping. According to the specs online, the D-Bass 210 has a dedicated piezo input with an impedance of 4.7Mohms. Does yours? If so, plug into that, you should be fine. If not - if you just have the active and passive inputs - you could try the passive (1Mohms) but don't be too surprised if your pickup sounds thin and horrible. If it does you'll need a preamp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 On the strings issue: I recently bought a boring plain wood Thomann 22. Before ordering, I emailed to ask what strings were fitted and the answer was 'metal ones'. I got them to fit some Spirocores before they sent it to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artisan Posted January 28, 2012 Author Share Posted January 28, 2012 thanks guys. re strings i was thinking of getting used to playing the beast before changing the strings & trying to slap it,maybee i'll just get them to fit some straight away. p.s. i nipped to gear4rubbish today,not to buy from them just to have a go on a propper DB as i've never played one before,the only 3/4 they had in was their Archer fully carved thingy,i was not impressed first off it ony had 3 strings on it,it looked awful just like someone had made in in their shed with a really poor finnish,was very quiet especially the E string that was almost silent (until it broke) all in all just bloody awful & they were asking £850.00 for it too. also it seemed huge,just a big as the equally awful 4/4 bass it was sat next to,maybee it's just me thats not used to being to close the the "beast". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatback Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 On the biz of travelling to buy a bass, if you've got transport it culd be the best journey you ever made. I did a round trip of 700 miles to get mine, and boy was that worth every mile. Just a 2c worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockabillybob1 Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 id go for the old german one offer him 450 cash and then get it set up them painted rockabilly ones are the same as gear for music and u can graphic any bass up with flames Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 (edited) Ah man if I'd known you were coming down to York I could've tried to be in and offered you a go on mine, although today was a bit mad tbh I wasn't home much. Out all day tomorrow too. I did warn you about the G4M showroom though! Edited January 28, 2012 by thisnameistaken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artisan Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 [quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1327787877' post='1516918'] Ah man if I'd known you were coming down to York I could've tried to be in and offered you a go on mine, although today was a bit mad tbh I wasn't home much. Out all day tomorrow too. I did warn you about the G4M showroom though! [/quote] very kind of you good sir. yes gear4music was a let down they didn't even have one of their cheapies in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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