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Thomann DBs any good as a first bass?


Buzzy
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[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1393420726' post='2379980']
Beautiful? It's a pain inducing money pit :lol:
[/quote]

I think for me, the initial outlay, and new set of strings and a pickup, was a tad pain-inducing,

However, as someone else said "owning a double bass is a beautiful thing"
I couldn't agree more. Also, since buying said strings, pickup (and case)
It hasn't cost me any more
but the joy it brings is immeasurable
I can't imagine life without playing my DB now

If you're thinking about getting a DB - just do it!
That's my humble opinion

I'm so glad I bought mine :)

Marc

PS. OP - don't forget to contact Gedo too
Their basses look stunning

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I think I'm going with the Thomann 22 3/4 Europe DB with Thomastik Spirocore 3/4 Mediums (these have been recommended by a mate and a tutor)
The sticking point is do I go with the K&K Bassmax pickup which Thomann & jrixn1 say doesn't need a pre amp or go for the Fishman BP 100 pick up and the Platinum Pro Pre-amp.
Just going for the DB,Strings and the K&K brings the total to £950 which leaves me some extra if I need to take the DB to a luthier.
The DB, Strings and the Fishman gear comes to £1150 which wipes out my budget.
jrixn1 said the input on my amp needs to be 1M ohm to use the K&K, I've checked and its ok, as long as an Ashdown Perfect 10 can handle a DB.

Any thoughts guy?

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I use a Perfect Ten mini rig and can plug a piezo (J tone) straight in with no pre amp and it sounds good.

I use a BBE Acoustimax pre amp when going to the PA and when I was fiddling with it to get the sound I liked I realised it was exactly the same sound as just plugging the bass straight into the Ashdown, bass, mid and treble set to centre and the deep switch off gets a very nice clean representation of the acoustic bass, so plenty left to adjust tone to your liking.

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I wouldnt recommend the BP100, the Bassmax is a vastly superior sounding pickup.
There's no reason why you can't hold off on buying a plat pro for now and see if the pickup sounds good to you going straight into your amp.
You can save a bit more cash in the interim to buy a plat pro if you eventually decide you need it. Alternatively you could do a lot worse than a Fdeck HPF. Normally you'd have to import one from the USA but a basschatter is offering to build to order for atound £60.

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Please make sure you let us know what you opt for....
I'm getting excited for you now, LOL

I'm sure you'll enjoy owning & playing a DB

String choice will depend on personal preference
and that's hard to pin down, until you've experimented a bit
Which is, of course, difficult

I play pizzicato, and prefer lower tension strings
I opted for Innovation "Silver Slaps" which suit me fine
I'm not sure if you're aware, but Daf Lewis on this forum
will let you borrow a set of any of the Innovation strings...
Just send them on to the next person who wants to try them....

Anyhow, good luck with it all
Marc

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[quote name='fatgoogle' timestamp='1393961186' post='2386356']
I recently played a strunal that was from the factory. Um it had a lot of white glue going on and not much else. Pretty expensive too for what it was. I'd go with the hora ones.
[/quote]
absolutley no glue showing anywhere on my Strunal,infact build quality is very good indeed as is the sound it produces.
It always irks me when an entire brand is slated bassed on someone's experience with one poor example.
When i bought mine from Thomann i was trying to decide between a Strunal & a Hora,Thomann's strings dept' advised me to go with the Strunal as it sounded somewhat better than the Hora.

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The thing with all factory made basses is that they are churned out as a mass production item and attention to quality control isnt the same as if one were paying a few grand for a handmade bass.

Its perhaps always been a bit of an issue when you churn out instruments for the export market at relatively low cost ( relative to handmade). Many older factory plys and hybrids are shocking in the way they have been thrown together ...but some are amazing.

I am just wondering if the same may be true of Strunal, Hora, Antoni, Stentor et al ? Certainly with my two Stentors I have two great instruments but I have heard many a gripe by luhtiers and players alike who have had less happy experience.

Thomann have an excellent customer service and returns are not a problem - even for a DB. I am naturally skeptical about shipping a DB such a long distance but company treat the customer as king and so I would anticipate would resolve any issues.

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[quote name='artisan' timestamp='1394021318' post='2386953']
absolutley no glue showing anywhere on my Strunal,infact build quality is very good indeed as is the sound it produces.
It always irks me when an entire brand is slated bassed on someone's experience with one poor example.
When i bought mine from Thomann i was trying to decide between a Strunal & a Hora,Thomann's strings dept' advised me to go with the Strunal as it sounded somewhat better than the Hora.
[/quote]

I haven't slated the whole brand, just pointing out that a bass that was getting close to two grand shouldn't have those kind of slip ups. Nothing at that price should. Im sure they have made many decent student bass's.

My old bass is a hora from about the late 1950's. Solid as a block and a pretty decent orchestral boom to it. I also know a guy who got to into the berlin philharmoniker academy playing a new thomann hora so they have a good track record.

Edited by fatgoogle
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[quote name='Maude' timestamp='1393764004' post='2384057']
I use a Perfect Ten mini rig and can plug a piezo (J tone) straight in with no pre amp and it sounds good.

I use a BBE Acoustimax pre amp when going to the PA and when I was fiddling with it to get the sound I liked I realised it was exactly the same sound as just plugging the bass straight into the Ashdown, bass, mid and treble set to centre and the deep switch off gets a very nice clean representation of the acoustic bass, so plenty left to adjust tone to your liking.
[/quote]

Seconded
I use a perfect 10 with my stagg and it sounds pretty good with the EUBs piezo pickup....
(Not the lightest of baby amps, tho............)

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