starting double bass, is this any good?

[petercullenbassist]

hey guys, i want to start playing double bass, what shall i look out for and avoid?

this is one i have found... [url="http://www.gear4music.com/Woodwind-Brass-Strings/3-4-Jazz-Size-Double-Bass-in-WHITE/8BV"]http://www.gear4music.com/Woodwind-Brass-S...ss-in-WHITE/8BV[/url]

Thanks

[ZMech]

Hey pete, welcome to the forum. I had the same idea recently, the move to double bass is definitely a good idea, despite the sore hands and ridiculous increase in difficulty! Anyway, I ended up getting one of those second hand,and it's done me pretty well so far. One thing you should keep in mind is the factory setup is rubbish, so you're probably gonna have to take it to a luthier for them to adjust the action, and maybe the soundpost (about £60-90), but it will make it far nicer to play.

The way I went about it was to go for a taster lesson first, to check I enjoyed playing the monster, which obviously I did. He was then nice enough to come with me to check out a bass being sold nearby on gumtree, since I knew nothing at that point. It might be worth seeing if you can do the same in Swansea.

Also, have a search around the DB section of the sight, and the DB part of the for sale section, as you often great value for money in there:
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showforum=14"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showforum=14[/url]
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showforum=76"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showforum=76[/url]

Edited May 22, 2011 by ZMech

[gub]

mmm double bass, maybe as i have just gone to fretless this m ay be the next step for me!

[thisnameistaken]

I went in G4M the other weekend to try their basses, they had a few on the shop floor, they were all terrible.

You would have to re-string it, probably replace the bridge, probably the tailpiece, and get someone to shoot the fingerboard for you, it would cost hundreds, everything on them is garbage honestly I would steer well clear. Even their top-of-the-range carved one was shocking, maybe it could've been made into a good bass with enough investment but I wouldn't want to take the gamble, and you wouldn't be improving the value of it as you ploughed money into it.