New to double bass

[bass_dude]

Hi all,

I recently decided to take up double bass having played electric bass for a long time and have been looking around with a view to buying a double bass suited to beginners.

Having looked through this forum I gather that it can be a bit of a minefield choosing a double bass especially in the sub £1000 range?

I intend to take lessons and eventually gig with whatever bass I buy - most likely playing jazz standards. I am looking for an entry level double bass which will give a decent sound, have decent build quality and not cost a fortune.

Is there anyone out there who has any recommendations?

I've seen the Antoni Debut 3/4 bass which costs £599 but the shop that is selling it does a rental scheme so I could try it for a few months before deciding to buy it outright. Does anyone know if this bass is any good?

Also I've seen the name Thomann come up on this forum a few times - any recommendations on Thomann bases?

Any recommendations on this would be much appreciated!

Cheers!

[Monckyman]

Hiya, well done on making the decision.
I think you`ll get more value for money second hand,and you`ll get that back if you decide to sell.
This forum regularly has DBs come up for sale, and they`ve usually been looked after.
I advise you stick an ad up.
Then you`ll need strings, a pickup, a bag, some bandages for the fingers, another pickup slightly better than the other one,a rubber bung for yer spike and a big corner of the house that needs propping up.
MM

[TheRev]

The Antoni basses don't seem to have a very good reputation - the general consensus seems to be that the sound and build quality isn't great and that you'll very soon want to upgrade. However, that's just the internet's opinion if you have the opportunity to rent one, you can try one for yourself and see if it meets your requirements. Some people have bought cheap, £400 basses, had some work done on them and are very happy with what they've got, others have spent £10K on a bass and are still looking for 'their' sound. It's all horses for courses really.

However, I do have personal experience of the Thomman bassses. The Thomann 22 bass is good value for money IMO. The bassist in one of my local jazz sessions uses one as his main gigging bass. It sounds good, build quality is good and it should last you for a few years. It's around £720 at the moment which will give your change from your £1000 to spend on a setup and the aforementioned strings, pickup, bag etc.

I also rented a Stentor (proably the student model - not exactly sure) for a couple of months and thought that was a pretty decent bass too, for the money.

I reckon that at sub £1000, you really do get what you pay for, so if you're prepared to wait and lurk around the for sale forum, you'll get a much better deal second hand.

[fatback]

From lots of comments on here (and my own limited experience), an old-ish bass can be best as the wood is stable and much less likely to split. An all-ply bass is perfectly adequate. Solid top + ply is better. All solid is great for sound but expensive and some folks suggest makes feedback problems more likely when amplified.

A cheap new bass can involve you in quite a bit of expense to get it set up. Poor strings, poor end pins etc. A used bass bought from a gigging player will probably have had a lot of problems sorted out already. You might need to pay a luthier for a set up all the same though. But then again, you might be lucky.

Do yourself a favour, buy one on here.

ps, you will not regret the move to upright. Promise.

Edited August 18, 2011 by fatback

[bass_dude]

Thanks for the replies so far - all looks like good information. Will have a look at the "For Sale" forum.