I'm looking for a 3/4 double bass - any useful suggestions

[Marc S]

Hi there
I'm new to this forum, and already I've seen some useful info on here
Cheers to all those helpful fellow bass folk on here

Here goes,
I've been playing bass guitar for quite a few years
With a big gap in the middle when I got married, had a son, got divorced etc

I bought a Stagg EUB a year back and I really like it
Now I'd like to get an acoustic DB (3/4)
I've been trawling around the ads / ebay etc but there don't seem to be any in South Wales
apart from 1 in a music shop in Cardiff - and that's overpriced

I was looking at secondhand, but they all crop up miles away
The sellers want paying first, before you've even tried the instrument etc

I was just wondering what experiences anyone has had, good or bad
from the likes of people on the net like gear4music / amazon etc?

on G4M, they've got basses for around £360
are these made in China? are they any good?

At the moment, I don't want to spend a fortune....
I'm enjoying the Stagg, but I'd really like that rich, warm sound you only get from an acoustic DB

Any suggestions or ideas welcome
Apologies if this has been asked too many times

Marc

Edited September 3, 2013 by Marc S

[AndyBass]

I can probably summarise the answers you'd find spread across various forum posts as follows:

Don't buy a Gear4Music bass, they're not any good (not a personal opinion, never played one, but its the overwhelming view I've come across on forums)
If you're going to buy new and mail order and on a budget, Thomann and Gedo are reliable, good to deal with and sell decent instruments, though the cheaper ones are made in China and less well regarded as such (due to quality control mainly, you can still get good ones)
Ebay is a risky business if you don't know what you're looking for, you can miss spotting costly flaws/shoddy repairs, etc. But it can pay off if you do your homework first (ie trawl forums to understand the reputation of the maker, what flaws to look for etc)
Buying used off here is great if you can do it, as people are generally open to letting you try stuff first, but if its nowhere near you then it can't be helped. But it may be worth the petrol cost to get something just right as you'll probably be spending a lot of time with your new bass. Also maybe put a post up in here and in the classifieds for a budget bass wanted in South Wales.

And of course the final one is that pretty much everyone will tell you you're doing the right thing as double basses are great and every home should have (at least) one.

As I say, the above isn't my experience in all cases, though I got my first bass off Ebay and mail ordered my next one in from the people who supply Thomann.

Good luck,

Andy

[fatback]

I'd add, if you buy privately be prepared to take your time and do a bit of driving.

Good luck with your search. it'll be well worth it.

[Cat Burrito]

I think Andy's answer is excellent and pretty much sums up what I've heard too. The Gear 4 Music stuff is often very badly setup (i.e. not at all!) which can really put off a new player. I reckon Gedo just pushes Thomann in who to go for but I'd be happy with both. I bought my bass from my local shop and he set it up for me, ordering it in for me. I keep thinking I should upgrade and ideally I'd get a Gedo but Thomann do have some nice stuff.

[ChrisF]

+1 for Thomann. Got one from the cheaper end of their range... and I love it. Although be prepared to change the strings as soon as you get it. The strings on the lower budget basses are rubbish.

I suppose it depends what sort of music you are going to play too. My bass is fine for rockabilly/bluesy style music, but might not give a good tone for bowing (although why any sane person would want to do that is beyond me )

[Marc S]

Thanks for all your speedy & helpful replies
I do like the look of a couple of basses in the Gedo range
The more research I do, the more I'm drawn to the solid top type of bass,
rather than the completely laminated type

I'll take another look at Thomann too
G4M also do a solid top - but if folk on here have had bad experiences,
I'll bear that in mind.....

Honestly, there are just none around this neck of the woods
bar a couple I've seen advertised, and which have obviously sold,
but the sellers don't take the ads down, or bother to reply to enquiries.... groan!

I take your point re the strings
I'm used to roundwounds on bass guitar,
and the flat wounds which came fitted to my Stagg EDB played havoc with my fingers

Not knowing too much about different types of DB string,
I bought a 2nd hand set of nylon wraps
and they have improved things no end
well, apart from my playing, of course

I'll be playing mainly rockabilly/bluesy stuff too - if I played with a bow,
it would be one more thing to forget

Cheers again
Marc

[invicta59]

Try your local luthier - he/she may know of some local ones, or even be able to supply a decent new one. I've had a Zeller bass for about 8 years now - in all that time all I've done is put a new bridge on it. The luthier reckoned that one like mine (a 3/4 solid wood) was about £1200 brand new. If you chose that route, you'd probably get a real good setup done on it too.

Edited September 3, 2013 by invicta59

[Marc S]

Just wondered whether this one was a good starting point?
It's part laminated, part solid

Anyone got any experience of these?

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Deluxe-Solid-Double-Bass-Case/dp/B0012I9BYU/ref=sr_1_16?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1378223882&sr=1-16&keywords=3%2F4+double+bass#productDetails"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Deluxe-Solid-Double-Bass-Case/dp/B0012I9BYU/ref=sr_1_16?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1378223882&sr=1-16&keywords=3%2F4+double+bass#productDetails[/url]

[fatback]

Isn't that a G4M? Not much love around here for those.

[stingrayPete1977]

I have a solid top Gedo and Im not sure its such a good idea for live gigs, I think its the route of my feedback issues which thankfully are getting better after muting the tail piece and making some fetching F hole mutes, I might have been better off with a full laminate and putting the extra money I paid for the carved top on some lessons

Gedo are a great company to deal with though and my bass is really nice, very happy with it so far

[fatback]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1378226009' post='2197333']
I have a solid top Gedo and Im not sure its such a good idea for live gigs, I think its the route of my feedback issues which thankfully are getting better after muting the tail piece and making some fetching F hole mutes, I might have been better off with a full laminate and putting the extra money I paid for the carved top on some lessons

Gedo are a great company to deal with though and my bass is really nice, very happy with it so far
[/quote]

I honestly don't think a solid top is necessarily feedback prone. It's going to be a combinations of bass, pickup, preamp/amp control and the band/stage setup too. I have heard people say that all solid is more likely to give problems, but hybrids don;t seem to have that reputation at all.

I wonder if you haven't just been unlucky with the permutations?

[stingrayPete1977]

I have tried a lot of permutations though It seems to resonate from the top via the bridge and into the tail piece from what I can tell.

[Marc S]

Hi all, yes fatback, it is a G4M. I just thought as it was part carved, part laminate, it might be a better bet than their cheaper all laminated?

[Marc S]

As a newbie on here, it's alarming that I've learned of a bad reputation for G4m already... anyone had any good experiences of them?

[stingrayPete1977]

Not that I know of, general feeling is a toss up between Gedo or the Thomann ones, also I dont think the cheaper Gedo basses are chinese but I could be wrong, I think mine is Romanian? although there are Gedo basses cheaper than mine I suppose. Nice touch with the gedo is that you can spec what you want and they will put it on their site as a special order (mine is or was an actual model for a while, Half carved, Spiro strings, adjustable bridge and ebony board) I wanted to pay on a credit card just to get the protection but I dont think I would have any worry in future anyway.

[Marc S]

Thanks again for that info stingrayPete,
I'm leaning towards Gedo & Thomann, I think
I do like the look of some of Gedo's all-laminated models too, anyone got any experience / thoughts on those?

[stingrayPete1977]

I'm glad I did, best of luck

[alistair Sutcliffe]

[quote name='Marc S' timestamp='1378230103' post='2197437']
I do like the look of some of Gedo's all-laminated models too, anyone got any experience / thoughts on those?
[/quote]

I've got one of these : http://www.gedo-musik.de/shop/product.php?id_product=245

I play rockabilly slap and late 50s/early 60's pop. I can't offer any advice on arco (i sold the bow that came with it on ebay for about £35).
It's solidly built, looks nice and i've had no feedback issues. It's very quiet acoustically but through the pa it sounds like a much more expensive instrument. Putting some Innovation Silver Slaps on it was a revelation, really brought it to life.

If i was playing jazz to guaranteed well-behaved audiences i might have gone for something better, but for playing r'n'r in pubs it's perfect. If i lost it, i wouldn't upgrade, i'd buy another one identical.
I'm a long way from you but should you find yourself down this way you're more than welcome to try it out

[TheRev]

Realistically, how much are you willing to spend? Thomann and Gedo basses are good value for money but you need to be spending £800+ to get one of the European made ones - if you don't have that sort of money available then there's no point in us reccomending them!

So, let's be realistic. If you only have £400 to spent then it's either a Chinese made Thomann or Gear4Music or you wait and keep an eye on the for sale ads for a bargain to come up (be prepared to travel).

I looked after a G4M bass for a couple of months while the owner moved house. I wasn't very impressed. The neck was very chunky with sharp edges to the fingerboard. Every time I tuned up, the whole thing creaked alarmingly lke a galleon under full sail and the sound was pretty dull. It could possibly be improved by putting on some low tension nylon strings to alleviate the creakiness and having a luthier radius the edges of the fingerboard, but you'd still be left with a dull sounding bass. I'd only recommend this option to someone who 1) had a top limit of £400. 2) just wanted to 'have a go' to see if they liked it and 3) were going to be playing rockabilly or really thuddy bluegrass. Given that you've been playing EUB for a year and now want 'something bettr', I really don't think a £400 chinese bass will do what you want. In all honesty it probably won't sound any better than your Stagg.

So, option two: hang in there and wait for a bargain. I spent four or five months intensively looking before a 50s East German laminate came up for sale locally. I paid £600 for it and spent another £250 on getting the neck shaped and the fingerboard re-shot. it plays and sounds great (for a 50s East German laminate...) and I'm glad I spent the time looking. Bargains are out there, but you have to be prepared to wait and to travel. I was lucky finding one so close but I did one 60 mile round trip to look at some real peices of crap.

But....I ended up paying £850 (not including strings and pickup) for which i could have bought a Stentor Student 2, a Thomann 2 (actually a rebadged Strunal and a very good bass for the money) or I could have taken a trip to Thwaites in Watford and had my pick from one of their [url="http://www.thwaites.com/basses/basses-up-to-1000?zenid=ca85ce170ef1e5ffdd306227c34a3f8b"]sub £1k basses [/url]any of which could well have bagged me a bass of the same quality and playibility as me beloved Jayne - although Mr Thwaites is selling similar basses to mine for £1500, so maybe I made the right choice after all.

This isn't Talkbass, so I don't want to be telling you that you must spent £1500 on a bass before you can even post on here, [b]but[/b] at £400 you're looking at the very bottom of the double bass market. Down here, you really only get what you pay for, unless you can find some old boy selling his bass for what he paid for it in 1968 just cos he wants it to got to someone who'll appeciate it. Those old boys are few and far between!

If you want to step up from your Stagg and get something worth your while, then my honest advice would be to scour the forsale ads on here, on ebay, on gumtree, in your local paper and anywhere else you can think of for a decent secondhand bass. While you do this, try squirreling away some more cash if you can - a few hundred quid at this price point can make all the diference between a tidy, well made, played in east European ply and an uninspiring bass shaped heap of firewood-in-waiting.

[SevenSeas]

My opinion on the Gear for Music basses, as I currently own and use one.

I decided to take a big risk after having a masterclass with Ian Jennings and thought ... 'I need a double bass' and went and brought a gear for music one, mainly at the time (being pretty skint) it seemed like the best option £400. I was definitely wrong, didn't realise it would need a big setup, new strings (various different things done in the workshop, too many to list). It cost me just over £380 for the setup. New strings and £200 in the workshop. So just under £800! (Gear for Music, didn't tell me it would come with the strings not even on it)

So if you can find something for about £800 then i'd go for that. I think you would be better off buying a second hand double bass if i'm honest. (I wish I did)

I've used my G4M Bass for nearly two years (come January) and i've done 60 gigs with it and to be fair. It has been pretty reliable although it now needs more work doing to it. (which I'm just waiting out until I get a new one next year) also because i've been using public transport to London and Bath and different places it has got pretty bashed around.

The sound is okay, not fantastic but not bad. A lot of your sounds comes from the player anyway rather than the bass.

If you can find someone who has a second hand G4M bass and is selling it cheap (cheaper then new) i'd go for that, they come up on ebay quite a lot and you can see if they're already setup or not. (they still might need additional work though)

Just my opinion. I think it ultimately depends on how much money you have to spend.

[mtroun]

Just remember that buying a double bass in no way compares to buying a bass guitar or EUB. I have a £150 bass guitar that is perfectly good, but the £400 double bass I started on was, in retrospect, not a good decision (but it was all I could afford) My best advice would be to look out for an old-ish Eastern European plywood bass on gumtree or basschat, go and look at an instrument before you commit to buying.

[Marc S]

Hi again,
alastair, stingray, The Rev, andrew r - you have all given me so much helpful info
Thanks ever so much for that

The fact that nothing ever seems to come up in 2nd hand in the Cardiff area
just seems to have added to my desire to get my hands on a DB all the more urgently
I know I must take some more time, and you are all underlining that for me

At the mo, I'm watching a newly listed Antoni on ebay
That looks a good budget bass, from what I can gather

I was initially looking to get something around the £400 mark
I've got to say though, I'm really seduced more & more by the offerings by Gedo
I'm tempted by their half-carved brown model for £649
I know that'll be in the same bracket as the Antoni - well, ish
But the fact that Gedo will do their set-up to your requirements is surely a plus

Thanks again all,
I'm indebted to you guys
I only just joined basschat - but already I can see it's full of helpful folk like yourselves,
and it's great to chat to fellow bass players, rather than being forced to chat to lead guitarists anyway eh? lol

Marc

Edited September 4, 2013 by Marc S

[stingrayPete1977]

Don't forget the shipping is £75 but they are well packed plus you get a bow, soft case and rosin.

[FLoydElgar]

Just rent a bass... from Thwaites in Watford around £40 a month inc insurance... Also you can rent instruments from your local county for me Kent music offer £80 a year rental for adults and £40 for "students" all the best..

[Marc S]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1378300769' post='2198331']
Don't forget the shipping is £75 but they are well packed plus you get a bow, soft case and rosin.
[/quote]

Hi again,
Is there any import duty / tax on top as well?
Only just thought about that
I've bought a few bits & pieces from the US and been "stung"

Cheers again
Marc