Stentor Rockabilly Bass ?

[Atom Boy]

I'm new here so be kind. But i've been reading posts for a while, thought it was time to make the jump...

I'm currently playing one of the cheap Antoni double basses with wheedwhackers and pretty tasty shadow pickup (that combined with a nice ampeg amp) it sounds "ok".
I sort of accidently ended up playing with a couple of bands as im in fact a drummer and only really messed around with a DB before. I got the DB bug and now i'm playing every weekend!
However the Antoni bass is my wife's that she bought to really do up and decorate....it got decorated... and now destroying it.

So I gotta find one of my own. I need something reasonably cheap as i'm really still a beginner on this. I've searched the internet for cheap DBs and from reading most of the posts on here i'm probably going to stay away from the G4M and Thomann cheap end basses.
I was wondering if anyone has played one of these or what they think of them. It's a Stentor double bass. But what caught my eye is that they say its "set up" and it comes with Innovation silver slaps which I was probably going to put on anyway plus they're UK based company....
Any advice would be great! [url="http://omegamusic.co.uk/buy/stentor-rockabilly-double-bass-3-4-innovation-slap-strings"]http://omegamusic.co.uk/buy/stentor-rockabilly-double-bass-3-4-innovation-slap-strings[/url]

Or should I go for a Gedo one?

If someone has already posted about these then please send me the link.

[Rabbie]

Hi, I have never played the bass you suggest but I am sure you can make a reasonable sound with it. It is what it is: a cheap bass, in the same ballpark as many others in the budget category. I play Rockabilly and roots music like you and I am a lover of plywood basses. Plywoods are a lot cheaper than good carved basses, yet for a good ply you'd need to pay at least 2-3 times as much. Of course nobody needs a top instrument to play in the pub now and again, so don't let this put you off. There are many cut corners which make this bass a budget one: "ebonised" fingerboard and nut are just hardwood painted black which wears off very quickly, the tailpiece is metal instead of ebony, the finish is industrial and shiny, the lamination used will be of inferior quality, the setup is non-specific and Innovation are cheap strings. This is not bad per se: just necessary for a budget instrument. Still, if you play as amateur in the pub at weekends, and especially if your main interest is the drums, and if you play mostly amplified, I'd say you'd be fine with it. I think it is better than the Antoni you have now, but probably still not a "keeper" in the long term. Hope this helps a little, but I'd wait to get a few more opinions from the very knowledgeable people in this forum.

[ubassman]

This thread might be of interest - the same basses. http://basschat.co.uk/topic/216686-stentor-1950-student-model/

[Rabbie]

Not the same model, the one in Bassman thread is the solid wood top one. Still, same fittings.

[ubassman]

Hadnt picked up that the top was laminated spruce on the Rockabilly - good call Rabbie!

[henrywillard]

I was Sales Manager for a reputable UK instrument mail order company for a number of years up until late 2011, and stringed instruments were my specialist department, so I was lucky enough to see and handle a lot of these basses such as the Stentors, Antoni's, Westbury's, Primavera's etc and regularly met with the UK distributors.

Although we're talking a couple of years ago now, I never had much luck with the lower-end Stentor basses, and time and time again sent them straight back to Stentor due to such poor, poor build and finish quality, particularly the white rockabilly's.

As far as playability goes, I've always found Stentor's entry-level basses quite 'chunky' and awkward to play, and just never felt comfortable with one. That however is preference, and there will be a lot of players out there who I'm sure feel comfortable with the feel of a Stentor.

Although still not perfect, the Primavera rockabilly basses are in the same sort of price-range and I always found the build quality to be far better than the Stentor. Well worth checking out as an alternative.
Hope that helps!

[alistair Sutcliffe]

That Stentor looks virtually identical to my low-end Gedo. The only differences i can see is the Gedo has an ebony fb and nut, and the Stentor has Innovation strings. I've only played my Gedo and a Stagg electric db but certainly the Gedo's doing the job of pub gigs perfectly.

If you go for the Stentor, it would be worth asking around your local shops for a price. I've been out of the trade for a few years but Stentor cetainly used to be a general instrument and accessories supplier that most music shops could order from. You might find a shop willing to do it at a better price.

[Beer of the Bass]

[quote name='henrywillard' timestamp='1383874111' post='2270389']
Although still not perfect, the Primavera rockabilly basses are in the same sort of price-range and I always found the build quality to be far better than the Stentor. Well worth checking out as an alternative.
Hope that helps!
[/quote]

I had one of the blonde Primavera basses and was not mightily impressed with the build quality. Though this was around 10 years ago and I suppose they might have improved since then.

[henrywillard]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1383907222' post='2270576']
I had one of the blonde Primavera basses and was not mightily impressed with the build quality. Though this was around 10 years ago and I suppose they might have improved since then.
[/quote]

You could well be right. If the UK distributors of these lower-end instruments are regularly going out to the factories in Asia to check the build quality themselves and feed back any problems, concerns or issues, then you would hope over time that the quality of the instruments slowly improves with each shipment.
I know the UK distributors of Primavera are quite hot on ensuring the quality of their budget instruments is still very respectable.

[ubassman]

The biggest problem with any Chinese factory manufacturer is that the basses are assembled in a very different climate to the UK and the temperature and moisture content of the wood changes, the wood expands ( or contracts ) and the seams open. That said , I have two Stentors one a hybrid , the other fully carved and no probs at all with either. They are robust solid, beautifully toned. A good Stentor is worth every penny and I dont find them chunky hopping about the fingerboard with an orchestral repertoire!

But, maybe its down to luck of the draw

[Beer of the Bass]

A friend of mine has one of the hybrid Stentor Student basses, and I feel like it's not bad for the price. He shares a flat with some old musical friends of mine, so I've played it a fair bit. His is about five years old and has held together so far. It doesn't have the volume or fullness of my old German bass, but I wouldn't expect it to. Stentor's 3/4 size seems to be at the small end of 3/4 though - I'm about 6'1" and I can't get the spike high enough on my friend's bass.

[Rabbie]

That's right, as I said I have never played the rockabilly version but the hibrid 3/4 model, now known as 1950, was my first bass. I also had to put the spike very high and it was a flimsy wee endpin too if I remember well. If memory serves me well, I couldn't really complain about the sound per se, but as soon as I started gigging I found that the bass was falling apart around me: the tuners were unreliable, the black paint stripped off the fingerboard, the bridge was flimsy, the tailpiece was wobbly, I couldn't help feedback and it was so shiny the audience had to wear shades (not really of course)....
In saying that, if I remember well I paid £400 for it back then and it served its purpose well in making me understand I had found my instrument and needed to get something better in order to make the jump.