NeonMig Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 I went to thomann.de and picked the cheapest one they had, their own house brand. 385 euro, came with case and bow, which is about £299. It arrived today. The fingerboard is unvarnished and not the smoothest thing ever, and the wood itself is quite uninspiring to look at. The instrument is... bland, to say the least, appearance wise anyway. They set it up for me, I asked for a low setup and was a bit concerned they might send it to me with the bridge in place, but instead they thoughtfully put it down and marked on where the corners should go, so you pop it in place and start tightening the strings to the desired pitch. So they basically throw you right into the deep end if you're a total beginner. Playing around on it, it's surprisingly good. I mean, my Hora Elite bass that I have back home in Cyprus is lightyears ahead of it, but also costs in the region of 1200 euro so that much is to be expected. The sound is... well, decent. It doesn't have the soul-moving depth that my Romanian-made flame-maple topped Hora has, of course, but then it would be quite silly of me to expect it to. It's got a surprisingly crisp top end, but maybe that's because of the fresh strings. The feel and quality are overall really good, apart from the rather rough feel of the fingerboard and the construction is solid. All in all, if you're thinking of taking up double bass, you really don't have an excuse not to with basses of this price and playability available. It definately gets the job done and is a fantastic learning tool. The case is quite good really, and it's nice to have a double bass that I'm not too terrified of dragging around London on public transport afraid to get knocked, since the damn thing costs less than the second hand cabinet I'm getting for my electric bass amp. It will have its baptism of fire tomorrow as the orchestra I play in will be appearing in and recording the score for an independant motion picture. I'll give a more thorough review of it then and pop it into the reviews section. I just wanted to take this opportunity to say to the elitists, pipe down. Look, ideally we'd all start out on really good quality instruments at a young age with formal tuition, but not all of us are in that boat and that attitude seemed to reflect in instrument manufacturers, in that you couldn't get a decently playable double bass for under about a grand unless you were lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ardi100 Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 That's interesting to know. I'm currently playing a borrowed £385 Gear 4 Music bass that is really hard to play (the action is super high and I don't want to spend any money fixing something that's not mine). I've played double bass before but not for a long time. I've got a restored old German bass back home in Australia which is too expensive to ship and I haven't played for years. I've got the urge now but the borrowed bass is hampering my enjoyment. I've sold some gear and now have about £400 to spend on a new bass but I'm in a bit of a no mans land stuck between rubbish entry level basses and 'decent' used instruments at £1000-ish. It sounds like yours is a good buy, would it be worth spending any extra on their more expensive ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRinser Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I know this is a bit old, but I'm thinking about going for one of these: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_kontrabass_111.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_kontrabass_111.htm[/url] which as far as I can tell is the one you bought? So... How was it, Neon? Worth getting one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantekka Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 [quote name='TheRinser' post='467448' date='Apr 20 2009, 01:50 PM']I know this is a bit old, but I'm thinking about going for one of these: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_kontrabass_111.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_kontrabass_111.htm[/url] which as far as I can tell is the one you bought?[/quote] I think I'm gonna get one of these for myself in the coming months, I was just over with a mate who bought one and really enjoyed playing it. If you're looking for a starting point, I don't think you can go wrong with that price. I reckon it's definitely a better way to go then gradually progressing from fretless to 1/2 size then eventually to 3/4. Having only played a DB once before, I was really impressed with the sound of the thing. I didn't expect much because of the price but it sounded & felt pretty good, like I'd expect one to sound! It feels sturdy, the fingerboard is probably a little rough but thats no harm. Anyway I was impressed enough to decide I'm gonna buy one. For 400eur I think it's excellent value for a beginner, and it probably won't be too difficult to sell on in UK/Ireland at a similar price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I've just ordered the sub-£400 DB from Gear4Music. It arrives on Saturday. I'll let you know how I get on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huge Hands Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 [quote name='The Funk' post='470467' date='Apr 23 2009, 10:50 AM']I've just ordered the sub-£400 DB from Gear4Music. It arrives on Saturday. I'll let you know how I get on![/quote] Welcome to the club! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Thanks! I'm looking forward to it. I haven't played any DB since school and I only dabbled as a beginner back then as I didn't own one - and the classical teachers used to try to keep me from playing the one at school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huge Hands Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 (edited) [quote name='The Funk' post='470545' date='Apr 23 2009, 11:50 AM']Thanks! I'm looking forward to it. I haven't played any DB since school and I only dabbled as a beginner back then as I didn't own one - and the classical teachers used to try to keep me from playing the one at school.[/quote] I, as i have said many times on here, really like mine, but it has required a fair bit of attention, such as needing to reglue the back seam and a bit of bridge jiggery-pokery. However, if you view it with the opinion that this is a cheap as chips instrument (I know that £400 isn't cheap, but is in the eyes of the double bass world) and treat it as so, I think you'll have a right laugh with it. I have with mine. P.S. - I reckon the seam split was due to a family member knocking it over and not owning up! Hide glue? Pah! Wood glue more like! I can't afford a luthier! P.P.S. - Good luck finding somewhere to store the hard case (if they still come with one). They're huge! Edited April 23, 2009 by Huge Hands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Thanks for the info. I'm considering taking it somewhere for a set-up at some stage, even though it's a budget instrument. I don't expect it to play or sound as good as intermediate level instruments but with a decent set-up I'm sure it could be quite playable. Can't wait for Saturday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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