miles'tone Posted April 10, 2022 Posted April 10, 2022 I've had a student laminate upright for over 20 years and really want a decent upgrade. I play only pizz, use guts and mostly acoustic (unamplified) jazz/roots. I don't want fully carved, hybrid a possibility. Volume and robustness essential. The budget is 2 grand, what would you go for and where would you look? Go! Quote
Happy Jack Posted April 10, 2022 Posted April 10, 2022 Please do me a favour and buy I have been, and remain, very happy with my old Zeller which I have been gigging for the past 10 years, but I'm still very tempted by that Profundo. If you buy it, then temptation will be removed. Thanks in advance ... Just as a matter of interest, why do you want to change after 20 years? And is your old student bass worth much money? 1 Quote
Beedster Posted April 10, 2022 Posted April 10, 2022 22 minutes ago, Happy Jack said: Please do me a favour and buy I have been, and remain, very happy with my old Zeller which I have been gigging for the past 10 years, but I'm still very tempted by that Profundo. If you buy it, then temptation will be removed. Thanks in advance ... Just as a matter of interest, why do you want to change after 20 years? And is your old student bass worth much money? Yes, buy it and buy it quickly 1 Quote
petebassist Posted April 10, 2022 Posted April 10, 2022 There was an Eastman Vb105 hybrid on sale here last year. I have the same bass, bought and setup very nicely at Bass Bags. That’s where I’d go if I needed to upgrade, wide range to try out and in-house luthier, but I think they’re mainly Eastman so depends on what you’re looking for. Good luck! 1 1 Quote
Beedster Posted April 11, 2022 Posted April 11, 2022 On 10/04/2022 at 10:42, Happy Jack said: Just as a matter of interest, why do you want to change after 20 years? And is your old student bass worth much money? It's a good question, and one that's underpinned by the strong possibility that you'll spend £2k on a new DB and still prefer your old laminate. As you'll pick up from many threads in this sub-forum, the relationship between money spent on DB and DB gear and the quality of sound you get, especially if you're amplifying, is far from linear. And if you want acoustic volume, you might have to try a lot of basses, my 4/4 was a 10 year journey, but it's a shouter and a keeper on that basis 1 Quote
NickA Posted April 11, 2022 Posted April 11, 2022 That stentor would be £3900 new. Why go laminate when you can have a real one in your price range. Having said which a lady in my orchestra has a modern laminated Eastman from bassbags and it sounds fine; quiet and a mite thuddy but ok. And someone brought a 1960 (?) Czech laminate to the last double bass bash that was really rather nice (£1500 I recall). Personally I'd not be inclined to buy a new one ( unless I could afford a T&G Martin or a Martin Penning 😉 ) The double bass rooms seem to have a few interesting older basses at the low to middle price range. Get to Hastings and try a few? https://www.thedoublebassroom.com/basses-for-sale/#.YlSFDijMLiM 1 Quote
JoeEvans Posted April 16, 2022 Posted April 16, 2022 The double bass room seems to be the best place in the country for a bass at that price. I’ve bought two from him over the years, he’s a lovely guy and was happy to let me spend a couple of hours playing different instruments. I think it’s probably the only place in the country where you could play that many basses for under five grand, and it would be worth a visit just to experience the huge range of tone and feel you can get, so that you’d have some context in making a final decision. 2 1 Quote
miles'tone Posted June 24, 2022 Author Posted June 24, 2022 On 10/04/2022 at 10:42, Happy Jack said: Please do me a favour and buy I have been, and remain, very happy with my old Zeller which I have been gigging for the past 10 years, but I'm still very tempted by that Profundo. If you buy it, then temptation will be removed. Thanks in advance ... Just as a matter of interest, why do you want to change after 20 years? And is your old student bass worth much money? Oh bugger me! I snoozed, I losed... Quote
miles'tone Posted June 24, 2022 Author Posted June 24, 2022 (edited) On 10/04/2022 at 10:42, Happy Jack said: Please do me a favour and buy I have been, and remain, very happy with my old Zeller which I have been gigging for the past 10 years, but I'm still very tempted by that Profundo. If you buy it, then temptation will be removed. Thanks in advance ... Just as a matter of interest, why do you want to change after 20 years? And is your old student bass worth much money? Mine is an East German Meinal (I remember being told when I bought it) circa 1980... It's a nice bass but now needs some serious £££s spending on it (about a grand roughly) more than the bass is probably worth. I was originally thinking that the money would be better spent towards an upgrade. Since my post I've put the cash towards a recent '65 P purchase, so I'm keeping my laminate and just going at it d.i.y. style to keep the thing alive. It's a happy learning curve actually (when time allows)... Apologies for such a late reply guys, I didn't get any notifications of replies to this thread for some reason... Cheers all, you're the best! Edited June 24, 2022 by miles'tone Quote
Paddy Morris Posted June 24, 2022 Posted June 24, 2022 Eastman hybrid, as someone has said. And be prepared to get the sound post tweaked and to play the living hell out of it every day for 6 months to 'wake up' the top. Once you've done that they're lovely basses. Comfortable to play, robust and project well. If you can get hold of an ex-demo or used one then the playing-in will have been done for you already. 1 Quote
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