Double Bass buying advice

[JPJ]

So, after years of EUB ownership, I think it’s finally time I moved on to the real thing. I’ve recently missed out on a couple of really nice instruments on here due to my in-built procrastination engine (recently upgraded to version 1.5), and after hour upon hour of late night internet advice browsing I thought I’d ask the Basschat massive for your advice.

The bass will be used in a country/Americana acoustic trio, exclusively Pizz (I’ve tried the bow and I think it’s safe to say it’s not for me). 
So, when buying my first bass, what should I look out for. Budget will be around £1,000 - £1,200, and if you are offering a specific bass, the nearer to the North East of England the better please. 

[TheRev]

Stentor 1950 or Student/Student 2 basses are decent, in your price range and reasonably common.

Edited October 26 by TheRev

[petebassist]

I’d suggest buying a used one that’s already been setup and is gig ready, preferably with an adjustable height bridge so that you change the string type without needing to involve a luthier.

If you do want to buy new, somewhere like Bass Bags have a wide range to try out and have an in house luthier to set them up, which helps. 
your budget is easily enough for a gigable bass & pickup, probably with a carved top and laminate body. Good luck!

[petebassist]

Agree with TheRev about the Stentor 1950. Also a slightly smaller body than most and light. Was my first bass, great for getting round pubs n bars 😀

[Happy Jack]

I have played a number of Zeller DBs (both 3/4 and 4/4) and found them all to be great-sounding and completely consistent. A decent pre-owned model would be easily within your price range.

 

I'm sure the Stentors are great, too, but I've not owned one so can't comment.

 

 

[JPJ]

16 hours ago, petebassist said:

I’d suggest buying a used one that’s already been setup and is gig ready, preferably with an adjustable height bridge so that you change the string type without needing to involve a luthier.

If you do want to buy new, somewhere like Bass Bags have a wide range to try out and have an in house luthier to set them up, which helps. 
your budget is easily enough for a gigable bass & pickup, probably with a carved top and laminate body. Good luck!

Thanks Pete, I should have said I am looking for a used example.

[Beer of the Bass]

For that budget and in the UK, a decent mid-20th century European laminate bass could be a good choice, and they do come up if you wait around and watch on here and other bass specific selling places. Or relatively recent carved or hybrid student basses like the Stentors, Zellers, and Czech and Romanian ones under a few names would also be good.

Any older carved bass in that range will likely have something keeping the value down, perhaps less than ideal old repairs, or needing immediate work, but you might just get lucky.

Edited October 27 by Beer of the Bass

[hubrad]

My first dB was a Zeller, and in shop days I sold quite a few Stentor 1950. I've recently bought a Stentor Student 2 cheap as it needed loads of work  

Recommend any of those. Budget for your choice of pickup and strings.

Longest term, remain open to the idea of bowing.. even physically it's remarkably different on a 'real' dB compared to an EUB.

[petebassist]

9 minutes ago, hubrad said:

My first dB was a Zeller, and in shop days I sold quite a few Stentor 1950. I've recently bought a Stentor Student 2 cheap as it needed loads of work  

Recommend any of those. Budget for your choice of pickup and strings.

Longest term, remain open to the idea of bowing.. even physically it's remarkably different on a 'real' dB compared to an EUB.

Hugh, I bought my Stentor 1950 on the basis of watching a video that you did about the same model - helped me immensely. 😁

[TorturedSaints]

When I messaged you about NS Wav basses at the beginning of 2023, I said you had better budget for a DB in about a year.  I was only 9 months out!  😀
 

I second hubrad’s suggestion to try bowing again - it’s much more rewarding on a DB than on a EUB.  Good luck with your search! 
 

R.

[hubrad]

On 29/10/2024 at 08:57, petebassist said:

Hugh, I bought my Stentor 1950 on the basis of watching a video that you did about the same model - helped me immensely. 😁

Thanks for the comment! I'd all but forgotten about that one:

 

The next vid in search was actually by a chap who'd just got a 1950 a couple of days previous, so a really good follow-on for someone coming from electric onto dB:

 

Don't suppose you're on here, Jason?

 

 

 

[JPJ]

A small update, I currently have a loan of this lovely Boosey Hawkes Excelsior 50/2 care of our own @Blartfactor10. Based on my initial fumblings I believe she may well be staying with me in exchange for a very reasonable sum of beer vouchers 😎

[ezbass]

How are you finding the transition from EUB to proper doghouse? 

[Beedster]

36 minutes ago, JPJ said:

A small update, I currently have a loan of this lovely Boosey Hawkes Excelsior 50/2 care of our own @Blartfactor10. Based on my initial fumblings I believe she may well be staying with me in exchange for a very reasonable sum of beer vouchers 😎

Very nice 👌

[JPJ]

1 hour ago, ezbass said:

How are you finding the transition from EUB to proper doghouse? 

Surprisingly, I’m actually finding the neck on the doghouse easier to move around on than the EUB which feels deeper in the hand. It’s actually not but the doghouse has more shape (a bit like comparing a baseball bat ‘51 precision and a 70’s Jazz). I am having to work the right hand harder, especially to get the E string to speak with a full tone. 

[Burns-bass]

2 hours ago, JPJ said:

Surprisingly, I’m actually finding the neck on the doghouse easier to move around on than the EUB which feels deeper in the hand. It’s actually not but the doghouse has more shape (a bit like comparing a baseball bat ‘51 precision and a 70’s Jazz). I am having to work the right hand harder, especially to get the E string to speak with a full tone. 

This is the biggest problem with the transition from EUB to DB.
 

Be sure to watch the videos online about using arm weight. Using proper technique means you can be dexterous without putting any strain on your thumb.

 

I’m not trying to patronise you, it’s a mistake I made and it can really impact you negatively.

 

This bass looks amazing and I’m sure you’ll love it. Just protect your hands.!

[JPJ]

2 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

This is the biggest problem with the transition from EUB to DB.
 

Be sure to watch the videos online about using arm weight. Using proper technique means you can be dexterous without putting any strain on your thumb.

 

I’m not trying to patronise you, it’s a mistake I made and it can really impact you negatively.

 

This bass looks amazing and I’m sure you’ll love it. Just protect your hands.!

Thanks, all good advice and well received.

I have an old left hand thumb injury that makes me very protective of my left hand, and it was a flare up of this injury that ended my ownership of the KK Baby Bass EUB as there was just no way to keep the weight of the instrument off my left thumb. Since getting the NS EUB I have been working much more on my technique and I’m an avid watcher of Geoff Chalmers ‘Discover Double Bass’ series, but using arm weight on the NS does cause a certain amount of movement of the instrument but I can already put this to good use on the Excelsior as the instrument really wants to hug you. This, along with the slimmer feeling neck, is already helping reduce wrist and hand pressure. 

[PaulKing]

17 hours ago, JPJ said:

A small update, I currently have a loan of this lovely Boosey Hawkes Excelsior 50/2 care of our own @Blartfactor10. Based on my initial fumblings I believe she may well be staying with me in exchange for a very reasonable sum of beer vouchers 😎

Great choice. Well built, smooth, quite dark-sounding basses. Probably built by the Strunal Factory in Luby, Czech Republic.

[Burns-bass]

12 hours ago, JPJ said:

Thanks, all good advice and well received.

I have an old left hand thumb injury that makes me very protective of my left hand, and it was a flare up of this injury that ended my ownership of the KK Baby Bass EUB as there was just no way to keep the weight of the instrument off my left thumb. Since getting the NS EUB I have been working much more on my technique and I’m an avid watcher of Geoff Chalmers ‘Discover Double Bass’ series, but using arm weight on the NS does cause a certain amount of movement of the instrument but I can already put this to good use on the Excelsior as the instrument really wants to hug you. This, along with the slimmer feeling neck, is already helping reduce wrist and hand pressure. 

Very smart. I wish I’d followed all this advice when I started!

[MJJS]

I’ve preached this before but really do believe it.

 

A couple of lessons with a classical db tutor on positioning of the bass and left/right hand pizz technique is the most important money a db player can spend.

 

It’s really noticeable for yourself in terms of ‘destressing your hands and playing stamina.

 

Good luck.

[NickA]

7 hours ago, MJJS said:

a classical db tutor

Tho they do tend to assume you'll be sitting down with the bass at quite a flat angle ... and know little about pizz for jazz, let alone slap etc.  Though a lot of jazz bassists have some classical training and quite a few classical players at least dabble in jazz.

 

I had a couple of lessons off a purely classical guy and it certainly improved my classical playing and sorted some good fingering techniques.  Now thinking of going to a jazz pro ..tho that's mostly about WHAT to play not HOW.

 

I'd recommend finding someone who is not just a classisist anyway. 

[Burns-bass]

1 hour ago, NickA said:

Tho they do tend to assume you'll be sitting down with the bass at quite a flat angle ... and know little about pizz for jazz, let alone slap etc.  Though a lot of jazz bassists have some classical training and quite a few classical players at least dabble in jazz.

 

I had a couple of lessons off a purely classical guy and it certainly improved my classical playing and sorted some good fingering techniques.  Now thinking of going to a jazz pro ..tho that's mostly about WHAT to play not HOW.

 

I'd recommend finding someone who is not just a classisist anyway. 

I had some lessons with the incredible Greg Cordez and an hour of his time for a few weeks transformed how I played.  Would love to go back but I just can’t find the time at the moment.

[JPJ]

Just to close out on this thread, following the purchase of Lilly, we played our first gig together on Saturday night up in deepest darkest Northumberland. As I was bringing the PA, I left my amp at home so this was a gig of two firsts, first full gig on acoustic double bass, and first gig without any form of backline. Relying solely on the FOH for monitoring was possibly a leap too far, so I will be using my IEM’s for the next outing, but other than that it was a massively pleasing experience and Lilly received a lot of compliments from the crowd comprising of friends of the band, locals, and others who had travelled to see us.