Ideas for selling double basses

[sk-bass]

Hi,

 

I’m not sure if any of you have tried selling a double bass before, but it’s not easy!!

I have just inherited a collection from my father and have no idea of the best course of action, other than just taking them to auction and getting 50% of what they’re worth. 
I’m in London if that makes a difference. 
Plus if anyone is in the market for 3/4 swell or flat basses including 5 strings, let me know!

 

 Thanks!

Edited Thursday at 08:16 by sk-bass

[knirirr]

When I got mine the seller put the word about amongst tutors in the area. If you know any then that might be worth a try.
Sadly, I only have room for one.

[Happy Jack]

Any unusual basses in the collection, or are they all 'normal' 3/4 and 4/4 basses?

[Beedster]

Frankly you're in London, where there are a lot of bassists, plus it's an easy place to get to for most people (you could have been in Aberdeen), plus you're now talking to the largest online community of bassists in the UK. You've made a good start 👍

 

Might be an idea to take a few photos and post them here, I'm no expert but there are a lot of very helpful folks on this site who are and will offer good advice

 

Good luck

[Beer of the Bass]

There must be some shops in your area who would take at least some of them on consignment - it can be slower but the returns are usually slightly better than auctioning with limited info and it gets you a professional opinion on them.

If it's a large number of basses, they're likely to only want to take the better ones, but it's worth enquiring.

[simonlittle]

As @Beedster said, being in London is a big help. There are a few places that could sell you bass for you on commission. Plus there are plenty of double bass players about here. Found myself on the overground with two others in the same carriage coming back from a gig the other night!

A lot will depend on the quality of the instruments. It’s probably easier to sell cheaper ones as there’s a larger market. The better basses are best off in a shop where the right people are more likely to see them. 
Laurence Dixon’s Bass Place in Herne Hill is a great place to start. Bridgewood & Neizert in Stoke Newington maybe. I’d probably steer clear of the bass guitar shops for now as it’s generally the wrong customer base. 
Out of town you could talk to Thomas & George Martin in Banbury about more high end basses, or The Double Bass Room in Battle for more mid-range instruments. I’m sure there are other places. 
There’s also a good Facebook group for selling double basses. It’s international but there don’t tend to be many basses for sale in the UK so you could attract a bit of attention there. 
And of course there’s the mighty Basschat! Let’s see some pictures! 📸
 

 

[keeponehandloose]

Try the Double Bass Room in Battle,,  I was there at weekend and people from all over were viewing. Seems a popular place.

[NickA]

Well, you can advertise here, but "posh" basses don't really sell that well ( ie stentors and zellers will go, a John Lott, perhaps not).

 

Musicalchairs.com?  But it suffers from people wanting to try several basses, rather than travel miles to try just one.

 

Bass shop ( thwaites, neitzert, Tofts, turners etc) but they'll sting you for 20% commission.  Bassbags will also sell stuff on commission (10% I think) specialise in mid range stuff but like to have the odd £10k bass in stock.  Good thing about these folk is that they know lots of people, get lots of custom; they all know each other and will commission-share if someone is hunting for a particular thing and they know where one is.

 

I recently had to sell my late dad's cellos.  Bassbags have agreed to sell his £3k teaching cello ( it was on musical chairs for a year with zero interest) but his performance cello ( rare 18th century job) had to go to a specialist restorer who charged us £5k to do it up and will take another £15k or so in commission when it sells ..... still better than selling "as seen" at auction.

 

The value determines the best method really.  Do you know what you have in that respect?

 

Try here first!

[sk-bass]

Thank you all for your help! 
 

I’ve heard of the shop in Battle, so might give him a call. 
 

i know they have all been through Roger Dawson’s workshop (he was a friend of my dad). My dad made a few of them with Roger so they would be collaborations I guess. 
 

That’s said, I think they are probably in the 3-5k range, realistically. Apart from the 5 strings which may be worth a bit more. There’s a German bass from about 1850 that he restored with Roger too. 
 

I’ll put up some pics!

 

 Thanks again 

[NickA]

Sounds like you could just start up your own double bass room!  How many do you have?

 

It's really hard to put prices on old instruments, I've seen 19th century "German Basses" for anything from £2k to £15k, it really does need the advice of a dealer - or a day trying other basses to see where yours fit in the price range.  The dealers always big up the sale price and knock down the buy price ("it will need a lot of work to reach show-room condition" etc).  "Rob-Dogs" as my gran used to say.  It's a jungle out there.

 

Prices at the double bass rooms seem remarkably reasonable, so you might get a better price out of Thwaites (or similar), but might also have a long wait to get it (eg they have the identical cello to my Dad's teaching one up for £4k and it's been there for at least 18 months .. I was only asking £3k on musicalchairs).

 

Looking forward to some pictures!

[Burns-bass]

16 hours ago, NickA said:

Sounds like you could just start up your own double bass room!  How many do you have?

 

It's really hard to put prices on old instruments, I've seen 19th century "German Basses" for anything from £2k to £15k, it really does need the advice of a dealer - or a day trying other basses to see where yours fit in the price range.  The dealers always big up the sale price and knock down the buy price ("it will need a lot of work to reach show-room condition" etc).  "Rob-Dogs" as my gran used to say.  It's a jungle out there.

 

Prices at the double bass rooms seem remarkably reasonable, so you might get a better price out of Thwaites (or similar), but might also have a long wait to get it (eg they have the identical cello to my Dad's teaching one up for £4k and it's been there for at least 18 months .. I was only asking £3k on musicalchairs).

 

Looking forward to some pictures!

This is all excellent advice and I look forward to seeing the pics too.

 

Dealers of string instruments have a tough time. It can take a long time to make a sale which means lots of cash stuck on stock, so we can’t give then too hard of a time.

 

I’m sorry to hear of the loss of your dad.

[sk-bass]

On 06/03/2025 at 09:14, Happy Jack said:

Any unusual basses in the collection, or are they all 'normal' 3/4 and 4/4 basses?

They are all 3/4 41” ish. There are two 5 strings. One of them is an old German bass circa 1850 that got restored by Roger Dawson  and my dad, who also made about 6 basses. Mostly sold now but there are 2 left I think. Both collaborations with Roger. 

[sk-bass]

Just now, sk-bass said:

They are all 3/4 41” ish. There are two 5 strings. One of them is an old German bass circa 1850 that got restored by Roger Dawson  and my dad, who also made about 6 basses. Mostly sold now but there are 2 left I think. Both collaborations with Roger. 

I mean my dads are mostly sold. There are 17 remaining in total

[sk-bass]

17 hours ago, NickA said:

Sounds like you could just start up your own double bass room!  How many do you have?

 

It's really hard to put prices on old instruments, I've seen 19th century "German Basses" for anything from £2k to £15k, it really does need the advice of a dealer - or a day trying other basses to see where yours fit in the price range.  The dealers always big up the sale price and knock down the buy price ("it will need a lot of work to reach show-room condition" etc).  "Rob-Dogs" as my gran used to say.  It's a jungle out there.

 

Prices at the double bass rooms seem remarkably reasonable, so you might get a better price out of Thwaites (or similar), but might also have a long wait to get it (eg they have the identical cello to my Dad's teaching one up for £4k and it's been there for at least 18 months .. I was only asking £3k on musicalchairs).

 

Looking forward to some pictures!

There are 17. Mostly in the 3-5k range. The 5 strings 5-7k. I would accept the lower estimate for quick sales. They’re all very nice basses and sound lovely. 

[NickA]

1 hour ago, Burns-bass said:

It can take a long time to make a sale

My dad's cello went for restoration a year ago and is still not sold; tho negotiations are under way.  However as it's a commission sale the dealer has no outlay ( they were paid for the restoration) but they still have a shop and a workshop to support.  Most of all they return rare and lovely instruments to professional playing standard and the work is skilled, detailed, intense and long winded.  I don't begrudge these guys ...

 

I guess the bigger sellers buy cheap at auction and suck up the workshop costs before trying to recoup it all in the sales price.  

 

The odd unscrupulous dealer will put unrestored instruments on show and it's up to the buyer to ensure all the necessary work is done within the ticket price.

[Owen]

43 minutes ago, sk-bass said:

There are 17.

This has enabled me to look at my collection of bass guitars in a new light!

 

 

[NickA]

17 REMAINING!!!!!! 

 

I only had two cellos a guitar and a Viola de Gamba of my dad's!

 

Trying to talk two of my orchestra bass section colleagues into an upgrade but that would barely scratch the surface.

[Burns-bass]

Can you own 17 basses and not be some sort of dealer, trader or industry professional? His relationship with Roger suggests your dad was someone with some incredible connections in the industry, too, given his place in DB legend.

 

I guess most dealers would struggle to come up with the cash for them all to be honest. It's not like the market is massive in the UK.

 

Like others, can't wait to see them.

 

Where are you based?

 

 

[Beer of the Bass]

17 basses? With the size of the market in the UK, that would be slow to move however well advertised they are, unless a dealer takes them at a job lot price to resell over a few years themselves.

[sk-bass]

3 hours ago, NickA said:

My dad's cello went for restoration a year ago and is still not sold; tho negotiations are under way.  However as it's a commission sale the dealer has no outlay ( they were paid for the restoration) but they still have a shop and a workshop to support.  Most of all they return rare and lovely instruments to professional playing standard and the work is skilled, detailed, intense and long winded.  I don't begrudge these guys ...

 

I guess the bigger sellers buy cheap at auction and suck up the workshop costs before trying to recoup it all in the sales price.  

 

The odd unscrupulous dealer will put unrestored instruments on show and it's up to the buyer to ensure all the necessary work is done within the ticket price.

I can see that happening, but these have all been fully restored. It’s what he did. 

[sk-bass]

1 hour ago, Beer of the Bass said:

17 basses? With the size of the market in the UK, that would be slow to move however well advertised they are, unless a dealer takes them at a job lot price to resell over a few years themselves.

Tell me about it! He was an enthusiastic hoarder. 

[sk-bass]

1 hour ago, Beer of the Bass said:

17 basses? With the size of the market in the UK, that would be slow to move however well advertised they are, unless a dealer takes them at a job lot price to resell over a few years themselves.

I have come to that conclusion myself, which is why I’m ok with selling them for less than they would be ‘worth’ under normal circumstances. 

[sk-bass]

2 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

Can you own 17 basses and not be some sort of dealer, trader or industry professional? His relationship with Roger suggests your dad was someone with some incredible connections in the industry, too, given his place in DB legend.

 

I guess most dealers would struggle to come up with the cash for them all to be honest. It's not like the market is massive in the UK.

 

Like others, can't wait to see them.

 

Where are you based?

 

 

 

3 hours ago, NickA said:

17 REMAINING!!!!!! 

 

I only had two cellos a guitar and a Viola de Gamba of my dad's!

 

Trying to talk two of my orchestra bass section colleagues into an upgrade but that would barely scratch the surface.

That’s good! They are all set up as orchestral. Some are very nice. There’s a Scarampella in there somewhere, but I guess that would need verification. 

[sk-bass]

On 06/03/2025 at 08:15, sk-bass said:

Hi,

 

I’m not sure if any of you have tried selling a double bass before, but it’s not easy!!

I have just inherited a collection from my father and have no idea of the best course of action, other than just taking them to auction and getting 50% of what they’re worth. 
I’m in London if that makes a difference. 
Plus if anyone is in the market for 3/4 swell or flat basses including 5 strings, let me know!

 

 Thanks!

Is this the right place to put these images?

[sk-bass]