Advice on buying a cheap DB

[Captaincoog]

Hello, I am looking at buying a cheap DB off ebay. I know next to nothing about upright, having played electric for 2 decades. I am only looking to fork out a few hundred dollars at the most, so would it be too much of a mistake if the instrument turned out to be junk? The only concern is that if it needs some setting up by a professional, would it be worth it.
Anyone have any wisdom/experience to pass on?
Thanks

[Chasarms]

The best advice I can offer is to click here and read until your eyes are tired.

[greitzer]

Or, if you don't want tired eyes, take this advice -- don't do it. Buying a bass off eBay is a HUGE gamble. If you're okay with blowing a few hundred bucks on a piece of junk that can't be fixed, or isn't worth fixing, or would cost a thousand to fix, then go ahead. Otherwise, don't. Unless, of course, you have a few hundred bucks to throw away . . .

[Snarf]

My advice on buying a db with a few hundred is . . . don't.

[drurb]

Well, if you need interesting firewood, go ahead.

[Silversorcerer]

Originally Posted by Captaincoog

Hello, I am looking at buying a cheap DB off ebay. I know next to nothing about upright, having played electric for 2 decades. I am only looking to fork out a few hundred dollars at the most, so would it be too much of a mistake if the instrument turned out to be junk? The only concern is that if it needs some setting up by a professional, would it be worth it.
Anyone have any wisdom/experience to pass on?
Thanks

I'll tell you what, send me the couple hundred bucks;- you'll never hear from me again and you can kick yourself in the pants over it. Same thing without the hassle of disposing of your purchase.

[klocwerk]

gee, what a shock. the DB snobs blow of another financially-challenged bassist. *sigh*

Yes, it will not be a fantastic instrument, but you can get one and play it and have fun. People played washtub basses for years, and I guarantee that an e-bay cheapie will at least live up to that tonal quality.

Do some searching for the least of the evils, and go with that.
If you can swing it, start sticking money in a piggy bank and then buy a decent bass next year.

[Silversorcerer]

Originally Posted by klocwerk

gee, what a shock. the DB snobs blow of another financially-challenged bassist. *sigh*

Yes, it will not be a fantastic instrument, but you can get one and play it and have fun. People played washtub basses for years, and I guarantee that an e-bay cheapie will at least live up to that tonal quality.

Do some searching for the least of the evils, and go with that.
If you can swing it, start sticking money in a piggy bank and then buy a decent bass next year.

OK, I'm now officially a "DB snob". Thanks for the compliment. If you must know, back when I was poor (wait a minute, I'm still poor!) I made a washtub bass and played it until I could afford one of Bob G.'s econo- fully-carved basses. If that qualifies me for a DB snob, well, I can play the role. Actually, I'd be happy to share my washtub design with anyone who wants a tub with a 2 octave range, tunable string, great tone and sustain, that can be played without stretching the string or causing tendon damage and uses stopped positions. The tub plus the other parts and wood will cost about $50 from Ace Hardware and Home Depot or Lowes, and it will last longer and sound better than most e-basses. It does not need a pro set-up, and it will not hurt you to play it. And it is loud enough without an amp for most uses.

[Michael Case]

Originally Posted by klocwerk

gee, what a shock. the DB snobs blow of another financially-challenged bassist. *sigh*

Yes, it will not be a fantastic instrument, but you can get one and play it and have fun. People played washtub basses for years, and I guarantee that an e-bay cheapie will at least live up to that tonal quality.

Do some searching for the least of the evils, and go with that.
If you can swing it, start sticking money in a piggy bank and then buy a decent bass next year.

Dude, most of the folks who posted don't own pedigree basses, and neither do I. Unless Upton, Bob G, Kay, and Chinese basses have become the new high end.

[John Sprague]

Ahoy Captain!

Welcome to TB/DB. Really, we're not snobs, we've just seen the post-cheap purchase alligator tears many many times. You're right in being concerned about set-up costs after the purchase, that's usually what gets you.

If you just have a few bucks to spend, I would recommend the Fuqua method: tell everybody you know, and their sister, that you're looking for a bass. Somebody's gonna have grandpappy's old bass in the attic, and with minimal investment you can probably get into something decent. Even a used plywood bass that's been hit with the ugly stick a few times and has been thru alot can be a much better investment than buying new 500-buckers off ebay. check your local bass shop too, they get all kinds of retreads.
G/L!

[neal davis]

if there are any music stores in your area see if you can rent one for a while. See if you like it then decide to buy or not. At alot of stores you can use the money that you paid in rent to go towards the bass if you decide to buy it. And for the DB snob thing- I don't think telling a person not to buy a piece of crap is being a snob I've seen some of my students come in with cheap basses they bought off the internet and even to them they sound like crap.

[klocwerk]

ok, so I was a bit uppity above.
But most people on talkbass in general, both sides of the aisle, don't take posters seriously when they say "I can only spend a few hundred dollars." Most responses are "hey, buck up and spend $1.5g on a 'good' bass or you're wasting your time!"
I've recently been making the decision between buying a cheap microphone to record my group's practices, or eating something other than Ramen for dinner every night, so I know the low-money side of things.

Buy the best piece of wood you can afford and play your heart out, that's my advice.

That said, here's a potential diamond-in-the-rough in the states: http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/msg/276006996.html
no affiliation, just saw it on CL moments ago. No idea what the Australian used market is like, but if you're patient you might be able to find a nice score.

[klocwerk]

Originally Posted by mike da mook

Dude, most of the folks who posted don't own pedigree basses, and neither do I. Unless Upton, Bob G, Kay, and Chinese basses have become the new high end.

The cheapest upton lists at $1800.
Poster said a few hundred, probably meaning under 500, and people are basically telling him to forget wanting to play upright.
All things are relative.

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by klocwerk

play your heart out

.... or the neck off, whichever comes first.

Sorry, just being a smart***. I've seen too many imploded internet specials to just let a guy drop his hard-earned on them without fair warning.

I've had some nice Kays, Epiphones, and so on that were entirely in another league. All under a grand. I wish I'd kept them all, and just stashed them around the mainland. I'd never need a travel bass!

As far as the original question goes, it would only be "too much of a mistake" if you can't afford to gamble a few hundred on a pig in a poke. The part about not knowing much about upright can be fixed by reading the newbie links before you buy anything.

[Michael Case]

Originally Posted by klocwerk

The cheapest upton lists at $1800.
Poster said a few hundred, probably meaning under 500, and people are basically telling him to forget wanting to play upright.
All things are relative.

I meant that none of the posters owned a bass worthy of the "bass snob" title. That's usually reserved for folks who own $80k basses and look down their noses at anything under $40k in price.

[7string]

Hey, we have a fellow musician here who wants to play upright and has a budget to stick to. Let's try to help Captaincoog out, regardless of the number of times this questions been answered. Geez, it could be the first time that he's posted and what a welcome it is....

Granted to get a good, playable instrument will mean avoiding eBay, but to get any information the question has to be asked.

OK, I'm a newbie myself and personally, I would encourage someone to play the upright and get as much enjoyment out of experiencing the instrument as I have. Having little spats on a thread like this does nothing to help the person who started the thread...


Getting back to the question...

I think what people are trying to say is a) avoid eBay as you don't know what you're getting and b)try to find something locally and if you can, try to take someone who's db savvy along who can help you.

I was horrified at the amount of money I may have to spend to get a half-decent double bass. Reading talkbass, ringing around shops to get an idea of prices and visiting my local string specialist meant I ended up with an upright which didn't completely burst the bank.

Upright on a budget is possible, but you have to look far harder than someone with a lot of cash to spend.

[Stinsok]

I saw a guy at an acoustic festival that was subbing with a group called "Dred Clampitt." That spelling may be incorrect. During the set, they introduced him and explained he had purchased the bass off ebay, set it up himself , and learned to play it (and some complicated arrangements) in only a couple of weeks. I am no DB expert, but in this setting, this cheap bass rocked. There were other DB's at this gig, but I don't recall the sound difference between the cheapo and the more expensive ones being that great. Maybe the tone IS in your hands (he-yuk!)

[Silversorcerer]

Originally Posted by klocwerk

The cheapest upton lists at $1800.
Poster said a few hundred, probably meaning under 500, and people are basically telling him to forget wanting to play upright.
All things are relative.

True. All things are relative. You look like you might be half my age. Your previously owned gear list includes two more bass guitars than I owned until I was 46 years old. Your current gear list includes as many as I currently own at 47. You may not have the best pedigreed stuff, but you go through a lot of gear $$ in a short time. A lot of the stuff on your list looks duplicitious too. Do you really need both the Kay and the Dillion for instance? Do you need both the Frankenjazz and the Bass Company 5 string? Do you need the 2x and the 4x cabs? Do you need both a practice amp for your apartment and an acoustic electric bass guitar? Couldn't you just practice on the Hartke and turn it down or use the Dillion with no amp? You have enough excess gear to keep me in Ramen noodles for a month of Sundays, dude.

I guess what some of us are trying to impress upon the Captain is that he should invest wisely when he buys gear. That's coming from a guy that has owned the same used pawn shop P bass since 15 years old. It's worth more than 10x what it was then. I've never owned more than one bass at one time until 3 years ago. I've never owned more than one amp at one time until last spring and one of those is kind of toasted.

No offense intended but I think you might benefit from some of the same kind of advice. Sell one extra piece of your gear, buy a pair of MXL condensers and put a broken egg in that Ramen noodle pack when you boil it. You'll be getting some protein that way. I've done it many a time.

[bilco]

Watch your local Craigslist.org listings every day. I got mine off of there for $150. I took a chance and just bought it without having a luthier check it out first. I had to sink $300 into for repairs and another $125 for strings, but it works fine. The guy who I bought it from got if from an old lady at a garage sale who had been in a gospel band. Nobody knows what brand it is, looks homemade, sounds great.

Bill Colbert

[Michael Case]

Originally Posted by Stinsok

I saw a guy at an acoustic festival that was subbing with a group called "Dred Clampitt." That spelling may be incorrect. During the set, they introduced him and explained he had purchased the bass off ebay, set it up himself , and learned to play it (and some complicated arrangements) in only a couple of weeks. I am no DB expert, but in this setting, this cheap bass rocked. There were other DB's at this gig, but I don't recall the sound difference between the cheapo and the more expensive ones being that great. Maybe the tone IS in your hands (he-yuk!)

It's not so much tone as it is quality. Those ebay basses are sub par and the people selling them know nothing about them. True a person may luck out and get one that sounds good and holds together, but most times these instruments will never sound good or play well. Plus purchasing off of ebay leaves you totally alone with an instrument that needs EXPERT attention. What good will some guy on ebay be when you need the fingerboard plained, or the bridge reshaped. These basses will also need at least $300-$500 worth of set-up work. They are slapped together in a factory and shipped out, then strung up and made to LOOK nice in a showroom or in a picture, not played.

Bottom line, if something seems too good to be true it probably is.

PS I have mentioned this on many threads, but check out bassesonline they are a dealer of instruments from student grade to professional. They have some nice Romanian basses starting at $750.00. I have no affiliation with them except shopping there, but I have played a few of the basses they sell. They are good people selling good products.