another beginner question..about brand, and carved or other..

MiniMoose234 · #1 06-11-2009, 04:06 PM

my mom brought home a very nice upright bass she borrowed from a teacher at the school she works at. he is a very good musician, he played with the marine corp band and other stuff.. im looking into playing jazz, and rockabilly/psycobilly stuff.. the bass im messing with for the weekend is carved, and he said he would sell it for $2200. would it be worth the money for a bass built for orchestra stuff, and a carved body, when i could get a nice blonde engelhardt ES-9 for $1659?

wdnewman · #2 06-11-2009, 04:27 PM

While you are messing around, and all that "stuff", you may want to find out what company made the bass and what the model name is. I would hate to see a good collectible bass (possibly rare?) used to play psycobilly when a good ole blonde Englehardt would do the job. That would leave the carved bass available to someone who could appreciate it, possibly playing orchestra "stuff".

MiniMoose234 · #3 06-11-2009, 05:25 PM

well, i havent taken any lessons or anything yet. so i dont have anything else to do but mess around with it lol.

hdiddy · #4 06-11-2009, 05:44 PM

Buy as much as you can afford. Most likely, going to an Engle from a $2.2K carved bass (probably a hybrid I guess) is downgrading.

MiniMoose234 · #5 06-11-2009, 06:23 PM

its not mine, i havent bought anything yet. im just trying it out for the weekend, and trying to see if there is any reason i should spend more money if its not what i need

Marcus Johnson · #6 06-11-2009, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiniMoose234

its not mine, i havent bought anything yet. im just trying it out for the weekend, and trying to see if there is any reason i should spend more money if its not what i need

You shouldn't spend any money at all on a double bass, unless you want to play double bass. Pushing ropes uphill is an easier undertaking.

MiniMoose234 · #7 06-11-2009, 07:01 PM

i do want to play double bass, thats why ive been talking to people about bass's, and i just so happenned to get a nice one to try out for a weekend.

Marcus Johnson · #8 06-11-2009, 07:15 PM

Great. Borrow or rent for awhile longer, and learn from the newbie links here before you buy anything. Wanting to play bass is great, and I still want to play my basses every day after 40 years of doing it. But buying a bass is something that takes a bunch of thought and education. A double bass teacher can help advise you with your purchase when it's time.

Andrew McGregor · #9 06-11-2009, 07:18 PM

So, if it is a nice carved bass, then it's likely to be a good Jazz and orchestra bass. But, rockabilly and those styles are very hard on instruments, so you want to be using an indestructible ply bass for that; harder to break, cheaper to fix, cheaper to replace if you do something awful to it, and most importantly, no antique value and will never have any. Ply basses can be OK for Jazz, but carved is best there.

So it seems to me like you need to clarify in your own mind what you want to be doing.

If you're going to get very serious about Jazz, and still play rockabilly or whatever as well, you're going to need two basses in the long run... but get the ply first. Or, if your main thing is Jazz and you might do some orchestra work, get the carved bass and lay off the rockabilly until you can afford another bass.

BTW... orchestra playing is not the same as going to a classical concert, the music is much more engaging from the inside.

drurb · #10 06-11-2009, 07:19 PM

Listen to and take Marcus' good advice. With all due respect, you probably have no idea what is and is not a "nice bass." In fact, anything "fully-carved" that sells for $2200 isn't likely to be too nice. Often, they are less nice than a hybrid (or even a ply) selling in that range. I suspect hdiddy is quite right that it's not really a fully carved. You'll be best served by doing your homework before you drop the $$$. Oh, and before anyone else says it, I will. Get a teacher.

MiniMoose234 · #11 06-12-2009, 04:01 PM

well, i am definately gonna get a teacher, and i am gonna rent one, im just trying to get some advice first. and i am contemplating possibly joining the orchestra at my school, after lessons through the summer, hopefully i would be decent enough. i still am leaning more towards the engel, just because it is more durable.