Buying a solid wood bass from ebay

[Joachim]

A friend of mine is thinking of starting playing the double bass,
and could spend about a 1000-1500 usd on an instrument.

I was thinking maybe the best bet was finding a used solid wood instrument from ebay.
I found f.ex. this instrument for sale on German ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.de/Sehr-schoener-3-4...QQcmdZViewItem
Solid wood, 7 years old, no cracks or repairs.
Do you feel it is too risky to buy something like it untested?

Would you prefer buying a european factory instrument well set up by a luthier?
I study in Austria, so travelling to Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic would be another
possibility.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Have a lovely weekend.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by Joachim

A friend of mine is thinking of starting playing the double bass,
and could spend about a 1000-1500 usd on an instrument.

I was thinking maybe the best bet was finding a used solid wood instrument from ebay.
I found f.ex. this instrument for sale on German ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.de/Sehr-schoener-3-4...QQcmdZViewItem
Solid wood, 7 years old, no cracks or repairs.
Do you feel it is too risky to buy something like it untested?

Would you prefer buying a european factory instrument well set up by a luthier?
I study in Austria, so travelling to Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic would be another
possibility.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Have a lovely weekend.

If you can't try it out, I'd recommend against it.

[Joachim]

Thanks.

[dchan]

Originally Posted by drurb

If you can't try it out, I'd recommend against it.

+1.

Most of the basses on eBay are crap. This one looks pretty good for the price, but it doesn't look like an automatic steal. If it doesn't look like a steal, then don't buy it. There are so many other basses nowadays available that are as good.

I think you gave your own good advice. There are plenty of good factories in Europe. You and your friend can try out various basses to decide which one has the right sound and feel. Every bass is different. Then you can get it set up by a good luthier your preferences and specifications.

[bassist14]

joachim,
guckst du hier:
http://www.geba-online.de/Marktplatz...&unterrubrik=1

[Joachim]

Vielen Dank. Sehr nett von Ihnen.

[bassist14]

gerne!

[MingusAmongUs]

Sie Jungs sind sehr höflich.

[bassist14]

guten abend herr mingus!

[MingusAmongUs]

well it's afternoon here but -- right back at ya!

BTW, I don't speak a lick of German (probably obvious) -- I'm using Google.
http://translate.google.com/translate_t?langpair=de|en

[lowEndRick]

So funny, I've been going back and forth using a translation site to read all this stuff!