help needed picking out a upright

[izzyabassist]

I have been playing bass seriously for the last six years. Finally I feel I am ready and have the time to tackle the upright. Unfortunately I only have about $800-900 to spend at this time. As I progress I do plan on buying a more expensive bass. Please, any advice on what kind of bass I can get or should get in this dollar range?

[el_mariachi]

if that is all you can spend, your best bet is to find something used (locally if possible, so you can have it looked at first). Anything new in that price range is usually of low quality. I was able to purchase a used Romanian laminate for 800, plus another 100 to have some seems glued. Luckily I was able to have a luthier check out the bass before I bought it, so I would know if it was going to be a money pit or not.

If you can't buy used, your best bet is to wait and save up some more money and try to get a Shen or Christopher. While they are still made in China, these basses are known to be of good quality.

Oh and as everyone else will tell you, GET LESSONS!! Double bass is a completely different animal compared to electric bass. If you don't know what you are doing, you can easily and seriously injure yourself.

[accutone]

Originally Posted by el_mariachi

if that is all you can spend, your best bet is to find something used (locally if possible, so you can have it looked at first). Anything new in that price range is usually of low quality. I was able to purchase a used Romanian laminate for 800, plus another 100 to have some seems glued. Luckily I was able to have a luthier check out the bass before I bought it, so I would know if it was going to be a money pit or not.

If you can't buy used, your best bet is to wait and save up some more money and try to get a Shen or Christopher. While they are still made in China, these basses are known to be of good quality.

Oh and as everyone else will tell you, GET LESSONS!! Double bass is a completely different animal compared to electric bass. If you don't know what you are doing, you can easily and seriously injure yourself.

I would only dispute one point - anything new in that price range is ALWAYS of low quality and you will ALMOST always spend a relatively large amount (in relation to the price) to have it set-up and make it playable.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by accutone

I would only dispute one point - anything new in that price range is ALWAYS of low quality and you will ALMOST always spend a relatively large amount (in relation to the price) to have it set-up and make it playable.

Agreed-- unless it is some miraculous deal such that the seller is either taking a loss and/or selling stolen goods.

[Steve Swan]

Izzy,

Try to find a used Shen SB 80 (craigslist, bass dealers) within a few hours drive of where you live. They usually come originally from dealers that set them up to play well, so you usually won't have to do much of anything to them with a good well-maintained used example. They retain their good health for a long time because these well-designed basses use only good aged high-quality woods, good glue, and solid assembly technique.

Definitely avoid the two well-distributed awful bass brands. As I say quite often on talkbass.com, "Friends don't let friends play Cremona or Palatino basses."

Let us know how it goes!