I'm new with Upright Bass. Help me plz :P

gnmaster779 · #1 04-06-2011, 07:13 PM

Sup guys !

I've started bass 2 years ago. I'm pretty good for the time i started. I would like to buy a Upright bass but i never played it or even fretless

I would like to buy an Upright bass not to cheap but not too good cauz it's my first one. My budget is 500 bucks max. What do you recommend me ?

tehbassist · #2 04-06-2011, 07:18 PM

I recommend you save up and wait to get a bass. 500 bucks will only get you a hunk of crap that you'll hardly be able to learn on.

Read the stickies and search, this topic is already beat to death (kinda like the best bass for metal on the BG side of the forum).

EDIT: I just looked through your posting history and I recommend you try to find a bass teacher or mentor to help you sort out many of your misconceptions about bass playing in general.

gnmaster779 · #3 04-06-2011, 07:51 PM

Yeah i would like to have a great teacher but my teacher is not a bass teacher... he's a guitar teacher

and i live in qc, canada, so there's not a lot of super teacher. I would like to have a mentor but all the people i know who play bass plays metal... And it's not the case for me... I really don't know what to do.

tehbassist · #4 04-06-2011, 07:59 PM

I understand where you're coming from, in fact what you just said sounds exactly like what I went through. Like exactly.

If I could offer any advise to you I'd say practice every second you get and don't stop reading talk bass. There is a lot of wisdom to be learned from this website you just have to keep your ears open.

waleross · #5 04-06-2011, 07:59 PM

What I did when I started the String Bass, was to rent a bass(the type schools use ) and start lessons with a teacher. There are no short-cuts to learning, my first bass teacher helped me find a bass I could play and not get ripped off, etc. I would try going to the nearest school or university and ask around at the music dept. , I'm sure you'll get somebody to start lessons with.............................

powerbass · #6 04-06-2011, 08:03 PM

Save your money until you have enough to buy a bass that is set up really well with a good set of strings, maybe a pickup, bow and a gig bag. That's the basic package. In the meantime play whatever bass you can, learn music theory and learn to read music. Start asking around music stores, cafe's, look on craigslist etc to find an upright teacher. There out there.

anonymous122511 · #7 04-06-2011, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gnmaster779

Yeah i would like to have a great teacher but my teacher is not a bass teacher... he's a guitar teacher

and i live in qc, canada, so there's not a lot of super teacher. I would like to have a mentor but all the people i know who play bass plays metal... And it's not the case for me... I really don't know what to do.

Find a teacher in Montreal and go there to have him help you buy a bass. This may seem like a lot of money and trouble but unless you get good advice and have some different instruments to look at you will probably spend too much money on a bad bass. Playing the double bass is a very big commitment and if you aren't ready to do what it takes you're better off to wait.

gnmaster779 · #8 04-06-2011, 08:49 PM

Thx for the advices. I have another question... Should i buy a good bass or a good amp before ? My bass is a RedFox and my amp is a marshall MB15.

**Francois Blais** · #9 04-07-2011, 03:48 AM

Are you looking for an acoustic upright or an EUB?
If it's the former, I'll move this thread to the Basses forum.

Plays_For_Dog · #10 04-07-2011, 03:58 AM

I started on the DB. The music stores that supported schools had a rent to own program. If you decided not to finish buying it, all the investment up to that point was counted as rent and you turned the instrument back in. If you got to the payoff amount, you kept it.

The DB is a totally different animal then the BG. Technique is everything and for the most part, completely different. Notes and strings are about the only thing the same. You can kinda wing it with the BG and learn from youtube videos, books, etc. With the DB, you will epic fail without a good instructor.

If you compare basses to dancing: Double bass is formal ball room dancing. Bass guitar is grinding on a hottie in the club.

itsmartin · #11 04-11-2011, 10:42 PM

I just read the last entry, and when you put it like that, I would go for the hottie

#12 04-12-2011, 10:22 AM

I've just started too. Only been at it for about 3 months. I take lessons--you really have to. Some people might be able to figure out this instrument on their own but I sure as hell am not one of them. Learn to use the bow--it's part of being a DB player. As for a good student bass for $500--there aren't any. Unless you luck out but you would really have to luck out in a big way. I play an Eastman VB-95 which is a student bass and that was $2100 and they list for $2400. You have to be looking in the $1800 range and up for a decent student bass. Some here might say I don't know what I'm talking about and maybe I don't being such a newbie but that's how it is as far as I know. Even an adequate learner's bass requires the laying out of some good scratch. Really no way around it. Good DB's--even the cheap ones--cost. This is not a field to take up if you can't or won't pay some big money for your axe. But then a good Martin guitar costs as much or more than a good student bass--that's one way of looking at it.

**Francois Blais** · #13 04-12-2011, 01:15 PM

Moving this to the Basses forum.
It was originally posted in the EUB forum.

ThumpPlunkJunk · #14 04-12-2011, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsmartin

I just read the last entry, and when you put it like that, I would go for the hottie

The Double Bass would be a tango with Marilyn Monroe.

The Bass Guitar would be grinding with Megan Fox.

nicechuckh · #15 04-12-2011, 03:47 PM

Being unemployed, I had the same budget. I've been a musician for many years and had an EUB. What happened with me was, I bought a Cecilio CDB-100 online for 499.99 with free shipping. First of all, if you or your Dad etc. don't want to do some research online and if you don't wanna do some work on a bass, this isn't the way to go, also you can't play the bass first, Plus, I have no idea how good thier quality control is. The bass I got is nice but some may not have a good fingerboard etc. I lucked up and found another bridge for it that fits perfectly, the one that comes with it is adjustable but all the way down was still too high. I filed the nut slots down, and most complicated of all, set the soundpost. All this can be a good learning experience or a nightmare. For me it worked and I enjoyed most of it lol. I love the bass I got, but as I said if you can rent one for awhile etc. that would probably be best but to me as I said I love this bass and it is Way better than not having one. Just know tho that someone will have to work on it to get it set up.

John Sprague · #16 04-13-2011, 01:24 PM

Here's a violin shop in Quebec, maybe he can steer you in the right direction. He'll know who the teachers are, who has what instruments, etc.

Schonau & Tardif Luthiers inc.
838, Rue Saint-Joachim
Québec, Qc G1R 1X1

Gaillaume Schonau
418 529-9071

Good luck!