Inexpensive Basses in U.K?

[Grey Dad]

UK electric bassist making his first moves into DB here. I'm about to start lessons and have a track to a secondhand Stentor Elysia DB, which I will probably buy once I'm convinced I can make a go of it.

Incredibly helpful thread, bumping for posterity.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

I finally got my bass near a digital camera....

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

And the back ....

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

And the back ....again!

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

More?

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

Last One!

These copied for a fellow Brit who wants to see....

[owen_liam]

Hello everyone!

Just to say that, thanks to this thread, I took an opportunistic punt on ebay and got a Stentor Conservatoire. I bought it from a young classical bassist who had upgraded to a very serious bass - always a good way for us first time buyers to get on the DB ladder I think! It was well loved and set up nicely (for arco). I've had it a good few months now, and although it's had to go to the luthiers after a bit of being-kicked-over damage, I love it! I put some spiros on and had it set up and it sounds fantastic. Obviously, one day I'll be upgrading to something with a bit more soul, but for getting me going it is spot on. And, for us UK players looking for decent entry level instruments, that is a rare thing! Oh how I yearn for Upton Bass to open a shop in Bristol!

Nice to see the UK players bumping this thread - made me feel quite nostalgic!

[Grey Dad]

Hi Owen, good to see you made a purchase! Please post pics!

I've just done the same, made an offer on a 4 yr old Stentor Elysia which was accepted at the weekend. Should be picking it up sometime soon as soon as I can arrange it - pics to follow.

I work in Bristol city centre, there's a bunch of us electric bassists all looking to move into DB there at the moment (about 5 of us last count). We were trying to organise a sort of workshop, PM me if you fancy meeting up.

Neil

[Bruce Lindfield]

I got a taste for real DB at a Jazz Summer School that used to run every year at the University of Glamorgan and funnily enough there used to be a large contingent from Bristol!

The course moved a couple of years ago to London, though...

I met Olie Brice - another TBer, on this course - and we compared Stentors there!

[Grey Dad]

OK, I have my first double bass!

It can be done: story and pics here

Cheers

Neil

[owen_liam]

I wonder how many British players actually brought a bass as a result of this thread?! It made my mind up to go for my Stentor. The best £850 I've ever spent...

[Grey Dad]

Just a little side note for the UK contingent. As I am now an owner I thought I'd phone up Stentor in Surrey to ask for more info about the company!

Talked to a very helpful sales chap, this is what he told me.

Stentor is an established old (>100 years) UK company and they sell instruments worldwide. They make a whole range of stringed instriments, violins, viola's, cello's, double basses. All their models are made in China but the trick here is that they 100% own the factory, so they have complete control over the manufacturing i.e. don't rely on third party builders from batch to batch.

From the 70's on I think they focused on the student/schools/entry to intermediate market. Across all their range from violins to DB they use the brand Student I, Student II for the schools market, Conservatoire is a notch above then the Elysia, Arcadia for intermediates (they do a Profundo double bass as well which seems to be their top of the range but I don't know much about it). You can catch all this on their web site.

They have their main production line for the Student I, II and Conservatoire models but a separate workshop inside the same factory hand builds the Elysia and Arcadia models, hence their higher price.

Now, the key point to note for potential Stentor double bass players: on the violins, violas and cellos when you buy the Elysia and Arcadia versions they pop higher quality strings on and do a set up. For double basses I was told this is *not* done: DB players are apparently much more fussy about string brand and personal set-up so they just put a basic set of strings on and leave the set-up to the purchaser. So, rule 1 (as we all know by now) you need to put some decent strings on and get it set up by a professional! For a newbie this is where your teacher will come in v. handy. If you buy secondhand check the strings, if they are the original set factor in the price of a new set (that's going to be £100-200, or more if you're ambitious).

Anyway, I hope I got all that right, any mistakes etc are all my own. I have no affiliation with the company I was just curious about the people who built my first double bass and thought it might be useful!

GD

[BigBeatNut]

Can anyone advise me on a potential purchase ?

I've just seen a Gewa fully carved bass for sale. Allegedly a german one, though apparently its a german brand that imports some of it's products from China.

Comes complete with gigbag (sounds like a substantial one) and a pickup (allegedly a £300 one, though I've no idea of brand ... and it's staring to look suspiciously like a cheapie - LINK). Seems in pretty good nick, though the edges of the front and back table show a little wear where it's been laid on it's side. Sounded nice, and loudish, to me (on the quick play I've had so far), but I don't have a quality bass to compare it to so could be wrong on both those.

Question 1) Is this a reasonable "my first carved bass" ? Or more likely to be a waste of money ?

Question 2) How do I tell if it's a Chinese one or a German one ?

Question 3) What do you think I should be paying for such a package ?

Thanks, Andy