Looking At Carved but Need Opinions.

[joeyd]

I have the opportunity to buy what is supposedly a fully carved upright bass at a good price by a company known as Vienna Strings and would appreciate any additional info. The bass is approx. 10 years old, appears to be in excellent condition judging from the photos as I haven't seen it in
person as yet, and is a Hamburg model. It's fitted with a Fishman pickup, new adjustable bridge and as opposed to the photo on their website, is a violin body shape rather than a Gamba. The website http://www.viennastringsusa.com/prod...s/hamburg.html reads well of these instruments but I think they are actually assembled in China from what I've read which isn't a bad thing as some really fine instruments are coming from there now. I can't argue with the price of $1,000 for a decent upright but I feel I need to be a little cautious and do a bit more homework on this one. Thanks

[Eric Swanson]

Originally Posted by joeyd

I have the opportunity to buy what is supposedly a fully carved upright bass at a good price by a company known as Vienna Strings and would appreciate any additional info. The bass is approx. 10 years old, appears to be in excellent condition judging from the photos as I haven't seen it in
person as yet, and is a Hamburg model. It's fitted with a Fishman pickup, new adjustable bridge and as opposed to the photo on their website, is a violin body shape rather than a Gamba. The website http://www.viennastringsusa.com/prod...s/hamburg.html reads well of these instruments but I think they are actually assembled in China from what I've read which isn't a bad thing as some really fine instruments are coming from there now. I can't argue with the price of $1,000 for a decent upright but I feel I need to be a little cautious and do a bit more homework on this one. Thanks

3026

A few humbly offered thoughts. I have no experience with these specific instruments. In general however, $1000 is quite inexpensive for a carved DB. You may be going out on a limb to assume that it is "fairly decent" without having played it or having it reviewed by a luthier.

Whatever its' quality and condition, don't forget to include funds for the likelihood of getting a setup done by a reputable luthier, maybe some repairs, and some new strings, perhaps.

So, without playing the bass, you may be considering a $1700 - 2000 bass when all is said and done. At that budget, there are some other options that may be worthy of consideration.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by Eric Swanson

3026

A few humbly offered thoughts. I have no experience with these specific instruments. In general however, $1000 is quite inexpensive for a carved DB. You may be going out on a limb to assume that it is "fairly decent" without having played it or having it reviewed by a luthier.

Whatever its' quality and condition, don't forget to include funds for the likelihood of getting a setup done by a reputable luthier, maybe some repairs, and some new strings, perhaps.

So, without playing the bass, you may be considering a $1700 - 2000 bass when all is said and done. At that budget, there are some other options that may be worthy of consideration.

+1! Excellent advice.

[shadygrove]

Here's a thread a recent post on the Hamburg basses. Most of it is 4 or 8 years old... seems to be in an orbit that passes through TalkBass every four years

Jim Laabs Music Superstore upright basses

Someone else was looking at one of these 3-4 months ago... you can use the search function in the basses forum to track down the thread.

[fdeck]

Yes. From what I can tell, Vienna Strings = Jim Laabs. Not to say it's a bad or good thing, but it might help when searching for info.