Seemingly too cheap DB's

[David Moss]

Originally Posted by Darkstrike

Ok, looking at this another way, what's the least I should expect to pay to have something worth owning?

You can get lucky. One beginner of my acquaintance asked a local jazz bass star for advice where to buy a cheap beginner's double bass, and the guy immediately said he'd be prepared to sell his own first-ever instrument, since he'd barely played it for many years. Plywood, not much to look at, but well set up and with an acceptable sound. He wanted 300 EUR for the bass, including an Underwood pickup, a spare set of Thomastik strings and a 90 minute first lesson. My acquaintance tried to persaude him to take more, but he just wouldn't hear of it.

That's a one-off, but I think there are bargains to be had in eBay, as long as it's close enough to go and see it before you bid and you can take somebody with who knows about basses. Don't be put off if the bass needs a few hundred Euro spent on it for setup, new strings, and minor repairs - that's normal.

Alternatively, you could look into renting. When I was wavering about whether or not to try my hand at double bass, what settled the issue was the discovery that I could rent one from my local music store for only 35 EUR per month, minimum rental 6 months. It was a plywood bass from Gewa, worth 1450 EUR new, not one I'd want to own in restrospect, but well set up and perfectly OK for a beginner. The rental cost was deductable from the purchase price if I subsequenly bought the instrument, or indeed anything else from the store, so you couldn't really go wrong with that deal.

[chuck1073]

I went through the "ebay bass" thing myself and ended up putting almost 500 into a bass that cost almost as much, just to make it playable.

If your going to shop ebay...do as the last poster said and go for something that you can actually try before you buy...even if it means a few hours drive. Since most used basses for sale there are "pickup only" items anyway you'd have to see it in person before laying down your cash.

Do stay away from the volume sellers of the chinese basses.
Take it from my first hand experience, they come through with factory set only (no setup) and lousy strings. Barely playable in the best case.

[mikeypbass]

You could probably waterproof it and use it as a faily inexpensive kayak

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by BassBus

Stentor DBs start around the £500 pound mark (c. €750). They are decent instruments to start on. They are made in Czech Republic and or Romania and those copuntries have a very good rep for string instruments, that's why steinberger make most of their basses there. I have a Stnetor Arcadia which is a good bass and cost me £1500 pounds, already set up. If you buy mail order expect to have to pay at least £100 (c. €150) for a proper setup. But have a look at the Andreas Zeller and Stentor ranges.

Yup - agree with the above - to the OP - have a look at the thread in basses titled "Inexpensive Basses in the UK" for a fuller discussion of this!

[tinyd]

For what it's worth, I'm in Ireland too and I'm currently saving for a DB. I've narrowed down my options to these 2:-

1) Buy from Thomann. They have Strunal basses (made in Czech Republic) which are supposed to be good beginner instruments. You can get one delivered to Ireland from about 1100 euro, although you'll need to add the cost of some decent strings,

2) Crehan's music shopin Dublin have DBs for about 1500 euro. I spoke to them on the phone and they sound very helpful, plus of course you can go in and try them out.

Finally, as other posters here have suggested, you can head over to the UK and see what you can pick up....

Hope this helps

[Darkstrike]

Thanks everyone! Plenty of options here!
The Thomann one souds like a good idea, but I'll look into everything before making a decision.

[Teijo]

Originally Posted by Darkstrike

Thanks everyone! Plenty of options here!
The Thomann one souds like a good idea, but I'll look into everything before making a decision.

One warning. I saw a Thomann bass ones that had its back broken from where the soundpost is. And it was a plywood model. It looked really bad.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by Teijo

One warning. I saw a Thomann bass ones that had its back broken from where the soundpost is. And it was a plywood model. It looked really bad.

I have bought several small accessories/musical gear from Thomann and they have been very good - but I am very wary about having something as fragile as a DB shipped internationally !!

So I have seen what they do to international parcels - sliding down steep chutes, fridges following down afterwards and slamming into them - seems like a bit of a lottery?

And what do you do if you have a dispute about the condition in which it arrives? Seems like you would be paying out a lot in shipping back and forwards and hold-ups in customs etc. etc. And all the time you are paying out money and have no playable bass...

Personally I would want a shop or seller I could visit, to iron out any problems...?

[Darkstrike]

Ah, didn't think of shipping, this could be a problem, I'll explore my other options first.