thinking of buying double bass, but action is high. . .

[elan_virpul]

I've been thinking of getting a double bass for some time and went to look at a couple of basses at a local music shop. one was a palatino which seemed pretty shoddy, but the other was an old kay bass. I played both and noticed that the action was high on both, almost to the point of being unplayable. is this normal, or did i just stumble upon two poorly set-up basses? Maybe I'm just used to the action available on an electric bass so the double bass' string height is normal. . . any advice?

[Don Higdon]

Music shop basses usually have wretched set-ups because they buy the cheapest available. The problem could be the set-up, your unfamiliarity, or both. Can you get someone to go along?
Without even seeing them, the Kay is the safer choice.

[elan_virpul]

yes, the kay seems to be the better bass. the palatino looks like it's made of plastic. the kay's strings seem to sit high on the neck and are hard to push down.

i wouldn't expect the double bass to be as easy to play as an electric bass, but i'm wondering if the high action is normal. . . maybe i need to get some hand weights. . .

[David Kaczorowski]

Your idea of high action and the strings being hard to push down may be very different from ours. If the action is indeed to high (by a doublebassists standards), that is easily rememdied. Regardless though, before you purchase anything you should have it checked out by someone familiar with doublebasses.