Thomann Double Basses

[Carlos S.]

Does anyone here own a Thomann brand double bass, or have experience of them? I'm just contemplating buying something cheap, and I'd be interested to hear people's opinions about these basses, especially the cheaper ones (under €1000).

[mpoppitt]

I think the budget ones are crappy Chinese stuff, and the higher priced models are much nicer Strunals.

[Bruce Lindfield]

I didn't think they had their own brand - the cheap ones were Gewas - do a search on Gewa and ther have been discussions here about these.

[Caoimhín]

How's it going Carlos

I was onto Thomann and Strunal about this last Feb. Here is the email i got off Thomann about them:

"behind the numbers you can find the following system:

111 and Rockabilly basses: Chinese laminated basses.
1/2/3/4/5 basses built in Czech Republic.
11/22/33/44 basses built in Romania

1/11/111 laminated basses
2/22 laminated basses with carved top
3/33 carved basses with flat back
4/44 carved basses with swelled back
5 carved basses with swelled back and flames

E is for ebony fingerboard
W is for "washed finish" (looks somewhat antique)

All basses 2/22/3/33/4/44/5 offer an ebony fingerboard"

The Czech basses they talk about are Strunals. I bought one off the luthier Bill Paterson in Cork (across the river from the opera house) around Feb/March. It's the Strunal 5/7, which far as I remember corresponds to the Thomann 3.

It's a lovely bass indeed and suits me down to the ground. As far as the slightly cheaper plywood with carved tops are concerned I've heard good things about them too. I haven't been playing very long so I'd be interested in hearing the opinions of others with more experience.

The factory strings that came with it weren't great though, but I was kindly donated a set of Velvets that really make it sing.

[Samie]

thanks for the info, I am looking into one

[nerdcore87]

I seem to be digging up an old topic, but i want to know if there are more players out there who have tried these Thomann basses (Samie? any thoughts?) especially the el cheapo rockabilly models.

I'm a not-to-great-but-okay bassguitarist who is looking into uprights for mainly rockabilly and some jazz playing. I've read (most of) the newbietopics and what not, so i'm aware of the risks of cheap uprights up to the point where i don't dare to look at one too long, in fear of it falling apart.

The thing is, i'm on a tight budget but just really want to learn to play upright. I've checked for possibilities of renting one from musicschools, but there seem to be no such programs in my area... (violins and cello's, sure! uprights...? eeeh we're fresh out, nobody seems to play those around here)
I've been to a local store, they had 2 uprights of which 1 wasn't for sale and the one that was, was just way out of my price-range. They do set up basses, and actually mentioned being able to order more affordable basses.
But i know that quite some stuff at this store is simply overpriced, so i decided to just look around a bit more at first.

So, after all that, the main question is: how do these basses hold up? Will they last awhile or fall apart after the first minutes of playing? And if i (eventually) get the thing properly set up, will it be a worthwhile beginners bass?

Could've just asked without telling my lifestory, but now it's there, so please bare with me here :P


Here is a link to the exact bass i've currently got my crosshairs on...
http://www.thomann.de/nl/thomann_kon...illy_weiss.htm