I witnessed some upright bass snobbery last night

[Stinsok]

Last night, we played at an odd musical festival. The headliiner was a group called "Dred Clampett." If you have the chance, see them. Before they went on, I heard one of the other upright bass players make a snide comment about the upright bass Dred's bassist was using. It was one of those ebay 500.00 delivered upright basses. I guess the guy thought "cheap bass, this is going to suck." Turns out the guy from Dred absolutely smoked. He was by far the best bassist (upright or electric) there. The sound of that cheap plywood bass was as good or better than anything there.

During the set, they introduced the guy (he was subbing.) It turns out that he had ordered this bass, set it up himself, and learned to play it (extremely well) in a matter of weeks. Amazing! I guess in this case, the tone really was in his hands. His tone and playing was much better than the guy that "dissed" the cheap bass.

['JC']

I don't think that's limited to just uprights though.
I played an old 60's Kay for a while and never got any flak.

[pigpen02]

I caught dred clampett in ft. walton beach, fl. a few years back: brilliant! I'd recommend anyone check them out.

[reiver1]

Originally Posted by JC

I don't think that's limited to just uprights though.
I played an old 60's Kay for a while and never got any flak.

There's a world of difference between a vintage Kay (mine's a '52 Swingmaster) and most CCB's (craptastic china bases)
However a good setup and talented hands can do wonders

[CamMcIntyre]

Try reading the DB basses board. There's plenty of truth behind the comments about the Chinese basses. A quick summary-*most* are considered BSO-bass shaped objects. Might sound good and play well, but then problems come in and it essentially goes down hill from there. That guy must've been a truly killer player to make it sound well. Also-some basses from China are truly good basses, but the $500 delivered basses, generally aren't.

Why is this fairly common snobbery? Well, the shipping charges on my new standard alone where $500. [shipping the bass via truck in a hardshell and then shipping the shell back].

[Bruce Lindfield]

If this is all about upright basses - why isn't it in the DB section...

Maybe a moderator could move it?

[Stinsok]

It's not really about the actual bass so much as it is about poetic justice.

[Matt Till]

Originally Posted by CamMcIntyre

Try reading the DB basses board. There's plenty of truth behind the comments about the Chinese basses. A quick summary-*most* are considered BSO-bass shaped objects. Might sound good and play well, but then problems come in and it essentially goes down hill from there. That guy must've been a truly killer player to make it sound well. Also-some basses from China are truly good basses, but the $500 delivered basses, generally aren't.

Why is this fairly common snobbery? Well, the shipping charges on my new standard alone where $500. [shipping the bass via truck in a hardshell and then shipping the shell back].

Yeah, I heard they are alright basses... for a while.

[Aaron Saunders]

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Yeah, I heard they are alright basses... for a while.

Most on the DB side consider them unplayable upon shipping. You've got to really go at it apparently to get a good sound.

I played on of the ol' "Cermona" basses, similar to the one in question.

Undoubtably, a piece of garbage.


PS: There is indeed a world of distance between those and old Kays. My teacher has a lam Kay he uses for jazz stuff, and it was bloody brilliant compared to the Cremona (and still pretty awesome compared to his fully carved orchestral bass.)