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Double Bass Cheapest Bowable EUB

Gopher Bob said:
Does the Palatino have good bowing skillz? The main reason i would get one is to bow... at least at first.

I am learning to bow on my Palatino. There are some points to keep in mind:

1) The bridge is smaller than a normal upright, so the string spacing is narrower for bowing.

2) The pickups are set up poorly out of the box. I've inserted inner tube material as described in the Palatino megathread - this helps 100%, and I'm happy with the arco and pizz sounds.

3) I found that I need a fixed stand to bow this thing - I couldn't find a usable position with the peg and U-shaped support. There's a thread down below about the stand I use - it was $30 and fits without any mods to the bass.

At this point, I'm practicing the bow daily and it's an easy transition to a wider bridge when I go to my lessons. I do want to replace the bridge at some point - the fingerboard appears wide enough for normal spacing at the bridge.
 
The wav4 is nice, but the arco is not as woody and there are less string choices. I can get a clean, full sound out of mine. I used it in a string sextett last month because my double bass was getting back glued back on, and it was fine.
There are some nicer EUBs than Ergo but nothing is close in it's price range.
Yep... and it does everything I ever need it to do in a very believable way.
 
My Wav4 with Helicore Orchestra strings on it sounds very convincing; and the dimensions are "right" for bowing and translating to the big girl.

Wav4s are fine instruments but the lack of wood makes the tone sing less arco than the Ergo and they cost more thus making them less reccomendable to the OP.
I have played both, and the Wavs just more electric sounding than the Ergo.