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Double Bass ebay basses

#21
Chris,

For what its worth, I'm currently in teh same boat (shopping for my first upright). Yestarday I drove 400 miles round trip in the rain yestarday to go to Upton Bass. This was an incredible eye opening experience. Previously I would go to a music store that maybe had one or two Uprights, (and one of those would be an EUB). Contracst that to walking into a small shop where the lobby has perhaps 16 to 20 acoustic string basses of various builds and pedigrees.

I was able to contrast a vintage Kay to a more modern basses from both Shen and Upton. For me; I like the tone out of the solid top that the hybrid's offer. The Shen was a very nice instrument and had a lot to offer for the money. The Upton Hybrid I played was perhaps less fancy than the Shen, but it seemed to have more power / projection; and the body was slightly larger.

I too started my quest by perusing eBay for $500 or $600. uprights, figuring that it would be a good starter instrument.... Now after seeing, handling and hearing the difference; I'm considering spending much more.

Take your time, do some homework and go find some shops that have a variety of instruments to offer.

If you find yourself on the east Coast; contact the folks at Upton Bass about a visit. You'll be glad you did.

best regards,

Jeff
 
#23
Chris, i realize it may not be directly on the way but KC Strings in Kansas City has lots and lots of basses, all vintages and price ranges and they stand behind every bass they produce or sell.

I will never get rid of my plywood kc strings upright and its a cannon. I love it. I paid about 800-900 bucks for it, and it came with a beginner's bow.

Dont sweat the snarky people on here. They make excuses for their behavior based on their "seniority". It isnt cool that they treat new people who are more interested in a conversational form of forum badly instead of expecting them to treat this place as a research based forum.

In the end, dont settle for something, and if you can, rent, borrow and educate for a while before putting down serious money. I did this and i dont regret my first purchase, i almost made a serious mistake trying to get something "cheap" on ebay.

PM me if you want and i'll answer any of your questions, anytime.
 
#24
If you have a $2000 budget, then contact one of the boutiques and have them fit you out. Period. Nothing on eBay will come ready to play.

Now, that said, when I got a bass, my budget was $750, but I have years of experience tinkering with other instruments and knew about what was required going in. I also wanted the learning experience to know exactly how a DB works, and if I screwed something up, not much loss. So after a month of research, I did buy a CCB, but with a real, although rough, ebony fingerboard. I then took the next month and completely reworked it, since I had time and tools. So for me, my CCB purchase off eBay turned out great, but again, only after spending the time to smooth the fingerboard, cut the bridge down and recontour it, file the nut, narrow the nut and neck slightly from a 2-inch wide fence post to a reasonable 1 3/4 inch nut width tapering properly to the heel, with a thick back (for most folks, with all due respect to the Kay/Engelhardt/Eberle folks, you need a thick neck for stability and proper left hand technique) and make sure it has a good round smooth profile, and experimented with setting the soundpost, etc. Then over the next couple of months, squeaking out a little bit of cash flow here and there, purchased a set of good used Spiros (the stock strings are trash), redid the tailpiece with a real ebony one with the proper tail gut back length, and got a Full Circle and installed it myself. Final outlay: less than $1G, and the benefit of all the experience.

Then after that comes the decisions on whether or not to install a pickup, and if you're gigging, will the current EB amplifier work or due to the differences in voicing is another amp/speaker setup indicated, etc., then different playing styles and string discussions, etc. But those are down the road.

The main point is the difference between a CCB and a boutique entry level instrument in price is all the setup I described above. You won't get an eBay CCB out of the box ready to play. You will get a good entry level instrument properly set up ready to play from one of the boutiques.
 
#25
Violen said:
Dont sweat the snarky people on here. They make excuses for their behavior based on their "seniority". It isnt cool that they treat new people who are more interested in a conversational form of forum badly instead of expecting them to treat this place as a research based forum.
Click to expand...

You know, you can both feel free to add me to your ignore list if you don't want to hear from me. But I stand behind my reaction this time. We get the "I want to buy this $500 eBay bass, okay?" post on here, roughly every week. This one was the second one in the same day, though the other one was buried in the thread instead of in the subject line. It gets old.

If this is something you want to do, this community is a great resource for help, support, advice, friends, a place to crash or sit in when you travel, etc. It's been all that and more for me. It's not too much to ask that someone invest 20 minutes in reading yesterday's posts on the same subject before asking the same question from the same people.

There are two areas in the site that this gets to me the most. The "basses" sub-forum and the technique fora. The two repetitive questions that show the least respect for the people here and the lazy attitude of not wanting to read anything before asking, are "should I buy this cheap bass?" and "I'm not going to have any trouble picking this up, since I already play bass guitar, but have you got any tips anyway?"

Got nothing to do with me claiming to be anything other than beaten down by the Chinese water torture of those two introductions of new people in a place that I like to hang out because this is actually a good community.

I'm not snarky that often. Sometimes when I am, I regret it, this time, I'm sticking to my guns. Glad we're developing a wiki out of this. I hope that we all direct this question to it in the future rather than polluting this forum any more with the same drivel.
 
#26
I just have to say that not everyone has a $1500 or more budget. I certainly didn't. I did buy my upright off e bay. I was fortunate enough to get one that needed no fingerboard work, other than a light sanding in one spot because of a bit of extra paint. I cut the bridge down, but found one that fits it perfectly, set the soundpost myself, with tips on this forum, and put Corelli strings on it, and it plays and sounds great. I couldn't have rented a bass, and if I'd waited to get a more expensive bass, I'd still be waiting. Yes, if you have the money, get a Shen, etc. but not everyone can. It's a very good learning experience setting one up, and most people could do that, (tho re-shaping a fingerboard would be a challenge) and to me it makes me appreciate it more. I've talked to a few others who bought a Cecilio bass online and none needed fingerboard work. I have not regretted buying this instrument for a second.
 
#27
I can appreciate that money is an issue and I would never tell anyone to spend more than they can afford. There are some good "deal" stories on here of $400 craigslist Engleharts and the like.

I do a little work on my bass, but have my limits. Some people will certainly be more capable than I and others less.
 
#28
Ok where do i start, I have no intension of adding anyone to an ignore list nor do I wish to cause contraversy or argue. As I said before and will say again I had searched the word ebay and had read some 50 threads so in my eyes i did take 20 min. to research for myself. Now with that being said can we all get along. I'm glad I was able to stir up enuogh to get this wiki started as not to have anymore comments that may discourage someone from pursuing the DB. Now if we could get someone to build a statue in my likeness that would be great. LOL

Now for some history and my intensions, I'm not looking to be in a band or the local orchestra. Everyone has there own taste in music. I come from a family that happens to enjoy folk, bluegrass, and gospel music. I understand the value of a quality instument. There are many Martin guitars in the family a Gibson (kalamazoo) mandolin and a Gibson, a Huber, and a Baldwin Ode banjo's also. I have an uncle who has a ton of woodworking skills and tools and has built his own mandolin (a copy of the gibson F style). My uncle that plays banjo does all of his own set ups and they are both very knowledgeable. One of my brothers has done all of his setups on his acoustic and electric guitars. I'm not saying that i'm a born Luthier but with a little guidence I think I maybe able to maintain a good setup on a DB.

Now for some leads one of my uncle's had a student model but i didn't realy care for it not sure of the brand according to the threads i'm guessing CCB. I have a friend checking on a DB his sister has owned for the last 5 years, have no idea of the make at this time. I also know a guy that has an old 5string Kay that was knocked over and had the neck broke off. I would like to know what a god price would be on the Kay incase he throws out a price (and no I wont attempt to fix it myself) and the price range to have the neck reattached. I would also like to know if the 5th string is a bonus or more of a henderance on a beginner. Thanks again for your patience Chris.
 
#29
Well, yeah - I hear you. Money is certainly an issue. Were not in dreamworld here. It was a huge step for me to to go from looking at $500. ebay basses and start considering actually dropping 2k on an instrument that would be a new instrument to me. I.E. I consider the upright to be a completely different instrument than BG or regular 6 string guitar. While I have dropped this kind of coin on a guitar, I've been playing guitar on a semi-regular basis for 30 years.

I looked at a locally availble 50's era Kay, and then at Upton I was able to compare a '60s era Kay to their Shen Hybrid; and also to the Upton Standard Hybrid. I know that Hybrids are a differnt class of tone than the laminate Kay, but I liked the hybrids better. Its my opinion (and my money); and when I'm spending my money, I'm entitled to my opinion :)

Basicaily the Shen SB150 was $500. price jump from the locally available Kay and the same price as the Kay at Upton. (The Kay at Upton was also in better condition than the local Kay); so all this follows in a "you get what you pay for" pattern. The Upton Hybrid "felt" better...and seemed like it had more projection. My wife said it sounded better; but then we are adding roughly another $1000. to the price and one has to take a step back, breathe deep, and think.

So, now it comes down to how much do I really want to spend as a newbie to this instrment. I'm not even sure myself. Currently I'm mentally evaluating that. I love the idea that the Upton is US made, I have been doing what I can to "put my money where my mouth is" on that concept here recently.

Musically speaking, I'm not sure where this will take me. Where am I going to play this? I don't see it as a direct fit to my regular PB playing on Sunday mornings. Perhaps special music, perhaps some other venues will open up outside the church. Its a pretty big financial venture that's for sure.

Muisc is a hobby for me, but one that I love. I don't make my living with it that's for sure; and I don't have aspirations of doing so. We all have hobbies / interests outside of our vocations that will consume resources of time and money. How much of each we choose to devote is a matter of our own personal goals, priorites and means. Go price a new fully loaded Honda Goldwing & the bass suddenly looks downright reasonably priced. (motorcyling is another hobby of mine)

Its up to the individual to set those priorites in a rational manner that meets their personal needs.

Sorry for the rambling post. I think sometimes people get their feelings a bit tweaked here and threads become heated; I certainly don't mean to antagonize this. If I offend you, please contact me directly. I'm pretty thick skinned.

best regards,

Jeff
 
#30
Again, KC Strings does payment plans, i realize this may not be in driving distance, but other shops do too.

The local Kay may be your best bet, but honestly, if this is a hobby, i would stick to guitar.

Upright is a very demanding instrument, and if you cant play it every day for a long time, you wont see progress. Take this in consideration if you are serious about a purchase. I used to play guitar and i have several i own because i was infatuated with a brand or style. I ended up not playing them, its like they were just eye candy.

Is this how you feel about double bass? Its like committing to a whole new lifestyle of music.
 
#31
Violen said:
Is this how you feel about double bass? Its like committing to a whole new lifestyle of music.
Click to expand...

Is it an infatuation? I suppose so. I've bought instruments in the past that after a while of living with them, I found that I wasnt playing much and moved on & sold them; life goes on.

I do see double bass as a completely new &/or different instrument than either guitar or electric bass. While the solid body bass may be tuned the same as the DB, for me its characteristics are so far removed I see it as a different instrument. I do plan on taking lessons once I eventually buy something.

I would prefer to buy somewhere where I can go and do a hands on first; so something within driving distance is preferable.
 
#33
I have always known that I will need lessons on this instrument.
I also want to learn to play with a bow; and I've seen the gamut of prices for bows as well.

I don't see this (lessons) as a budgeting issue, however its more of an ongoing expense; i.e. one that you would be paying as you go along; I.E. I've never seen a music instructor want a years worth of lesson time paid for in advance.
 
#34
I hope you get the bass of your dreams, at a good price and you stick with it. I also didn't post earlier to cause an argument, I agree, get the best you can afford, and if you possibly can play it first, no arguement there at all, but some of us get in situations that limits our options. I've been a musician for many years and have played uprights that belonged to others, and I still could've wound up with an instrument that would've been a mess, I was fortunate and blessed to get the one I did that needed no fingerboard work etc. also having worked on other kinds of instruments for many years helped, even tho an upright is a different animal lol
 
#35
TroyK said:
...It's not too much to ask that someone invest 20 minutes in reading yesterday's posts on the same subject before asking the same question from the same people.
Click to expand...

+1. Violen's statement unjustifiably simplifies and mis-categorizes. It is not a matter of any of us wanting this to be a research bases rather than a discussion forum. The two are not mutually exclusive. Not in the least. There's a time for research and a time for discussion. It's appropriate to expect that one would do a bit of targeted research before popping in with what is most obviously a basic question. Furthermore, those of us who've been around here a while have spent and continue to spend plenty of time freely offering up information. The notion that newbies are treated badly is easily dispensed with by looking at the evidence. Oh, but you might have to do a search to see it. :)
 
#36
Chris Baldwin said:
I don't see a wiki button as I have this app on my phone because I travel due to my job. Matt I live in central Ohio near Columbus. I will be going to Houston tx in Jan. And have been all over Ohio and surrounding states even as far as Puerto Rico. If you are familiar with any of these areas especially Houston where I will be for two months and can make suggestions of reputable dealers I would gladly check them out thanks Chris.
Click to expand...

Hi Chris. I work at a [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. We have a few basses under $1400, and you're always welcome to try anything in the shop.
 
#37
I guess I'm on a roll on this thread, so I'll mention one more thing. If someone wants free advice vs a gesture towards references, then tell us, in your profile where you live. Someone might be next door or down the street from you with a bass to sell, lessons to offer (friendly or professional), a shop or luthier to recommend or we might know someone who is. It happens all the time here, it's one of the great things.

If we don't know if you're in St Louis or Mobile or the Philippines, then it limits the actionable advice we might otherwise be able to give you.

The guy above me offered you some hands on access to budget basses in Houston, which is really cool. You'll find a lot of that here. Not helpful, though if you live in Maine. There may be a guy just like him in Maine who didn't offer because it never occurred to him that they guy asking this question might be in his down.

Just sayin'
 
#38
I found a local music school where I intend on taking some lessons, and they offer a rental program....I think this is going to be the most realistic approach. I can rent for a few months while I take some lessons....if it goes well I can decide later how much I want to spend and where to buy.
 

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