Double Bass Good Idea?

[James Gibson]

I'm a jazz studies student at the University of South Carolina. I've been thinking recently about getting a cheap electric upright for late night practicing in the dorm. It seems like it would be a good alternative for those late nights when i'm itching for practice or those days i just can't make myself walk to the School Of Music to the practice rooms.

I don't want to give off the impression that i'm discounting the value of practicing on an actual bass. It just seems to me that getting a cheap electric upright for practicing would be convenient for in the dorm/traveling.

Is there anyone else out there who has an extra practice instrument like this?

Can anyone point me in the direction of a cheap EUB? I've seen the Dean's on Musician's Friend, but i've never remotely liked anything dean's made, i'm not even a huge fan of Musician's Friend.

 

[daHammer]

Take a look at the NS Design WAV4 (http://nedsteinberger.com/wav/index.html) for which the street price is around $900. A bit more expensive than some of the entry level EUBs but probably worth the price difference if you can make it.

 

[ToneRanger]

I don't want to give off the impression that i'm discounting the value of practicing on an actual bass.

I consider my EUB to be an actual bass.
But it's not a URB - it's a great instrument in it's own right.
If you really need to practice double bass, then it's probably not a good idea to spend your time on a different instrument. However if you get an EUB that has URB neck shape, scale length etc (i.e.NOT a Dean), then it might be useful.

 

[Nohandles]

I recently sold my Palatino ERB to a Simi professional basest so he could practice at lunch and not disturbed anyone. I set it up exactly like his DB and he is very happy with it. It has a 1/8 head phone jack in the back.
If you got a a Palatino it would need some setup work but there is a thread here to help you with all the mods.
There were some blems on E-Bay for 400 ish check an see if they are still available.