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Double Bass Inexpensive Basses in U.K?

#121
I don't know if I missed it in the thread bu Thwaitws in Watford is a good source (mostly of higher end basses); They do have French & German basses in the 1500-2000 UKL range, and some student basses on hand. When I did my one-man show in London, Bill there was very helpful.

Location

We are situated in Watford, just north of London and a few minutes from the M1 (junction 5) and the M25 (junction 19 or 21a). A fast train from Euston to Watford Junction takes 20 minutes while Bushey station, which is 100 yards from the shop, is four stops past Harrow & Wealdstone on the Bakerloo line.

www.thwaites.com

Louis
 
#122
oliebrice said:
I bought it from Forsyths in Manchester, had it set up (plane fingerboard, new endpin) by George Stepani, also in Manchester, and then recently had more extensive work done (new bridge & soundpost, repair open seam) by John Sydenham in Bruton (south west england).
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Ooh - that's not exactly nearby, but it's a big improvement on London or Glasgow. I'm interested that your instrument still benefited from extensive set-up, as the Forsyths website suggests that they do at least some set-up - do people normally expect that an instrument bought from a shop, even one which states that it does set-up, will still benefit from further luthier attention?
 
#123
Well - I bought my Stentor Elysia and it was supposed to be set up. I asked the teacher I was having lessons with at the time, what needed doing if anything and he said that it just needed a better endpin.

Although he did say that normally when he buys basses they do need an extensive setup and he has someone in Lancing (W.Sussex) who he trusts to do a good setup for him.
 
#124
TSP said:
the Forsyths website suggests that they do at least some set-up - do people normally expect that an instrument bought from a shop, even one which states that it does set-up, will still benefit from further luthier attention?
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I think the forsyths guy was not a bass specialist - they had fitted the bridge, although not brilliantly, and put decent strings on it (although again not that neatly), but I felt it needed a bit of attention and when I got the better endpin I got the other bits and pieces done as well.
 
#125
oliebrice said:
I bought it from Forsyths in Manchester, had it set up (plane fingerboard, new endpin) by George Stepani, also in Manchester, and then recently had more extensive work done (new bridge & soundpost, repair open seam) by John Sydenham in Bruton (south west england).

I've seen some with a horrible metal tail-piece, which seems to adversley affect the sound as well as looking nasty. Mine has a nice ebony one.
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There doesn’t seem to be much continuity with these basses that are imported from China. I have a Conservatoire with the ‘Horrible metal tail-piece’ you refer to.
I am looking to move up from the Conservatoire and recently tried a ‘Westbury’ bass (list 2k) imported from China by a company called ‘The Sound Post’. I was informed that the bass was the ‘Sinfonica’ model (list 3k) which seemed to match the few pictures I have seen on the net but the label and the tyrolean tuners both suggested that this was indeed a ‘Westbury’ – very confusing…. I have also heard great things about the Stentor Profundo (list 2k) but would find it hard to commit to something that I’ve not played. I have decided to play many more basses in the 2-4k price range before taking another oriental lucky dip….
Has anybody else had any experience of instruments from ‘The Sound Post’ or the Stentor Profundo??
 
#126
Well the Profundo is just the next step up in the Stentor range - so the only difference betwen that and the Elysia that I bought, seemed to be some decorative carving...?

I settled on the Elysia as it was built in Reigate and was all carved wood - Spruce and Flamed Maple with ebony Fingerboard and Tail .

I couldn't see the point in paying more for some decorations!! :p
 
#127
Hi Tallboy, I have the Westbury Gamba model. Very happy with it.

I have done a little work on it: the neck was a little too glossy so I buffed it down with some fine wire wool, and I also filed out the nut slots for the E and A strings because they were a bit far off the neck for the F and Bb.

Other than that, it's decently made, looks good and while it isn't the loudest bass around it has a nice tone and sustains very well.

Feel free to ask anything else you want to know about it.

Doug.
 
#130
Bruce Lindfield said:
Well the Profundo is just the next step up in the Stentor range - so the only difference betwen that and the Elysia that I bought, seemed to be some decorative carving...?
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I think you're one out - the next one up from the Elysia seems to be the Arcadia - the Profundo seems to have a busetto shape, so is presumably from a different making process. (I tend to think the busetto shape looks slightly odd, but it's matter of taste - I personally like the gamba shape, but most new basses seem to have violin corners).
 
#131
Maybe have a look at this. Paul Bryant is selling on a second hand bass of his - I presume it would be cheaper than new which might well put it under 4K. His basses are great...handmade English and very tasty...

He's based in Staffordshire

Link Removed

Cairo
 
#132
TSP said:
I think you're one out - the next one up from the Elysia seems to be the Arcadia - the Profundo seems to have a busetto shape, so is presumably from a different making process. (I tend to think the busetto shape looks slightly odd, but it's matter of taste - I personally like the gamba shape, but most new basses seem to have violin corners).
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Well can you tell me what is better about the Arcadia? I was actually offered one at a cheaper price than the Elysia - but I went for the interest-free credit deal! :)

Looking at Stentors's website, I can see no difference between the Arcadia and Elysia - neither could the shop where I bought my bass!! :confused:
 
#133
Well, I'm off tomorrow morning to Unison Strings in Birmingham to look at a 1920s German bass, for £1100. It's been "well-used" and has some repairs (as I'd expect at that price), but if it doesn't have anything wrong with it that will affect long-term playability, it sounds like a good deal. I'm hoping to take along my great-uncle-in-law(!), who is a bassist, to give me his opinion, which will make me a lot happier.

I don't suppose anyone here has dealt with Unison? They don't seem to be bass specialists, so probably a long shot.

If this one doesn't appeal, it's probably going to be a Stentor Conservatoire, I think - though I haven't had a chance to play one yet, annoyingly, so I can't do a direct comparison (unless anyone knows somewhere in Birmingham, Coventry or Rugby that will have one on display?)

Peter Tyler and Thwaites both seem to be shut over the Christmas-New Year period, so I can't take advantage of my being in the South to visit them too - bah!
 
#136
Hi TSP

I was in Turner Violins, Beeston last Saturday. They’ve got about 4 basses that are in your price range that you could play :

2 x Paesold basses at £1,150
Several new basses at £575, £795 and £1,170

The cheap ones are Stentors (I think – not sure I wasn’t really checking them out) and the £1170 was a GEWA (not set up yet but could the sort of thing you’re looking for). The Paesold bass looked pretty good to me also . I currently own a Conservatoire and am looking to upgrade. Turner Violins also have a shop in Birmingham that might have some more (and would be easier for you to get to). Check out their website.
Good luck.
 
#138
Well, my personal quest is at an end, though not in a way that lets me give much help to others on this thread: I am now the proud owner of a fully-carved 1920s German flat-back bass - no maker's label, Eb neck, gamba shape, 42.5" scale. It's definitely 'well-loved' - it was formerly in the hands of an education authority, and has some scratched graffiti as well as accidental scratches. Lovely sound, though. It also has a fair few repairs, notably a quite long crack near the middle of the back (nowhere near the soundpost, thankfully) but they're mostly decades old; the newest (a crack in the back of the pegbox) is late 1990s and was repaired my the luthier who sold me the bass, who said it hadn't moved at all in that time so he was completely confident in it. He's been using it as his personal bass for the last 3 years while waiting for it to sell. It's got a new tailpiece and cord, new adjustable bridge, and helicore light-tension orchestral strings.

It cost me £1100, including a good second-hand cover (it looks like the Classic Cover from [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], mute and humidifier. It already had on it an Ashworth transducer (AJ301P, I think), which he sold me as second-hand for £50, less than half list price. (I've now taken it off to improve the acoustic sound, and it'll probably stay off for at least a few months until I'm ready to play in public....)

I never got round to going to Turner violins in the end - I had my great-uncle-in-law with me, who's played jazz bass for 40 years or so, and he was emphatic that it was better to get an old bass. Francois and David at Unison Strings seemed both honest and enthusiastic, and we were both very happy with the bass, so in the end we bought it without even going to see the new basses at Turner's.

Photos at Invalid Link Removed, though they don't do the finish justice and make the scratches look worse than they do in real life (and I appear to have my eyes shut, but hey, it's not a photo of me).
 
#140
Well, its immediate previous keeper (the luthier) did lots of good things to it; but you're right that it's clearly had quite a life before that :-)

On size - neither: I'm about 6 feet tall, and it's got a scale length of 42.5" (so a bit longer than average for a 3/4), is about 6 feet tall minus endpin, and I think has fairly average dimensions otherwise - I'll measure it and check against Bob Gollihur's page. It's odd, it DOES look small in the photos. The endpin isn't adjusted right (too high), and I'm standing right behind the bass, rather than in a sensible playing position; which I think must combine to make it hard to judge scale compared to normal views of people with basses. I'll try to get some better photos.
 

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