Hello friends,
My Thomann double bass has 4 years now, and I have realized for quite some time that the DB would be a permanent thing in my life.
I haven't touch my electric basses for months, since I left my covers band. I only play on the Jazz Group now, and there, the DB is king.
I'm really loving this journey, double bass is the instrument I want to play.
So, for quite some time, I have been watching the local for sale lists, without any luck. 90 per cent of the instruments are sub par, or beginner basses, the rest 5 per cent are for restoration, and the remaining 5 per cent are too expensive. Nothing to be found on my price range. I was very reluctant to go abroad, to Germany, or something like that. I'm a hobbyist, I can't justify to myself the extra expense and days off work.
After months and months of looking around without anything coming along, my teacher (and friend) told me that there was a luthier in Corunha (spanish city, north from my city, in Portugal. 300kms to get there) that had some DBs for sale. He ordered them unfinished and then he finished them and set them up. My teacher have played some of these instruments before, and said we would have to go there and play them, because some were very nice, and others were not so nice. This was more than 6 months ago and I never decided to go there. I wasn't feeling it.
So, I decided I would just play my Thomann, which sounds good for what it is. Has its limitations, but it plays and sounds like a real doublebass.
Last week, my teacher sends me a link to an add posted that morning, a double bass for sale, on my price range, on my city, from a local professional player! My teacher knows him very well, I know his work, too. He's about our age, and has recorded his albums with the double bass he is now selling. Great, I already know how it sounds, and I like it!
He's selling because he is now playing another type of DB, those thin and smaller bodied DBs.
We met after dinner at his house (the three of us), and we spent a couple of hours talking about Jazz and playing the bass.
He bought it on 2006, on a very reputable German bass store that closed some time ago (I forgot the name of the store). The bass is European and doesn't have a seal inside, and it wasn't knew when he bought it.
What the bass had going for itself was: pro player, well known in the community, honest and nice. The bass was recorded many times. He played it live for 15 years or so, including tours, some in Europe. The bass has traveled. And was played. It has some marks, nothing special. It appears to have some kind of work done on the heel. It was already done when he bought it, and never failed. Never had an open seem. Thus, it had a history of use and it's still in excellent shape.
It also had some features I was looking for, some for playability, some just for looks (which is important to me):
D neck, 105cm (41.34 inches) scale, good neck, on the slim side but not too much, 3/4 size (with a big lower bout). Aesthetically speaking, it's violin shaped, has those fake wooden tuners, not too much varnish, it's carved and has some flaming. It also has those line drawings on the back, which I like.
It has a Fisherman full circle already mounted, adjustable bridge, and a good endpin.
I decided to buy it, we came to an agreement about the price, and I brought the bass with me that same night. Came with a good bag, too. Didn't need a setup. I transfered the money the next morning, and voilà, I have a new bass!
I changed the strings as soon as I could. It had some thin soloist strings and I put the Thomastik weichs that I had on my Thomann.
I am completely satisfied with this bass. I have it for a week, and I just love it. I think the sound is improving everyday. From the looks, to the sound, everything is to my liking. It was an opportunity that I didn't miss and I am very happy that I went for it.
Cost wise, last year I sold two of my electric basses to fund the purchase of a new double bass. With that money and the money I can get from selling the Thomann, i will still be left with a couple of hundred euros. So, that's good, too.
I'll post some pictures now, and post a YouTube video from the previous owner, also.
Sorry for the long post, but I'm pretty sure this is going to be my life instrument, so I might as well tell the full story!
Thank you for reading.
My Thomann double bass has 4 years now, and I have realized for quite some time that the DB would be a permanent thing in my life.
I haven't touch my electric basses for months, since I left my covers band. I only play on the Jazz Group now, and there, the DB is king.
I'm really loving this journey, double bass is the instrument I want to play.
So, for quite some time, I have been watching the local for sale lists, without any luck. 90 per cent of the instruments are sub par, or beginner basses, the rest 5 per cent are for restoration, and the remaining 5 per cent are too expensive. Nothing to be found on my price range. I was very reluctant to go abroad, to Germany, or something like that. I'm a hobbyist, I can't justify to myself the extra expense and days off work.
After months and months of looking around without anything coming along, my teacher (and friend) told me that there was a luthier in Corunha (spanish city, north from my city, in Portugal. 300kms to get there) that had some DBs for sale. He ordered them unfinished and then he finished them and set them up. My teacher have played some of these instruments before, and said we would have to go there and play them, because some were very nice, and others were not so nice. This was more than 6 months ago and I never decided to go there. I wasn't feeling it.
So, I decided I would just play my Thomann, which sounds good for what it is. Has its limitations, but it plays and sounds like a real doublebass.
Last week, my teacher sends me a link to an add posted that morning, a double bass for sale, on my price range, on my city, from a local professional player! My teacher knows him very well, I know his work, too. He's about our age, and has recorded his albums with the double bass he is now selling. Great, I already know how it sounds, and I like it!
He's selling because he is now playing another type of DB, those thin and smaller bodied DBs.
We met after dinner at his house (the three of us), and we spent a couple of hours talking about Jazz and playing the bass.
He bought it on 2006, on a very reputable German bass store that closed some time ago (I forgot the name of the store). The bass is European and doesn't have a seal inside, and it wasn't knew when he bought it.
What the bass had going for itself was: pro player, well known in the community, honest and nice. The bass was recorded many times. He played it live for 15 years or so, including tours, some in Europe. The bass has traveled. And was played. It has some marks, nothing special. It appears to have some kind of work done on the heel. It was already done when he bought it, and never failed. Never had an open seem. Thus, it had a history of use and it's still in excellent shape.
It also had some features I was looking for, some for playability, some just for looks (which is important to me):
D neck, 105cm (41.34 inches) scale, good neck, on the slim side but not too much, 3/4 size (with a big lower bout). Aesthetically speaking, it's violin shaped, has those fake wooden tuners, not too much varnish, it's carved and has some flaming. It also has those line drawings on the back, which I like.
It has a Fisherman full circle already mounted, adjustable bridge, and a good endpin.
I decided to buy it, we came to an agreement about the price, and I brought the bass with me that same night. Came with a good bag, too. Didn't need a setup. I transfered the money the next morning, and voilà, I have a new bass!
I changed the strings as soon as I could. It had some thin soloist strings and I put the Thomastik weichs that I had on my Thomann.
I am completely satisfied with this bass. I have it for a week, and I just love it. I think the sound is improving everyday. From the looks, to the sound, everything is to my liking. It was an opportunity that I didn't miss and I am very happy that I went for it.
Cost wise, last year I sold two of my electric basses to fund the purchase of a new double bass. With that money and the money I can get from selling the Thomann, i will still be left with a couple of hundred euros. So, that's good, too.
I'll post some pictures now, and post a YouTube video from the previous owner, also.
Sorry for the long post, but I'm pretty sure this is going to be my life instrument, so I might as well tell the full story!
Thank you for reading.
