Double Bass Thinking about getting a cheap one for my first Upright Bass

[mpf]

Within the past two months, there have been six chiropractor visits, two visits to a massage therapist, two visits to an acupuncturist, two visits to my primary care doctor, lots of missed gigs and rehearsals, lots of physical therapy -- with much more to follow. I learned a lot from starting out on a CCB, most importantly, I learned that I should have shelled out the extra dough and started on a decent instrument! In addition to avoiding the above torture, I would also be way ahead in my abilities, because you can only get so good when you are learning on a poor-quality instrument.

 

[bass183]

I'm seeing some upright basses on the internet starting at $500, including shipping and a gig bag. Then, some are $700, are any of these cheaper basses worth considering?

I'm looking for that sound, but I'm poor, so I'm also considering a U-Bass type of deal, but I'm not sure I can learn to "rockabilly slap" on one of those or not.

This will be my first "traditional" sound type of bass, I've had some electric basses in the past. Any (cheaper) brands to look at?

Am I correct in thinking that metal, flatwound strings are for orchestra and bowing, while the rockabilly strings are gut strings? Or are they tape-wounds or something else?

If my price range is too low, how much should I be considering spending for something decent? Thanks!

I started playing DB with a very cheap bass, mainly because I didn't have very much money to spend at the time. I was already playing in my school's (community college) ensembles. So there was a need for me, so to speak, to practice at home. I found a cheap $600 bass with a bow and basically used that to practice with for about 2 years until I had saved up enough money to buy something of decent quality (around $4k). I learned as much as I could on that cheap bass until it became apparent that it was hindering my growth on the instrument. That cheap bass gave me an opportunity to practice on an instrument at a time when I was nearly flat broke. There is nothing wrong with learning on a cheap instrument. Shoot, Pops Foster (Louis Armstrong's bassist) learned how to play on a homemade bass constructed out of a wine barrel for the body, a 2x4 for the neck and twine wound with wax for the strings. Then he graduated to playing bass on a cheap cello that was strung with that same candle wax dipped twine. Sure, one could save up money to buy a better instrument, but that time spent saving could have been used learning to play on a cheap instrument. It's a difficult instrument to learn to play. No one is going to sound like a "pro" out of the gates. Why buy something expensive if you don't even know what you are going to like (sound, shape, etc) further down the road? I say, if you've got the $500 to spend now, do it. The bass won't be of the same quality as something worth $4,000 and up, but it will give you something to learn on while you save up for something much better. Plus, it will allow you to really learn what works or doesn't work/what you want out of a better instrument. Fyi, my first upright bass was a Palatino. Not the best, but it served me well until I was ready and able to upgrade. Anyway, happy bass shopping and have fun!