Double Bass What do you think?

[Future_DB]

There are two basses that I'm interested in buying in the future (after renting for a while), what do you think?

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[Future_DB]

Anyone?

 

[PaulKing]

I'm not going to be much help, but just to show someone is taking notice :0)

Well, they look beautiful, but that don't mean a thing.

Thwaites is as good a dealer in UK as you're going to find, so I'd hope they picked decent basses to sell.
They're both in the respectable mid-budget £5k bracket, so they aren't going to be CCBs, but neither are they going to be world beaters.

So the paper pedigree is almost certainly fine for a carved bass, even if it's nothing to get too excited about.

I guess the only thing to do is play them, if you fall in love ... that's all you need to know. But play some other basses first.

I like the Gamba slightly more. FWIW

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

There appeared not to be any information on either bass, only pictures. Was I missing something?

 

[Jake deVilliers]

I think that anybody who can say with a straight face 'Nationality Unknown' is being, let's say, disingenuous.

 

[drurb]

I think that anybody who can say with a straight face 'Nationality Unknown' is being, let's say, disingenuous.

+1 and very diplomatically stated.

 

[LouisF]

When I lived in France in the late 80's the cheap wines in the supermarkets were called, diplomatically, wines of the European Union.

When I dealt with Korean bass makers for a while, they would actually (on their high end basses) get the basses in the white from Germany and/or Romania, finish them in Korea etc and ship them out as "hand made" (with which I tool issue more than once!)

So a) Thwaites (which I've dealt with in the UK) is a very respectable firm; and b) "unknown origin" - or whatever the phrase they used - might not be quite as shady as it sounds. One dealer I know (not Thwaites) has shops from 3 Eastern European countries building the same model bass for him.

Ah, to paraphrase Shakespeare, brave new globalization!!

Louis

 

[drurb]

...So a) Thwaites (which I've dealt with in the UK) is a very respectable firm; and b) "unknown origin" - or whatever the phrase they used - might not be quite as shady as it sounds.

Understood, but it seems they would be better off labeling them as coming from one of a few potential countries rather than labeling them as "Nationality Unknown." Maybe not shady at all but it sure makes one curious. I guess what really counts is what they say when you ask about a specific bass.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

+1 and very diplomatically stated.

Thanks Oracle! It wasn't the first phrase that popped into my head.

 

[LouisF]

I'm not disagreeing - just giving them the benefit of the doubt. Still, it is odd.

LF

 

[Future_DB]

I agree with the "unknown nationality" thing, however, if they played well and I was only renting them, it wouldn't affect re-sale value.

I just thought that they looked nice, I haven't viewed these in person yet and the company may not even offer these models for rental.

 

[wayne holmes]

renting-might be okay-recommend that you discuss it with your teacher-good luck-good to see that you are moving forward and I think that renting one is a good start.

 

[LouisF]

You might want to look into Stentor basses - which are geared to school and conservatory students. I'm sure they have a rental program

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L

 

[Eric Hochberg]

Understood, but it seems they would be better off labeling them as coming from one of a few potential countries rather than labeling them as "Nationality Unknown." Maybe not shady at all but it sure makes one curious. I guess what really counts is what they say when you ask about a specific bass.

Maybe they would be better off, but if they truly don't know the absolute origin of these, isn't it refreshing that they are admitting it, even if it sounds like they got them off a truck in the middle of the night? Maybe saying "nationality unknown" is more advantageous than "made in North Korea" but I'd rather some honesty than, "oh, the DiVinci, it's Italian" when it really is Chinese.

 

[drurb]

Maybe they would be better off, but if they truly don't know the absolute origin of these, isn't it refreshing that they are admitting it, even if it sounds like they got them off a truck in the middle of the night?

Yes, I agree that the honesty would be appreciated but I have a hard time believing that they have no idea. Please understand that I'm not suggesting anything shady or dishonest. It just seems more likely that they know what the possibilities are but it's too complicated to put it on a web page. I sure don't fault them for that. Could be something like... comes from a European factory that bought them from a Chinese maker in the white or some such... As I said, what counts is what they tell you about them when you ask. It may be unfair to evaluate what they can squeeze onto a web page and, barring any information to the contrary, I'd assume they have done their best as a reputable shop.