Played string bass in school, electric for a spell, went in the army and stopped. FF 20+ years and I've go the bug again. Have been playing a Dean acoustic 4 string to get some feel back. Went looking today at string basses and have narrowed it down to a couple choices but have a delema. My ears are better than my playing as the plywood sounds okay, but the spruce/maple really had a far superior sound(duh.) Mostly bluegrass, but I've got some Tom Waits things running thru my noggen that want to get out. I think that with the cheap($1500) one I'll hit a plateau and not try as much vs the better(5k) one. But price isn't the issue, it's what I hear that makes me want to try harder. Am I being rational looking at it that way? Again, not about the $, but the sound and I think it would push me harder and to keep at it. Sorry to ramble but if I don't get back into it I'll regret it for years to come. I look forward to some responses on here from people who have some great and vast knowledge. Thanks, Jay. I'll check back later as work is calling.
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Double Bass Which way should I go?
- Thread starter Jay Parker
- Start date
There's a lot of room between $1,500 and $5,000. Myself, I just bought a Shen SB-150 hybrid for a bit under $3,000. I used to have a $8,000, fully-carved German factory bass, and I think the Shen sounds every bit as good. It might be worth your while to look in-between the extremes.
I subscribe to the rule of thumb that you should acquire the best instrument you can afford. I don't know that I'd spend five large without looking closely at some alternatives, tho.
Like many here I have two basses (1each at the price points you name). If you don't need or want 2 basses I endorse the hybrid idea. There will be times you would prefer not to risk exposing a fully carved 5k instrument.
First, thanks for the replies I'll try to multi-answer. I really liked the sound in my rusty hands. Fit and finish at first look seemed really nice. Aging toner and the natural flaws in the wood made it look older and well played. Parola vb5 is the maker. Bass seems well built to me. Spruce top, maple back/sides, I believe. Huge tonal differences between it and several instruments in both price ranges, to my ears, which seems to be the point in selecting a bass(somewhat redundant, I know.) I like the rent to own @ $250.00 a month with no penalty for early payoff.I can return it anytime if circumstances made it so. Call that one a long rental. But what really sold me, attention store owners, was the stafff listening to my rambles about different things for about an hour and a half. I knew I wanted before i got there and they just so happened to have a bass which fit the bill. I can see having this baby until I cannot play. This made ME realize that I better get my a$$ in gear @ 54 and re-learn this fantastic instrument, now. Again, sound and feel were and still are foremost and when I go to take home I'll really look it over and play it harder listening for rattles etc. Funny how I forgot that the octave is WAY up there on the neck and I'm looking so forward to re-learning how to slide notes again without that annoying fret buzz and improve my intonation skills. Could, or should I look at others? I hope my reply explains my reason to buy that bass from them. I hope to see myself in the future playing bluegrass, a nice 4 piece combo, and maybe a little big band. Who knows. Let the journey begin. Jay
I'm not familiar with that brand. If it is Asian made, you need to know that it was built with well seasoned wood and constructed with hide glue. It can sound and look great, but down the road you may experience cracking if the wood is green, and repairs with other glues are much more difficult (costly). Some luthiers won't touch them. A good reason to stick with the tried and true brands like Shen, Christopher, Eastman, Wan Bernadel, etc. for these types of instruments.
I've never heard of that make either. $250 per month to rent a bass sounds REALLY steep. That's a car payment!
And of course the store staff stood there patiently while you thought out loud. That's their job. Letting a customer talk themselves into making a purchase is less effort on their part than a staff member talking a customer into buying something.
Best of luck on your journey, and feel free to check in if you have questions. Do you have a teacher yet?
And of course the store staff stood there patiently while you thought out loud. That's their job. Letting a customer talk themselves into making a purchase is less effort on their part than a staff member talking a customer into buying something.
Best of luck on your journey, and feel free to check in if you have questions. Do you have a teacher yet?
My local price for a rental instrument of that quality is probably more like $150, so it seems pretty spendy to me too.
Thanks again fol all the responses. Made in Hungary. As I said I'll take a good look when I go back. Played very well as I said with my rusty playing. Intonation was spot on and the strings were well balanced. Your right about listening, but that is going by the wayside more and more each day. They were pretty good. People in customer service should, and do in my case, appreciate it. The price includes all maintenance & insurance in case something happens so that is covered. Problems would come up, I think, within that timeframe so I don't think 250 is to out of line. And I did mention the early payoff. All in all it looks good to me. I'll let you know.
The only reference I found for location of a Parola shop was a Sam Ash ad which identified a Parola violin as Romanian. This price seems pretty low for a Hungarian made instrument. Also found this.
Nicolas Parola violins in Acoustic Strings
In the end it really doesn't matter where it was made as long as it is well made, although you don't want to pay a premium for "Hungarian" if it is really Chinese or something else.
Nicolas Parola violins in Acoustic Strings
In the end it really doesn't matter where it was made as long as it is well made, although you don't want to pay a premium for "Hungarian" if it is really Chinese or something else.
I played a Parola VB5 today. Came here looking for info and found this thread. It did sound like a more complex and mature bass, but I was not loving the set up. I'd consider rolling the dice on it if it were a litttle cheaper.
