I am the second owner of this Yamaha Silent Bass, SLB-200 (or sometimes listed as SVB-200).
It's a great, portable, and very realistic electric upright bass. This one has been used and has some light scratches on the finish, but is in great shape and plays very well. I highly recommend the Yamaha line as the best electric upright basses. And while they have a newer model, the 300, it's in short supply and super expensive, so this is a great way to get started on electric upright. It has great pizz tone for jazz and is also suitable for bowed playing.
I bought this a few months ago while I was moving around a lot and didn't have much space and it served me well. Now that I am settled in a space big enough for an acoustic upright, I'm selling it so someone who really need an electric can play it more often than I will.
If you research the SLB-200 (I highly recommend this TalkBass thread: ), you'll learn a few things that I can summarize for you:
- It packs down into a really nice size, in a padded gig bag a little shorter than five feet long. The bag with this bass is still in great shape.
- The bass itself doesn't come with the shoulder extension or knee extension, which are really helpful for your ergonomics if you want to play with technique like an acoustic double bass. This listing comes with both of them already included and installed. (I had to buy them used on ebay and wait for shipping from Japan!)
- Of all the electric upright basses, the Yamaha is the most like an upright bass in terms of ergonomics. Professional upright players gig on the Yamaha or bring it with them on trips as a practice instrument and then transfer their technique directly to an upright acoustic bass.
- The bass is loud enough for home practice unamplified, but you'll want to plug it into an amp for a gig situation. The sound that comes out of it is partway between a bass guitar and an acoustic bass, but depending on your signal chain, you can make it sound many different ways.
This listing includes not just the silent bass itself, but everything you need to make it convenient and great-sounding right away:
- The SLB-200, padded gig bag, and original instruction manual (MSRP $3000, sells used for $1500-2000)
- The knee rest extension (Yamaha BKS2, usually ~$100 online)
- The shoulder extension frame (Yamaha BEF2, usually ~$130 online)
- The silent bass stand (Yamaha SVB-STD, $215) which is a really convenient adjustable stand so you can leave the bass assembled but secure and start playing in seconds.
- A relatively new set of Eva Pirazzi medium strings to replace the not-great stock strings. The Evahs are a great synthetic crossover string that has a warm dark tone and work well for both pizzacato and bow playing. (~$250 new)
- a String Emporium entry level French brazilwood bow. ($120)
The bass is in good shape and playable right now. A few notes on its condition:
- I recently put on new strings and set them up the way I like, but you may want to do your own setup or visit a luthier to get the bridge height and etc. the way you like it. The Eva strings that are on it now sound great (they add a dark acoustic tone to it) and have only just been broken in so they'll probably last a while.
- There are scratches and dents that go through the finish to the wood beneath on both the left side of the body and the right side of the headstock. (See pictures!) They are in places that don't affect the instrument's sound or ergonomics.
- There's a small dent on the left side of the neck. It might be fixable via steaming but it's not a place my thumb ever falls so I haven't tried.
For a concert situation, just add your own instrument cable and amp of choice and it's ready to play!
(Price above is for local pickup near Atlanta. Let's DM about shipping logistics and pricing.)
It's a great, portable, and very realistic electric upright bass. This one has been used and has some light scratches on the finish, but is in great shape and plays very well. I highly recommend the Yamaha line as the best electric upright basses. And while they have a newer model, the 300, it's in short supply and super expensive, so this is a great way to get started on electric upright. It has great pizz tone for jazz and is also suitable for bowed playing.
I bought this a few months ago while I was moving around a lot and didn't have much space and it served me well. Now that I am settled in a space big enough for an acoustic upright, I'm selling it so someone who really need an electric can play it more often than I will.
If you research the SLB-200 (I highly recommend this TalkBass thread: ), you'll learn a few things that I can summarize for you:
- It packs down into a really nice size, in a padded gig bag a little shorter than five feet long. The bag with this bass is still in great shape.
- The bass itself doesn't come with the shoulder extension or knee extension, which are really helpful for your ergonomics if you want to play with technique like an acoustic double bass. This listing comes with both of them already included and installed. (I had to buy them used on ebay and wait for shipping from Japan!)
- Of all the electric upright basses, the Yamaha is the most like an upright bass in terms of ergonomics. Professional upright players gig on the Yamaha or bring it with them on trips as a practice instrument and then transfer their technique directly to an upright acoustic bass.
- The bass is loud enough for home practice unamplified, but you'll want to plug it into an amp for a gig situation. The sound that comes out of it is partway between a bass guitar and an acoustic bass, but depending on your signal chain, you can make it sound many different ways.
This listing includes not just the silent bass itself, but everything you need to make it convenient and great-sounding right away:
- The SLB-200, padded gig bag, and original instruction manual (MSRP $3000, sells used for $1500-2000)
- The knee rest extension (Yamaha BKS2, usually ~$100 online)
- The shoulder extension frame (Yamaha BEF2, usually ~$130 online)
- The silent bass stand (Yamaha SVB-STD, $215) which is a really convenient adjustable stand so you can leave the bass assembled but secure and start playing in seconds.
- A relatively new set of Eva Pirazzi medium strings to replace the not-great stock strings. The Evahs are a great synthetic crossover string that has a warm dark tone and work well for both pizzacato and bow playing. (~$250 new)
- a String Emporium entry level French brazilwood bow. ($120)
The bass is in good shape and playable right now. A few notes on its condition:
- I recently put on new strings and set them up the way I like, but you may want to do your own setup or visit a luthier to get the bridge height and etc. the way you like it. The Eva strings that are on it now sound great (they add a dark acoustic tone to it) and have only just been broken in so they'll probably last a while.
- There are scratches and dents that go through the finish to the wood beneath on both the left side of the body and the right side of the headstock. (See pictures!) They are in places that don't affect the instrument's sound or ergonomics.
- There's a small dent on the left side of the neck. It might be fixable via steaming but it's not a place my thumb ever falls so I haven't tried.
For a concert situation, just add your own instrument cable and amp of choice and it's ready to play!
(Price above is for local pickup near Atlanta. Let's DM about shipping logistics and pricing.)