Thomann 22 3/4 Europe Double Bass

Buying a cheaper double bass is not for the feint hearted, and as prices go for these large instruments, the price Thomann charge for this piece of goodness is extremely reasonable. The Thomann 22 Double bass is a hybrid instrument. This means that it is partly solid wood, and partly laminated. The solid part is the top (or table as its known), and this is the most important part from a sound point of view. The reason for this is that it is the part that vibrates most, and by being carved from solid wood, it is freer to move than a top made of sandwiched/laminate construction. The laminated parts are the sides of the bass, and the back. The back by the way on this bass is curved.

The bass arrived extremely well packed in a huge, well structured cardboard case. It took about 10 days to arrive form time of order - very impressive considering I ordered it in a peak shopping period. The soundpost of the bass is a large dowel of wood that is positioned vertically inside the bass, and keeps slight pressure on the back and front plates. Typically, it is kept in place by the pressure of the strings pushing down on the bridge, which is positioned directly over the soundpost. So why talk about this? ... because thankfully, when the bass arrived, it still had the post in place. When the bass is shipped, Thomann leave the strings completely slack, and the bridge down - this is obviously so the entire instrument does not get damaged in transit. The only downside of this is that sometimes, the soundpost can slip out, requiring careful attention when you receive it to set it up again.

When you order the bass, ensure that you tell Thomann how you would like the bass setup - they have inhouse luthiers, and will give the bass a basic bridge trimming and fingerboard alignment to your needs before shipping.

Now about the bass itself of course! ... I am astounded at the quality of this bass for the price ... I researched this purchase for a long time, and was able to try out the exact same model with someone who had purchased one a few years ago. The construction is very very solid, the sound is not restricted in any way .. I put some good strings on it (Evah Weich, also from Thomann at a great price), and this instrument really sings. It has a lovely low fundamental, and a nice open high end. I am positive that the overall feel and sound of the bass could be improved by bringing it to a good luthier for a proper setup, optimising of location of the sound-post (this makes a big difference), light sanding of some incredibly superficial not *quite perfect* joins on the fingerboard ... but if I did nothing else on the bass, it would be great as well. I am sure I will look in a few years for another bass, something more expensive, older, more mojo, whatever ... but I also know that this beauty will stay with me as my go-to for thumping about whenever I need something solid and reliable that I wont mind if it gets a few bumps ... because it is such, amazing value!

Bottom line, if its in your budget and you are wondering about this versus something else ... just get this ... apart from anything else, the resale is great .. almost no devaluation on these babys in the pre-loved bass market!

I love these basses, and I don't say that lightly. Mine is the Thomann 22 model, which is really a bass made by the Hora company in Reghin, Romania and then relabelled by Thomann. This is a normal practice in the orchestral world - much like Lakland or Fender, etc outsourcing to a factory to make Lakland or Fender instruments. The Thomann 22 has a carved top with laminated sides and back.

The bass this one replaced was a £3500, fully carved model made for Ken Smith (of the electric bass fame - he's an uber-upright geek). He had several models made to his specs, so I took a punt on one. Great bass to play and had a gorgeous tone, but it was a bugger to amplify. Feedback city. The Thomann bass has about 90% of the Ken Smith in terms of tone but is SO much easier to gig with in terms of feedback. One of their models with a laminated top might be even better without too much sacrifice in tone. Given that I gig more than I record, this was a big issue for me so I split the difference and went with the hybrid.

A big plus - mine shipped with the soundpost still in place. I don't know if it's glued or pegged in or if it was just pressure and the box hadn't taken a knock, but either way, it meant that when it arrived all I had to do was string her up and I was good to go. I was literally out gigging with it within days.

I didn't have to spend any extra money once the bass arrived because the other big plus is that you can specify what height you want the strings set at - you can be specific with measurements or tell them it's for jazz/orchestra/bluegrass, etc. That's saving you the expense and time of going to a luthier. So since I've had mine it hasn't once been to a luthier and I've used it on countless gigs and recorded a few albums with it.

One thing I did change from stock was the strings. I don't know what it ships with but they're not bad strings - just a bit too high tension for me. Still, they were fine to get out gigging with.

I have recommended this bass many times on bass forums. I take my bass in and out of schools all week long teaching and gigging fairly regularly with it. I have played this bass in many varied settings - as part of a string section in a theatre pit, in jazz gigs, on rock gigs, in the studio. It has never let me down or left me wanting for something else. For a regular gigging, workhorse bass this is impossible to beat.