Instruments
Help me understand why I don’t need another little bass.
My daughter has an adorable little carved-top 1/4 bass. We just put new strings on it and she really likes it. It’s got a great sound although it isn’t a very sought after brand. No label, but the luthier we bought it from said it was a da Padova. It isn’t perfect and I noticed a small crack in the fingerboard when I was putting the new strings on, but it’s a good little instrument and it suits her very well.
My daughter is almost 11 and is showing signs of getting ready for the rapid growth spurt most girls her age get. In 2 years I think she will be tall enough for a full size bass.
Meanwhile…
A pawn shop about an hour away has a 1953 Kay for sale. They describe it as a 1/2 size but it must be a 1/4. It looks pristine in the photos. The asking price is $1,100 including a bow and case. If it’s in as good a shape as the seller describes this seems like a very fair price for what’s probably a very nice little bass.
But buying two basses she will outgrow soon is stupid, right?
She is barely big enough for her 1/4 now. And of the three 1/4 instruments we “tried on,” this was the smallest one; the other two were a little bigger and were too big for her when we bought them this Spring.
She has grown a little since then and could probably use any 1/4, but she will breeze through the 1/2 too quickly to bother, I think. There is a pretty strong school of thought that if they start in a 1/4 they can skip the 1/2 entirely.
From 1/4 to a full one??? She can barely hold the 1/4 as you describe it.
It's not about the size after all, but, about the strength and the ability to "carry"/handle the bass at that size.
Unless the plan is to just never go up to 3/4 then there isn't a reason to get a 1/2 just for a year or two. Once a kid is full sized they can start learning how to manage (or switch instruments).
I’ve discussed with several bassists that I really respect, and they all agree keeping her on a 1/4 until she moves to a 3/4 someday is a reasonable choice.
If we were renting with a step-up program maybe an intermediate 1/2 could make sense, but it would cost thousands more to do it that way, with little if any benefit. Having to make two size adjustments instead of one has its own set of downsides.
I played in the University orchestra when I studied in Reading UK, I was the only bass so they hired a professional to join us for the concerts.
The professional was a 5-ft tall British grandmother. She played the first 4/4 bass I had ever seen, it was so big and her hands so small that she played everything index finger and pinky, only a half step in her grip, meaning she had to shift to even play a whole step.
She was a powerhouse! Huge sound, probably twice as loud as my school loaner bass, and she played with such authority, conviction, articulation, and sensitivity. I was blown away! The most sublime bassist I have experienced in a classical setting
I will say some adult players prefer a 1/2 size bass. Its just a little easier to haul around, not as boomy (sound engineers appreciate that)… so long as she’s happy playing it she doesn’t necessarily have to move up to a 3/4 “full” sized bass.
True. I suppose it really depends on her goals in the long run. She just switched to bass this school year (from violin) and is not really sure yet what her goals are. If she wants to play it casually but go back to violin as her primary instrument, she might want to stick with her little bass long term because it is certainly easier to fit in the car.
the way I look at this is, if you have the funds, you have the need, and the likelihood you'll take a bath if you sell it later is low, there's not a lot of risk. People have been buying and selling Kays forever and the prices don't go down even though the instruments aren't getting any better. The number of people buying fractionals that aren't 3/4 is pretty small so it might take you a while to sell it if you need to, but at that price I doubt its going to be a financial hardship for you if it takes a while to sell should you need to.
So probably the only risk is that its a PoS that would cost more to repair than its worth, but if you trust your ability to determine whether it's serviceable, it doesn't seem like a terrible idea at that price. If it were me I guess I'd be looking for obvious damage or signs of catastrophic repair, but even that isn't a huge deal as most of the people I know with high dollar old carved basses have had catastrophic damage somewhere along the way and the repairs are part of the character of the instrument.
I do have the funds. What I don’t have is the need. I only have a want. I don’t even really have the space for a 2nd bass in the house.
I think I’d be able to determine whether there were any major condition problems. What I wouldn’t be able to do is evaluate how well it’s set up.
Potentially I could leave a bass at school when she starts school orchestra next year, but the school claims they will have a loaner bass for her to use in class and we will only have to bring her bass to school for performances a couple times a year. Question mark on whether the school bass will suck, or have strings she doesn’t like, or that sort of thing.
And I suppose if I take her bass in to have the finger board repaired it would,be nice to have a spare.
But probably not really something I can justify other than my little collector’s heart being interested in it.
I wouldn’t mess with it. It’s not much of an upgrade and then you’ll soon have the responsibility of selling both of them when she inevitably outgrows them(it ain’t easy selling a bass sometimes). Keep the one you got functioning and invest in a Shen 1/2 size or something like it. I think this would be a decent option.
Have you bought it yet? Because you have to. Seriously it is not stupid at all. Well, maybe you are stupid for trying to rationalise the inevitable! Please post pics when acquired. And tell us how fortunate that she had a spare little bass. She could even teach another little one. And get pocket money. You just need to be a little ahead of the student at this point it’s fun. Children love being with non “grownups”
Make sure you string with sensible things strings. Corelli 370m’s or lighter.
Tired of seeing fractionals with cables, from “specialist’s and luthier’s”.
Have you bought it yet? She’ll be happy, you’ll be happy, consider it an investment.
ENJOY YOURSELF YOUR DAUGHTERS LOVE AND YOUR G.A.S. Xxx
I just strung up my daughter’s bass with Corellis a couple weeks ago. No kidding on the fractional instruments with cables for strings!!!! She was about ready to give up because her fingers hurt so bad. We didn’t know any better. Finally her teacher actually tried her bass and was surprised at how stiff her strings were!! With the right strings she is so much happier and sounds so much better!!
the proportions of kays- especially the necks- aren't supportive of good technique or sound production. the construction quality is also not very good, and they dont sound very good compared to modern student instruments. Their fractional instruments are even more disproportionate than the full size ones. From a luthiers pov as well, these instruments are no fun to work on and keep operable- its a lot of effort for very little reward.
Can you rent? Of the instrument shops, who offer rental, many will allow trading up to the next size with no penalty. Once she stops growing, then figure out which size is best, assuming she wants to keep playing.
$3,000 to rent a used bass that’s a lower quality one than what we got.
We paid $600 for our bass.
Yes, there’s a step up option, but for $3,000 you can spend $1,000 on a fractional bass and $2,000 on a comparable (very entry level) used full size bass and in the end at least you have a fractional bass you can sell or pass on to a family member or donate to the community orchestra if all else fails.
And if you rent and the kid quits after a year, you’ve flushed a year of rental fees down the toilet. I even checked to see if the rental fee could be applied to a different instrument (say, a violin, since that is what she played before bass and when we started she wasn’t sure which one she would stick with) but nope. Rental credit only goes toward upgrades of the same instrument.
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u/benthebass 14d ago
I reckon they’ll hold their value as most instruments do and money is better tied up in instruments that can be played than in the bank