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I'd be very interested in building something like the Ned Steinberger upright. The sell for over 2k, but there doesn't look like there is too much to them. I always wanted a double bass but the size and price makes it impossible.
Is anyone else interested in such a beast?
Shipping would be costly - certainly outside Australia and even PBG might have to add in extra cost to cover the increased shipping within Australia. The scale length of even a 3/4 sized double bass is 41.3"/105cm, so the neck plus headstock would be very long and pretty heavy. A friend has one of the affordable Stagg EUBs and that certainly isn't light. http://www.staggmusic.com/en/product...ctric.html?p=1. Looking at that EUB's construction, you'd need two chunky body/neck parts that would each be around 1m long. You are also then dealing with a piezo bridge and it's associated pre-amp electronics, so almost everything about it would be non-standard.
With the latest CITES changes placing all rosewoods and similar woods on the Appendix II endangered list, finding a decent fretboard material (unless it's a composite) is now going to be a lot harder, and the extra paperwork is also going to push up wood costs.
I'm not saying it couldn't be done, but it wouldn't be a cheap kit at all. There's not a lot of body to customise, so it probably wouldn't appeal to that many kit builders. Plus even the strings are expensive, from around A$100 to A$180 a set, and I have no idea if cheap Chinese sets exist to accompany the kit. I doubt if PBG could afford to throw in a free set of decent strings - so again the price goes up.
Ahhh, I see.
Looks like I'll have to improvise with old pallets.
Cheers!
Hey gronk, we did consider this and for the reasons Simon has mentioned, plus others, it was just not viable.
Thanks Adam. When I read Simon's response I realised that I had overlooked the viability. I had received an ad for the Steinberger and thought there wasn't much to it, and I am keen to have a crack at some sort of double bass.
I do appreciate the opportunity to offer suggestions though!
cheers