Antoni Debut Double Bass Outfit - 3/4 Sized

First of all, I have no issues with the instrument itself. It is my first double bass and for £248 is an absolute bargain. At it's current price of £479.99 it is still incredible value for money.It sounds great, and having played electric bass for over fifteen years it is not nearly as hard to play as I had been led to believe. I can't comment on the bow as so far I have only tried rockabilly finger/ slap style. I may invest in a professional set up in the near future to lower the action slightly, but it is fine for now while I learn the basics and stays in tune reasonably well. Be warned, the bass is packaged without the bridge in place and the strings detuned to avoid damage during transit. However, there are plenty of online guides to help you fit the bridge, and with a bit of patience and a guitar tuner to hand it should not take more than an hour or so to get it ready to play.The reason I am only giving three stars is because of the problems I have had with delivery. I ordered it first class, but had to wait nearly two weeks to get it because it requires a specialist 2-man courier service for bulky items. After numerous e-mails and phone calls to various courier companies, I eventually tracked it down to the local parcel depot located ten minutes from my home address, but was told it would be another week before they could deliver. As my car is large enough I opted to collect it myself, otherwise I would have had to wait nearly 3 weeks from ordering to recieve it. To be fair to Amazon they were incredibly helpful throughout and have refunded my delivery charges. I suspect the problems are due to the couriers themselves rather than Amazon, but hopefully these issues are now being addressed.In summary, excellent beginner double bass, just don't expect prompt delivery!

This is my first contrabass, and as a result I decided to go budget.I don't regret the decision, especially considering I've already covered it in beauty marks :P which would be tragic if it was very valuable.The negatives about this product are the joins, they're not very craftsmanly. Also, my double bass sometimes rattles when I play either open G or G on the E string, which seems to be resolved by shaking the whole thing.However, it has a lovely sound and it's a good instrument to learn on. Will recommend it to other first-time bass players