Comments about Florea Recital II Double Bass Outfit:

I got the bass so I could practice at home, when not using the Engelhardt Bass the college lets it's bass students use so they don't have to drag theirs around.

When i first got it the finish behind the fretboard was increadibly ugly not to mention that the fretboard was coming apart from the neck. The 'D' string tuning peg was messed up so much it wouldn't even turn. I took it a trusty luither who does work on all 3 my school's basses, and my instructors bass. His advice was to get rid of it as fast as I could. The fingerboard needed to be recut, the nut was too high for the fretboard, it needed new tuning machines on the bottom two strings, and so much more luither talk I can't even remember it all.

If you are considering purchasing a bass do yourself a favor save your money buy a legitimate bass that you can be happy with, trust me I have to stare at my mistake everyday!!!
A small bow and a bag are really the only perks to this deal.
Terrible! The body is the only thing that is not absolutly terrible but it is nothing like the picture.

Comments about Florea Recital II Double Bass Outfit:

I'm very pleased with this purchase. I couldn't have found a better deal on a bass at this price!
I bought my Florea Recital II in condition 4 so I was hoping for the best,but preparing for the worst. I was extremely pleased to see it looked brand new (not a scratch) and included the soft case! I had a repair person ready when it arrived. He said it appeared this bass had been dropped, and the body separated at a few places along the seams. It also needed planing in some spots of the fingerboard. Of course it also needed to be set up. He later noticed some production flaws inside the body and fixed those too. He took the liberty of adding a second soundpost running from top to bottom. This he explained would also strengthen the body under the string tension. The bass plays and sounds great now,and holds it tune just fine. His work ran me $180,so I got a brand new bass for only $427 !!!
This is a lower quality bass but great for a beginner like myself. It sounds good and holds it's tune just fine. If you buy a condition 4 instrument be prepared for some repairs ahead. Find someone ahead of time who knows how to work on one.
A great deal is what I got! A brand new cheap quality bass easily runs $800 after the setup but I paid almost half that!!!

Comments about Florea Recital II Double Bass Outfit:

I purchased a 1/2 size bass and did not know what to expect after I read some of the reviews. It looked beautiful when it arrived and I immediately took it to a luthier for professional set up. Thanks to the reviews I knew what to expect and did not attempt to set this bass up on my own.

The fingerboard had to be planed to avoid the strings from buzzing when I played it. The bridge needed to be shaved and grooved but everything else was ok. I am just learning bass and play classical music for now, so the set up would be different if I were playing Rockabilly or Jazz which would impact the set up cost.

Any decent 1/2 size student bass costs at least twice the price this one cost me, even with the set up, so I saved a lot of money. I know people caution against purchasing these instruments online but if a person is a beginner I don't see anything wrong with it. I think the problem most people have is that they try to set the instrument up themselves and they always think they need new strings.

If you are a professional I completely understand but anyone learning a string instrument from the violin family is going to sound horrible at first (if you are planning to bow), regardless of the strings and quality of the instrument. (I played violin for ten years so I am speaking from experience.) You also don't need an adjustable bridge if you are a beginner. Just get the bridge shaved down it's a lot cheaper.

Also, additional costs for set up are pretty much a given for any upright bass. I considered renting a more "reputable" instrument but the deposit and rent for two months was 1/2 the price of owning this bass. So again, I think this can be a wise purchase if you are conscious of what you put into this bass.

I now have a playable student bass that I own at 1/2 the price of most student basses. I can probably sell it in a few years for the same price I paid for it since it is already set up and by then, will have better quality strings on it.

Basically, this is a very good purchase for a beginning student as long as it is set up professionally. The bass plays fine so far, the bag, bow and strings were fine although the rosin that comes with the outfit will not do, you need bass rosin. You will probably want a better quality bass if you are a professional but this one may be fine for that as well with the proper set up.

Comments about Florea Recital II Double Bass Outfit:

I needed a bass to practice at home. I bought this thinking it would work, but I had problems from day one. The strings doesn't run parallel down the board causing awful buzzing sounds, the nut is too high causing the lower notes on the strings to be IMPOSSIBLE to press down, the neck is bowed at the bottom, and there are cracks where the neck attaches to the body. I know it's a cheap bass, but I thought it was at least be half decent.

Comments about Florea Recital II Double Bass Outfit:

I bought this to teach a few students with. I was not expecting a whole lot, but thought this kit couldn't be too bad for the money. It arrived in 3 days and when I uncrated it I was amazed at the quality of the instrument, bow, case and even the cake of rosin included. My tailpiece hanger broke when I set it up, but a quick trip to the music store and I was back in business. The bridge set up nice, but I will do a little adjusting as the bass settles. This was a great purchase for me and I'll enjoy this instrument for a long time.

Comments about Florea Recital II Double Bass Outfit:

My bass had some serious Quality control issues...first off the end pin socket was drilled crooked causing my end pin to come out at an angle and the neck looks a little twisted. Even for china this is poor. Musicians Friend has been nothing but helpful in resolving this issue. It needs some serious set up and my bridge was too low. Maybe I got a lemon because this bass got some good reviews. Only time will tell if this bass will last. If I were a student learning the bass I would look to a higher end instrument. If you are just some picker looking to futz around with the bull fiddle, this might be ok.

Comments about Florea Recital II Double Bass Outfit:

This is a Great Bass. Had some problems with shipping. Great tone. Brigde is a little high. When bridge position center the F"s action is very high. Gig bag handle seems are flimsy. Please check or you may drop instrument. Beautiful looking instrument.

Comments about Florea Recital II Double Bass Outfit:

I bought this bass needing an inexpensive bass that could tolerate a lot of travel and outdoor use. My expectations for an inexpensive Chinese bass weren't very high -- I was very pleasantly surprised.The strings on it are fine, the fretboard is straight, the body is well made (for the price), it's playable as received except that the soundpost was loose and needed to be set.The action is a touch high but I plan to get an adjustable bridge. The tailpiece is metal and I plan to replace it as well. The bow is pretty low quality but I don't plan to bow her. The finish is about "average", nothing special but not ugly either. It's going to stay the way it is except for the new bridge and tailpiece and is playing for me just fine.If you're looking for an inexpensive but serviceable bass then this is a good choice. If you're expecting an Englehart or better for this money you won't be too happy. It's as good as many other student level instruments that cost twice as much. It's not as good as those that cost you $3K+

Comments about Florea Recital II Double Bass Outfit:

First of all this bass was purchased as a scratch and dent Florea Recital II 1/2 size so it came with many imperfections. The fingerboard is what is called ebonized and it has an ebony nut, very poor quality ebony but its ebony none the less. The bass needed extensive set up to get it playable. The nut needed to be filed down about 1/4-5/16" to get the strings close enough to play the first position. The bridge was way too short and needed to be raised about 1/2" to get clearance enough to play without the strings rattling against the finger board(about 1 cm above the end). Of course i could have just moved the bridge closer to the finger board to get the height i needed but then i would have had to go through the pain of moving the sound post closer to the bridge or risk breaking the top of the bass. I also replaced the strings with LaBella super nil nylon strings and now the bass sounds just as good if not better than any 3/4 or full size bass around here. If you are looking for a bass that is playable with out any set up this is not the one for you, if you dont mind spending a few hours setting it up (or paying someone to do it for you), this is a great deal for the beginner/intermediate bass player. I have played everything from a 1935 KAY full size bass, to an Engelhart 3/4 size, and i would not trade my 1/2 bass for any of them. It also sounds better through a mic than any bass ive played so far. I use a Sennheiser E602-II about 2 feet away from the back with a little compression on it and it sounds liketo eliminate the string noise. The best t a studio quality recording. I put the mic behind the bass hing is I payed so little for it so im not worried about dinging it up as i would be with a more expensive bass. And yes i do play Heavy Metal with this bass, it something to see peoples disbelief when the hear an upright going through a distortion processor.

Comments about Florea Recital II Double Bass Outfit:

I'll be totally honest. I wasn't expecting much from this bass because of the low price tag. The bass has some cosmetic issues that I'm not too worried about. For instance, the seams where the neck meet the body are poorly finished and have a very slight gap. The fingerboard is just some standard wood dyed black, but the dye is only on the front of the fingerboard. The back of the fingerboard is bare. The same is true for the nut. The bridge is fine for the price. The tailpiece is metal, which I am not a big fan of, so I'll probably buy some ebony parts to replace the tailpiece and the other low quality wood parts. As expected, the soundpost was not in place when it arrived, it was just rolling around in the body. The gig bag is good. The bow is not very good at all, but again, that was sort of expected. I recommend purchasing some decent rosin, as the rosin that came with the bass is not very good either. The tuners aren't very good, pretty rough action. All in all, its great for the price, and a good beginner instrument, but a better bass will be needed for intermediate and advanced players.