Our take: The Palatino electric upright is a popular choice with musicians who seek the sound of an acoustic double bass but must travel light from gig to gig. What we like: Sleek, modern design.

The Höfner 500/1 violin bass made famous by Sir Paul McCartney, for example, has a 30-inch neck compared to the more usual 34-inch.

However Gibson made bigger impact in 1958 with its EB-2 bass, a thinline semi-hollow bodied instrument with real f-holes and like the Electric Bass it initially had banjo-style tuners that projected ...

Beatles-y bass with a short scaleObviously aimed at a much younger player who can't yet handle the full 34-inch scale of most basses, or simply any of us who fancy trying something a little different, ...

Rocco Scott LaFaro (1936-1961) was a musician of the first order, who found his 'voice' in jazz in the mid-1950s. His played the double bass violin, better known today as the acoustic bass to ...