...I am also 6'3.

Ugh, I'm sorry. I forgot to ask him on Friday and it's totally slipped my mind until I saw this topic on the list. May I be kissed on the lips by twenty camels, and their fleas infest my daughters' erogenous zones.

I was sent some information from the all knowing. So, I'll pass it on. Buyah!

http://www.allthingsbass.com/BassChoices.htm

http://ebass.nl/

http://www.doublebassguide.com/

http://www.lemur-music.com/

I don't really know what kind of music you wanna play, but I myself am quite 'hardcore' into rockabilly and psychobilly. The most important to an acoustic bass are two thing: the bridge. For rockabilly (they use slappin bass, no sticks or smooth shit, hardcore slappin) you need a bridge that's 'further' away from the body than a standard. And the second important thing is the pick-up. You NEED that for slapping. Ofcourse, every player wants his own sound, so what pick? Don't know, buy a bass without, and then go try some. If you found what you want, let them install it (stay with it! never leave your bass alone with someone else!) and off you go!

If you want more info, the best site to go to is

http://www.rockabillybass.com

Piucs of cool designs, tips and tricks,...

Cool, I've done some research now and my direction is clear. However, the part of the US that I live in doesn't have anywhere that carries that kind of stuff.

I love the groove, but I also like the weird.

I can see the appeal of playing rockabilly. I bet it's a lot of fun and very active. Something you can totally get into.

Sting used to use one of those electric stand-ups back in the Police era...

They are really cool. Tony Levin uses them on a lot of his stuff, that's where I first saw them.

Never seen one in concert, so I don't know how the sound in a big room.

a freind of mine uses a dean elecrtic upright. its kinda weird becasue it literally looks like a neck that just got cut off at the body. Ive played it a little but i prefer the horizontal bass.

Me too, but you can never have to many weapons in the arsenal. I really find that it helps to switch to a different instrument now and again. When I switch back I can usually see an increase in skill.

I remember being in a music store and seeing a stand up bass across the way for only $200. I was in there for strings, but that was out the window. I determinedly went over to get a closer look to see if I could feasibly string it left-handed, when I noticed that the price had grown another zero At that point the clerk asked if he could help me...sadly, I just shook my head. I got new contact lenses a couple of weeks later.