How does it sound? Awesome! Like a deep, slightly growly fretless bass (guitar) but not really like a proper acoustic DB. I'll qualify this statement by adding that it's the only one I've ever tried. I had a modest windfall last year so I bought it on a bit of a whim. Love it though so don't regret the purchase. There's a piezo pickup under the bridge and a pre-amp built in. You can also just plug in headphones and play without an amp.
How does it play? Well, I'm really a beginner so probably not qualified to do a proper review. A friend plays DB in the orchestra I'm in and her acoustic instrument is a bit easier to play in terms of string tension and/or action so mine would definitely benefit from a better setup and I suspect that the strings are not the best they could be. When I'm feeling flush again I'll invest in some better strings (they're over £100 per set
). That said, it's not difficult to play at all and, unlike a proper db, it has side dots to help you navigate. Need to learn to bow though. I thought that as a violin player bowing would be easy but it seems that it's almost like I've never used one! Luckily when I was taught to play the bass guitar I learned the 3 finger (Simandl) technique so this translates directly to upright.
Overall it was good value. I paid about £350 new which although well into very decent bass guitar territory uprights are relatively uncommon so have prices to match. Apparently it's very similar to the Aria which is about double the price new.