BassBus

Thanks for the comments Andy and Phil. It's good to get a comparison between these instruments from those who own them. Good to have the Veillette mentioned as well. Is that the Archtop you have Phil?

That's a beauty, Andy. Quite a pair, a Deep Five and an Electro How does the Electro compare to the Deep Five, sound, feel?

Be interesting to hear how you get on with the guts on your WAV. Let us know how you get on with them. Probably the best bet to start with something cheap. If it doesn't work you haven't lost much.

I changed the strings on my CR4M last year from the stock strings. It made a huge difference. From hating the sound of the instrument to just loving it. I came across a used set of Belcantos on here, thought it would be a good, cheaper way to try different strings. Big success. What kind of sound you are after? If you want a darker, warmer sound than the stock strings on your WAV then you might want to try an orchestral string. They have less brightness and less sustain. Thomastic Belcantos and Pirastro Flexocors are such strings with a metal rope core. Obligatos have a synthetic core and a lot of players have used them on WAVs. Synthetic core and gut strings do have to be allowed to settle in as Iain said. They are also more susceptable to climatic conditions. One other thing to be aware of is the length of the string. Some 3/4 strings don't fit NS basses. 3/4 TI Spirocores don't fit, I've been there. 4/4 sets will fit. I wouldn't skimp on the cost for DB strings. The above mentioned strings will cost around the £140/150 mark. That may seem expensive but when you factor in the length of time they will stay on your bass they are more cost effective than bass guitar strings. I changed the Spirocores on my DB recently for the first time in four years. You can hear some sound samples of different strings [url="http://www.hervejeanne.de/saitenmatrix.php"]here[/url]

The facing wood on your sei is amazing MBA. That must have been worth waiting for. Lovely Hohner too.

You won't go wrong with an NS. They had all sorts of problems with the WAV production in China so now produce the NXT in the Czech Republic. Same place as they make the CR models and they are fantastic.

You might find a new NS WAV but they will be thin on the ground now as they don't make them anymore. The NXT has replaced it and will cost about £100 more than the WAV. As dlp says to get a truer DB sound from an EUB you'll need to spend a bit of money. If you go for a cheaper model, first thing to do is put on a set of real DB strings. Makes all the difference. They will set you back anything from £70 upwards. Not cheap but you'll get years out of them. The Yamaha SLB 200 is a good instrument. Cheapest I've seen it £1695 [url="http://www.netmusicalinstruments.co.uk/Yamaha-SLB200-silent-double-bass.html?gclid=CJWAidyqiqcCFQ4f4QodKgLRdw"]here[/url]. Lots of clips of this on youtube. The best sounding EUB I've heard is the Bespoke Superlight at £1595 [url="http://www.bespokebasses.co.uk/index.html"]here[/url] The [url="http://www.biarnel.com/eng/liuteria/sticomk2/sticomkii.html"]Biarnel Stico[/url] is also very beautiful and sounds good too. Bit more pricey at around £2000. I'd keep hold of an electric as well though.

[quote name='drewm' post='1128146' date='Feb 15 2011, 11:29 AM']Advantages: no danger of swinging round and clouting someone/something with the headstock [/quote] That might also be seen as a disadvantage to some. I'm a big fan of the headless system, it just seems so logical to me. Tuning is much more stable than winding a string round a machine head. The strings have a straight pull so nothing can slip. The strings are a fixed length and just slot in at the top of the neck and the tuner at the other end. A few turns of the tuner and you are playing. No cutting strings and fiddling about. Balance is usually much better as there isn't that extra wood and metal on the end to weigh things down, eg. Gibson Thunderbird. Add graphite into the equasion and... However, logic isn't for everyone. Some people like the head and feel there is something missing.

[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='1127229' date='Feb 14 2011, 04:12 PM']And I thought my joke was bad [/quote] Both of you should be on Finnbass.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='1126958' date='Feb 14 2011, 12:51 PM']Party like it's 1985: [attachment=72188:B2A.jpg] You know what it is... [/quote] Always fancied the black and white ones, ended up buying an all black.

[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='1126952' date='Feb 14 2011, 12:45 PM'] [/quote] Get your coat, dlp. Always wondered what happened to Billy Bass.

There are quite a number of headless basses on the market these days and now Biarnel has the Scorcio headless why not gather them all together in one place. Let's show the disbelievers what they are missing. Here's mine. Status S2 Classic fretless and Series 2000

[quote name='Gnarlythotep.' post='1125047' date='Feb 12 2011, 03:39 PM']Hi there, Sorry but I'm not buying. The reason I wanted to get in touch is that I'm a student at Newark school of violin making and in my third and final year. At the moment I'm making two 3/4 double bass to the design of a William Tarr bass. I was wondering if you have any pictures of the bass that your friend has and would be willing to send them. I'm finding it hard to get pictures of the scroll in particular. I can't offer much in return but if your interested could send pictures of my basses as they come on. Thanks.[/quote] Sounds like the perfect thing to post in a thread on this forum. Would love to watch the progress of a build like this.

Maybe I have misunderstood you Jake. I was merely refering to our previous discussion on this matter. Perhaps 'argued' was the wrong word. I do manage to achieve a straight wrist on the DB too without having the elbow too high and use a similar position on the EUB, or as close as possible. I think we agreed before about finding a playing position that suits the individual.

In his [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Todd-Phillips-Essential-Techniques-Acoustic/dp/B00024OR4Y/ref=sr_1_3?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1297423565&sr=1-3"]Essential Techniques For Acoustic Bass[/url] DVD, Todd Phillips recomends, as an exercise, trying to finger the notes without the thumb pressing on the back of the neck. This is to help build a technique where you are not dependent on the hand grabbing the neck. I have argued the point of keeping your elbow up with Jake before. My elbow sits relatively low but my wrist is still straight. I guess I have the bass tilted back slightly to allow this. I used to keep my arm up but that led to shoulder problems. With my arm down now there are no problems whatsoever. You just have to experiment to find the way that suits you. And yes get a teacher, says he who hasn't done that.

artisan Prestia

I should have also said that the full length of my 3/4 string is 170cm including the area covered in silk so a 4/4 string should be plenty long enough. These whamolas look like a bit of fun. Best of luck.

This is where it starts to get complicated. Is that the speaking length you mean (the exposed length with no silk)? I've just measured an old 3/4 string which has about 150cm of exposed string. A 3/4 DB usually has a playing length of around 106cm. 4/4 will be longer, hence the need for different strings.

You can buy single strings no problem. I have bought from [url="http://www.stringmail.co.uk/dbass3.htm"]Stringmail[/url] and they are pretty cheap, if you can call DB strings cheap. They give you the choice of sizes you want. Anything from 1/2 to 4/4, depending on the string. There are quite a few places on the net that sell DB strings, just do a search.

[quote name='molan' post='1109053' date='Jan 31 2011, 09:06 AM']I had one for a while, quite an early one I seem to remember. Nice enough but didn't really blow me away and I sold it soon afterwards. In fat, OTPJ came round to try it and decided he didn't want one after all I now have a Godin which I much prefer. These rarely come up for sale but I know there's a 5 string up for grabs at BassGear (because that's the one that inspired me to look for a 4 string equivalent!). [url="http://www.bassgear.co.uk/products-page/pre-owned/godin-a5-electro-acoustic-5-string-pre-owned/"]http://www.bassgear.co.uk/products-page/pr...ring-pre-owned/[/url][/quote] What did you find were the differences between the two basses? How did sound compare? I believe the Godin has a narrower nut than the Electro.

Thanks for your thoughts Phil. Rich, OTPJ did appear once recently on the Status thread but has disappeared again.

Been there for years Mr. Pink. Just trying to broaden the scope.

Are there any of you who own a Status Electro who would care to chip in with your experiences of the instrument. Any of the four models, whether or not you still own it.