MrWalker

I have also one of these underway from Thomann. It's intended for my granddaughter at 6, but I am also interested in testing out for my own pleasure (of course). The color of Burgundy Mist should be perfect for a young girl, but it doesn't really look out of place for adults, either?!

In case she doesn't pick up bass eventually, I will probably more than likely keep it myself *hehe* 

I bet you didn't see that coming.....?!

This one could be an alternative, it's got a bolt-on neck that could be adjusted with the machine screws and inserts

https://www.thomannmusic.no/hoefner_shorty_bass_white.htm

https://www.montysguitars.com/collections/department-of-component/products/montys-neck-bolt-insert-kit

Slightly off on the answer, since you're looking for HBs... but for travel, I'd choose something that's smaller and more compact. The ideal would be a headless with a detachable neck, but not sure they have them for that cheap. The Spirit by Steinberger is headless and not too expensive, but cannot be folded. 

Point is, if you get a headless with a bolt-on neck, you could replace the neck bolts with machine screws with inserts (from Monty guitars), which would make an easily removable neck that would not be destroyed by multiple detachments 🙂

14 hours ago, basexperience said:

Well, I've had it for a day, and I can say it's definitely growing on me a lot. The fretless side really does sound a lot like an upright (I have an NXT 5-string electric upright). And you're right - above the 15th fret or so, the fretless side gets pretty hard to play on the lower 2 strings. However - my plan is to restring the lower strings to E - A - D as I want to use it as two basses in one (effectively), I'm less interested in soloing on the fretless side - after experimenting with walking bass a bit inside a 5-fret area on only 3 strings, I think it's definitely going to work. 

I don't have huge hands, but I seem to be able to play the bottom 3 strings fairly well without any issues - I am wearing the bass higher than I would usually, though, to help with left hand position.

All in all, I'm really impressed with it, it's an excellent instrument.

And it's had so little use, the original battery is still in there(!!)

First of all, congratulations!!! 🙂

Glad to hear that it works for you! Makes sense  on the way you want to use it! Is there dedicated eq for the piezo side of the bass? I remember the first version of the bass, there was a tiny jazz pickup in the bridge position for the fretless strings. I liked that. Agree with Lfalex, no picture no bass! 😄 Please share!

Looking forward to hearing how you get on with the bass in the longer run. 

I owned the original Ashula for a while, and I see they have improved a lot of the shortcomings that I found in the instrument.

First of all, they now split the fingerboard, so the fretless part of the fingerboard is level with the top of the frets. On the original model, it was the same fingerboard across, which made a huge difference in level. Either you had to lower the fretless strings a lot, which made the bass feel a bit uneven across the strings, or you had to keep the fretless part with sky high action, which also felt uneven.

I also like the fact that they moved the fretless part to the top of the neck, which makes sense as we tend to rely a little more on visual reference on fretless for intonation purposes. And they also increased the number of fretless strings, which makes the bass more accessible for fretless playing.

The reason I haven't purchased the new bass is based on my experience with 7-string basses with wide necks. It makes it hard to comfortably play the upper registry on the lower strings. On a normal bass where the strings are tuned higher as you move across towards the treble side, this isn't much of a problem, as you tend to move diagonally on the fingerboard. The higher you get in the registry, the more you lean towards the treble side up the neck, and vice versa for lower notes. On this bass, however, to play in the upper registry of the fretless part, you need to cross four strings on the fingerboard to get there. 

Also, already being a 6-string player, the fact that the strings "start over" when you cross from fretless to fretted confused me. I wanted them to work as a regular 6-string, rather than having the doubling of strings. Of course I could have strung it as a normal 6-string (which I also did for a while), but that throws me off in a similar way... In essence, to me at least, a double neck fretted/fretless makes more sense. 🙂

But I'm curious to hear what others experience is 🙂  

17 minutes ago, Bassmingo said:

Damn, both you guys got it spot on! It wasn't even a challenge!

The red herring was the Jazz, it's tuned DGCF so the riff was played at the 2nd position rather than open.

Actually I don't agree with you. 😊

It WAS a challenge. And great that you took the time to do it! Thanks! 

I think that the differences are subtle, but you covered the main genres of bass, so you made it a little easier that way. But all in all... The difference isn't THAT big.. It still sounds BASS! 😅

Thanks for taking the time to record it! 

Not much response here! 🙂

These tests are usually quite hard, but I'll give it a shot.... with all danger of making a complete idiot of myself! 

1: PJ-bass (E)
2: Westbury (B)
3: HB (D)
4: Stingray (A)
5: Jazz bass (C)

The red herring... I thought that sample no 1 and 4 was similar, so I presume the red herring is the Westbury?! 🙂

For this recording, I thought sample 3 sounded the best.... which is maybe the Harley Benton B650?! But that's probably due to the "direct into the computer" recording 😉

I had one of those for a while, and I loved the neck profile, and I love the sound of it. I used it for several things and was very happy with it in total.

The only thing I didn't like so much, was the noise issues when touching the metalic pickup, and the fact that the pickguard was extremely thin and flimsy, and moved when I turned the pots. So I was thinking about exchanging the pickguard, and exchanging the pickup to get rid of the noise issues and get a more solid feel of the bass. But in the end I found that selling it and getting something that feels right was better.

But the neck profile was always a sweet memory, and I am happy to have found that again in my Stealth 6-string  

Have a lot of sweet memories of the Shark, though.

1 hour ago, Machines said:

I've got one of the RedSub Coliseum 6 strings. It is remarkably cheap but of course is not to the standard of the £1k+ instruments. That said, it achieves the intended goals of an extended/multiscale bass. Sounds great but did need some time on a good setup. I think if I replaced the pickups/preamp it would very much contend with the expensive more basses (but probably double the cost of the instrument). 

I had a Dingwall NG3 and whilst it was a better instrument (tonally), the cost difference wasn't justified (for me).

If you want to experiment with the principle and then upgrade later, I can't see a better option unless you find a 2nd hand Ibanez at a good price. 

I put up a quick demo here, recorded on my phone unfortunately: 

 

Excellent demo! It sounds very nice, especially for a cheap bass like that! Well played as well. And it looks sexy as well. You have to agree, as a check it's probably an excellent starting point 🙂 Thanks for demoing it!

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

I had a Dingwall ABZ 5.

Aside from the annoyance of getting strings I liked (this was a few years ago when Dingwall was pretty much the only choice) I didn't find the B was nearly as good as the Marleaux Consat Custom 5 I had at the time as well.

 

I like Dingwalls very much, but I am very much of the mind that a fan fret design is only needed if the basic construction hasn't been done as well as Marleaux manage to do.

See, this is why I haven't really gotten into the fan fret business so far, because I have a lot of basses with great B-strings. So I haven't felt the need to tighten the low-end up. But now that I have everything else covered, and given the experience I have with my acoustic fan frets, I was just curious as to what the hype is all about... and eventually test it out for myself, one day. 🙂

And a Dingwall is definitely a little too high cost to use as a "test" 😉

Thanks for your input!

hmm... makes me wonder... is multi-scale a solution to a problem that doesn't exist?! 😮

Just now, itu said:

Several basses. I do not own multi-scale, I am so old that I will not learn to play such a monster any more. A 5-string took around 6 months to understand and this was very long ago.

Vigier Passion II is the shortest, fretted Modulus has 35", and my custom fretless 36". My next instrument is possibly a 35 - 36" fretless 5. Strings are D'Addario EFX220, or EPS220-5. GHS Super steels (long scale +) are a functional option.

Thanks for sharing! 🙂

I'm just curious to test them out and see what benefits there are (if any). I have a couple fan fretted acoustic guitars, and on one of them I'm running alternate C6 tuning. The added string length helps a lot to keep the low C-string focused. I like it. On the other (which is an 8-string) I'm planning on adding bass strings on the lower strings to double as a bass guitar in addition to the acoustic 6-er. Project, projects.

4 minutes ago, itu said:

My basses (33.8 - 36") have suffered most, as well as benefitted most from string choices. Fretless: SS RW. Fretted: SS RW. Especially the low B was a PIA. I tried lots of strings to get the sound that I want. .005 makes a difference, believe me. Scale length is only my personal (physical) preference, and although I do like longer scale, the acoustic sound is now very similar from bass to bass.

Yes, strings are a big issue, of course... when you mention 33.8" to 36", is that for a multi-scale, or for a selection of basses with different scale lengths? I personally have a bunch of basses, and they range from 30" to 35", but I have no multi-scale basses, and no basses with longer scale length than 35" 🙂

3 minutes ago, chris_b said:

I don't know if Novax are still in business, but they are the guys who started the fanned frets idea on electric basses.

They are still in business, it seems 🙂

3 minutes ago, itu said:

A real multiscale is a 274 cm Steinway or a 90 key Bösendorfer.

The difference is mostly about your preference and how playable the bass is. How about other details like the string spacing?

True that 🙂

The multi-scale concept is introduced, presumably, to make the deeper strings sound better due to a longer vibrating string length. So that's what I referred to. If the string length is changed by a very low percentage, I would also presume that the sonic difference would be minimal. So when Dingwall varies from 34" on the G-string to 37" on the B-string, I would assume it makes a bigger sonic difference than on basses that make the G-string shorter to 33" and the B-string only sligthly longer to 34.5". Just assumptions. Is why I ask

10 minutes ago, bnt said:

A while ago I started this thread looking at the low end, and got a few ideas there. Two more names for you list would by Ormsby and Maruszczyk, and I believe AC Guitars have done some before. Harley Benton (Thomann) used to sell one but have pulled out: I wonder if they’ll be back?

Ah, I thought I searched, but apparently not well enough! Will look at your thread! Thanks!!

Yes, the HB model got pulled, but it looked quite similar to the Brice version 🙂

It was actually quite nice to look at, but I have no idea how well it plays! 

You're right about Ormsby and Maruszczyk! Will add them! Will check out the AC Guitars 🙂

Like this one, maybe? I have the earlier model described above, with a brown/black/red type pickguard and a metal-covered pickup. Nice bass, indeed 🙂

Playing around on the Internet in these lockdown times, and am looking for my latest fascination, multi-scale/fanned fret basses!

I have found quite a few, but was wondering if there are any serious contenders in the low to mid range pricewise?

I've found the following brands doing multi-scale basses (constantly updating the list, but the high-end builders are coming in at the end of the list) 😉

• RedSub (a new line of quite attractive models available this autumn, apparently)
• Brice (from Ronco Music)
• Ibanez
• Cort
• ESP/Ltd
• Schecter
• Chapman Guitars
• Dingwall
• Novax
• ACG Guitars
• Acacia Guitars (not to be confused with the old Matt Friedman basses)
• Strandberg
• Ormsby
• Maruszczyk
• Mayones
• Warwick (only seen one Rockbass Corvette so far)
• Kiesel
• Claas Guitars
• Legator
• Kalium (shouldn't be forgotten, the KING of multi-scale, with a 37" to 40" fan!!!) 😉
• Overwater
• Le Fay

Also, to be "worth it", how big difference should there be between the short and the long scale strings? The RedSub is actually quite "fanned" ranging from 34" to 36.25", while some of the others have much less of a difference, maybe from 34-35" or similar. I believe Dingwall has a range of 34"-37" on a 5-stringer?

So.... please share your suggestions and experiences!

There are also a few "unnamed" brands on AliExpress offering multi-scale basses, but I haven't included those here... if you're interested, a search on AliExpress will reveal them 🙂

I bought Dave's Parker Fly bass recently. Good communication and services, fast and safe shipment, everything was stellar! Wouldn't hesitate to buy from Dave again!

Was a pleasure doing business with you, Dave! Thanks!

I purchased Owen's NS Design CR5M electric upright bass last year. The communication and packaging/sending was excellent!  

It turned out to be a lot of trouble with this shipment, as the courier and Interparcel messed up their communication (Interparcel doesn't send the enclosed paperwork properly out) causing a long shipping delay through UK customs.  And then somewhere along the way, the courier(s) managed to damage the bass in transit, so it arrived with a completely shattered bridge. It took me some time to get hold of parts from NS Design in Europe and get everything fixed, and it took the insurance claim department almost two months to get the money back to us after this.

But through all of this, Owen was reliable and helpful, always responding to messages within a few hours and communicating with the customs guys and insurance claim clerk promptly and actively. And as soon as he received the refund from the courier, it was sent on to me without delay. I never felt in any danger of losing my money on this transaction or the following incident!

So in this case, Owen proved what a trustworthy gentleman he is. 

You can trust Owen 100%. He'll stand by you when the going gets tough!

So thanks for a safe and pleasant transaction, Owen, and for the 160+ message conversation this turned into in PM! 🙂

There's a very good fretless builder in Florida, Tom Clement, who builds amazing (fretted and) fretless basses. On the second hand market, you can be lucky and find some of his instruments fairly cheap (at least cheap when considering it is a completely hand made instrument to commisioned specs).

I have to chime in 😉

This bass worked beautifully with the Roland GK system. I've had it on several basses, but apart from the Yamaha TRB6, this is the bass that have worked best with the GK. I don't know why, really... Could be a coincidence. But it tracked superbly. 

At £700 it's a steal. I would have considered buying it back if I hadn't just ordered a new custom build from Tom.

So free bump! 

Bought an Ibanez RD600 from Martyn. 

The bass was shipped the day after payment was sent, absolutely no delay! The bass was boxed and wrapped up very safe, and the bass arrived in exactly the condition described. The description was accurate and correct and to the tiniest detail! And the bass itself is a great instrument! A beauty to play and look at! Great price, too. 

I can without hesitation recommend doing business with Martyn! He is a man of honor and communicates and follows up on his deals quickly and honestly. 

A true gentleman of the bass community.

Very nice doing business with you, Martyn. Thanks! 

Best regards,

Jon-Inge 

My old beauty! 

I was the original owner and I think about this bass often. A beautiful instrument! 

Good luck with the sale! 

And what woods are used? Are they CITES-safe? (that is, no rosewood etc)?

Beautiful bass!

As was asked above, what is the scale length of this bass? 

And what do you mean with low output pickups? are they active?

I totally agree! 

Gibson has bought a lot of great companies and destroyed them. Tobias, Steinberger, Trace Elliot, to name a few. And as you say, spent a lot of money challenging other smaller companies. It's sad in some ways, but in other ways I guess it was unavoidable.