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And here's a video of the EHB1505, standard scale with Nords and a ramp:

re string spacing, remember that it's adjustable, about 1.5mm each way. On the 5-string (18mm default), this will mean that if we leave the 3rd string centred, move 2 & 4 out by 0.75, and 1 & 5 out by 1.5mm, then you've increased the 1-5 spacing by 3mm and each string's spacing by 0.75mm. In other words, the string spacing is variable from 17.25 - 18.75mm.

The EHB1506MS was kind-of leaked a few weeks ago by bassist Benjamin J Shepherd, on Instagram. He has a few short performance videos on there. He doesn't seem to have any trouble with chords on that one ... 😘

It's SBE strings with clamps: you can see the strings poking out the ends a little. Hopefully it's clamp before cut, so no risk of them unwinding on you. They're shipped with D'Addario EXL165 (nickel), they say. It's BH2s on the 1000 range and Nords on the more expensive 1500 range. I don't know what the SRs used to have, but some of the current SR lineup has the same BH2s

The numbers of guitarists picking up Strandberg and Kiesel does make me think they're coming around again. We've also seen Chris from Muse wielding a vintage Status headless live, though his main bass is a custom Status with headstock. Ergonomics and balance have become a big thing too.

Yep, you can see all the models behind the link I included up top.

We can compare the stated neck dimensions with the previous multiscale model using the information on the website: SRMS805: Scale : 901.7mm/35.5" - 864.0mm/34.0" a : Width 45mm at NUT b : Width 68mm at 24F c : Thickness 19.5mm at 1F d : Thickness 23mmat 12F Radius : 305mmR EHB1505MS: Scale : 889mm - 838mm a : Width 45mm at NUT b : Width 74mm at 24F c : Thickness 19.5mm at 1F d : Thickness 21.5mm at 12F Radius : 500mmR The new 5-string neck is the same at the nut, but higher up it's wider, thinner and has a flatter radius.

I don't think so: shorter scales, headless, more Strandberg-like. Best I can tell, the Nordstrands are slightly wider than the BH2 shape: 1.27" (32.2 mm) vs 1.15" (29.2mm) = 3mm difference.

I've lusted after a Spector for a long time, and got to play one at the London Bass Show a few months ago. I like the story of how it was created: Stuart Spector happened to share workshop space with a young industrial designer named Ned Steinberger, who had zero experience with musical instruments but was willing to have a a go at designing one, and the result was the NS-2. Steinberger clearly picked up the bass bug, considering what he did next. 😎

You'd call it "multiscale" rather than "fanned fret", I suppose. I've noticed a trend of the former being used for basses and the latter for guitars. That's what Thomann does now, for example.

Thomann aren't wasting any time either, they already have a video up with the new models Ibanez released today, including the EHB1005MS. (The caption says EHB1000MS, and it's a white model, but it is a 5-string.)

Andertons has them listed for order, from £899 for the 4-string to £1499 for the 6-string multiscale.

I've been hearing rumours about these for a while, and the embargo was lifted today, it appears. The details are on their EHB page. These are going up against Strandberg, Kiesel & others of that ilk, at what I guesstimate will be about half the price for the top range (1500 series), less for the 1000 range. The multiscale 6-string looks particularly nice to me, though its 32.5 - 35 inch scale won't satisfy folks looking at drop tunings below B, I think. The 5-string is 33 - 35 inch scale.

I'm sure I remember reading that the 4001CS was slimmer and lighter than standard, since it was a replica of Chris Squire's own bass that had been sanded down and refinished several times over the years. I'm interested in that sound, but not at that price ..!

Since I’m in Ireland, I looked for local custom builders and found Chris’ instruments some time ago. My budget never allowed for getting one myself, and still doesn’t at the moment sadly. There’s one on sale here at the moment at a reasonable price, if anyone’s interested. (County Wicklow is fairly close to Dublin, if anyone’s visiting by ferry.)

FYI - there is a Mayones Comodous Classic 6 for sale in central Dublin, details here. I'm in Dublin too but don't have €1,700 to play with. I can't see whether the owner would ship it, but I imagine the cost won't be much less than a return flight on Ryanair, even with the €50 extra they charge for instruments.

Sheldon Dingwall was there, showing off his basses on the Bass Direct stand. Apart from that the only celeb I recognised was Nick Beggs, who had a wander around after his set. I thought it it was OK but really difficult conditions e.g. I got the chance to play a Spector through the new GK head & 4x10”, but couldn’t hear what the controls were doing. No headphones on most stands.

Been at the show about 1/2 an hour, and the main thing I've learned is that I really need my compressor.

Re John Patitucci: I was just on Reddit and saw that his old Ken Smith 6-string bass has resurfaced and is for sale by the widow of its last owner, including a letter from John. Someone might ask John if he wants it back.

Got an email from the organisers that included mention of an after-show gig on Saturday evening at a pub called the Lexington, also in Islington. I don't know, I might go and see Shakespeare's As You Like It at the Globe while I'm in town ... 🧐 Also - if you can get to Angel tube station on the Northern line, it's 5 minutes walk up Islington High St. to the Business Design Centre. Most folks should not need to take a bus.

That bass looks tasty. I’m only at the show on Saturday, so I won’t get to meet Tony, but if they have one of those on the stand, I’ll see if my attempt to play Flame Of The West sounds any better than usual!

I will keep an eye out for those, maybe a Midlands one if it's somewhere accessible by public transport. It would be just me with a hard case on the ferry & train, no car!

Anyway, I'll be flying over from Dublin for a long weekend, since I haven't been to any kind of music show in well over a decade, and haven't even been to London in over three years. I'll be at the Show on Saturday only. To be honest, I'm trying to rekindle a bit of enthusiasm for the bass, hoping for a bit more variety and bass knowledge than I find in the few shops here.

Bill Bruford may have had some hellacious arguments with Chris in the studio, but he has [url="http://www.dgmlive.com/news.htm?entry=5182"]some nice things[/url] to say today. Quote: [quote][i]An individualist in an age when it was possible to establish individuality, Chris fearlessly staked out a whole protectorate of bass playing in which he was lord and master. I suspect he knew not only that he gave millions of people pleasure with his music, but also that he was fortunate to be able to do so. I offer sincere condolences to his family.[/i][/quote] Me? I went straight to [b]Our Song[/b].

I'm not going to quote your whole post in reply, otherwise it just gets longer and longer. [quote name='SteveO' post='314529' date='Oct 25 2008, 02:47 PM']I see where you're coming from, but we're talking about two seperate things at the same time - the theoretical physics of a vibrating string and the practical application on a bass guitar. These thought experiments only work on paper.[/quote]OK, but how else do you imagine finding out the actual effect of the change, other than an experiment? I wasn't just doing a "thought experiment", I was imagining how a real experiment could be done. Yes, I [b]know[/b] an experiment is not "real world", but if you really expect to define the relationships between variables, as you did, it pays to be rigorous about what changes or not. Otherwise, you can not expect people to believe you when you make sweeping statements about "how it is". That's all I was saying. [quote]I'd agree that on a longer string with the same mass vibrating at the same frequency with the same energy put into the vibration and ignoring all other factors as insignificant (momentum, air resistance etc. etc.), then the amplitude of vibration will be the same, however in practice you cannot increase the scale length only. as mentioned earlier you will increase the string mass by using a longer string. you could of course stretch the string to increase it's length, but this increases the tension.[/quote] On a guitar, no, but I was talking about an experimental situation in which you would control tension and scale length independently. The frequency formula I quoted covers mass, length and tension. You don't need to talk about compensating one thing for another - why introduce more variables in to the problem? I'm happy that the formula works. When I tried it earlier (spreadsheet [url="http://dl-client.getdropbox.com/u/85261/stringtension.xls"]here[/url]) on a solid steel string, it gave me results extremely close (< 0.5%) to those quoted by D'Addario. [quote]Interesting, but no mention of the energy of a vibrating string or amplitude, which of course is at the centre of this. Until we find it i'm gonna continue to assume that the energy is a function of Frequency multiplied by Amplitude multiplied by Mass, and that all other effects are minimal.[/quote] I would modify that assumption a little: I'd say that the energy goes up proportional to half the square of the amplitude, not linearly. I'm basing that on the energy equations for [url="http://ccrma.stanford.edu/realsimple/lab_inst/Background.html"]damped strings[/url]. Again, these are ideal theoretical calculations, so don't bother complaining that they are not "real world". I'm in no position to fully analyse the complex movement of a chunky bass string attached to a piece of wood, and I doubt anyone is. Hence, the idea that you'd want to run experiments - but if you're OK with guesswork, I'm not bothered either.