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New-ish EUB Day and Aria question


mangotango
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I have recently acquired from Ebay an Aria SMB-04 electric upright. It's great fun and nice to play; sounds good amplified....but as you can see from the group photo attached (it's on the far left), there should be a support/balance bar attached so that you can lean it into you to play standing up. Mine didn't come with that, and without it it's almost impossible to play  standing up. You have to support the neck in your left hand, the neck twists in your left hand as you pluck the strings. I generally tend to play it while sitting on a stool; which works OK, but it means that I don't really have enough space between me and the body of the bass to gain sufficient leverage for a decent right-hand action on the E string - it's all a bit cramped in on me.

Anyone else had this and if so, what did you do to resolve it? I've contacted Aria, but their guy wasn't hopeful; this is an older model and no longer produced. I could try to get someone to make something for me, it can only be shaped steel rod with a plastic sleeve or somesuch.

And I really don't need any advice such as "get a proper double bass", "buy an Eminence/Bassix/etc.", thanks; I need a solution to make this bass work properly for me.

Cheers, Mangotango

swb_04_vs__75174.1431681157.230.526.jpgimg0d0a4066tnifdc.jpeg.ff4647837878dfdd7e269c3fec3a3dc8.jpeg

Edited by mangotango
pictures going everywhere!
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When i've had the need for a modification to one of these things (I own one of the models on the far right in the picture), i've taken it to a good luthier/guitar repair man and got the job done by them. 

I think the simplest thing would be to have such a person make you a new brace that fits into the holes already present in the instrument. 

 

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As Razze and TPJ say - ask a luthier if they can make something for you

I did try one of these Aria EUB's (a few years back now) and from memory, that support / balance bar just screws in place with some pretty standard sized bolts
I think they were 3/4" bolts from what the owner said - in fact, I'm pretty sure he had some cymbal attachment, which fitted no problem (for some adapted stand)

Perhaps you could even have a go at making your own balance bar? I'd be tempted to pick up a few bolts and have a go at shaping some wood or MDF
Definitely don't try to make a wire one, like the Stagg employs - I didn't get on well with that
Let us know how you get on - I'd be intrigued to see what a luthier would do, and at what sort of cost - best of luck with it :)

Edited by Marc S
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Now that you guys have suggested it, I quite fancy the idea of a luthier making something more elegant out of wood - as opposed to the original "bent steel rod covered in a plastic sleeve" option.

Just need to push on with this now as I want to do some learning and then lots of playing with this bass. I tried it out in a lesson the other evening, with my teacher playing piano.  The bass sounded pretty darned good (even some of the playing, too) and he recorded the results, with the bass going via his SWR amp and then DI'ed from that into the desk.

Got to say, mixed in with a Bechstein baby grand, knockin' out a few jazz standards....yeh, I could live with that; it fitted in even with a quality instrument like that piano, and all of this first time I played the bass in a real situation.

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  • 2 months later...
On ‎09‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 15:43, mangotango said:

Now that you guys have suggested it, I quite fancy the idea of a luthier making something more elegant out of wood - as opposed to the original "bent steel rod covered in a plastic sleeve" option.

Which is now what I have had done. It looks a little bit like the arrangement on the bass under the "W" of "SWB" in the group photo above...but oh my, does it work well.

Pictures to follow soon...

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 23/10/2018 at 14:31, mangotango said:

Which is now what I have had done. It looks a little bit like the arrangement on the bass under the "W" of "SWB" in the group photo above...but oh my, does it work well.

Pictures to follow soon...

Bearing in mind the well-known forum saying, "you no pictures, him no happen", I am please finally to attach some photos of the work done for me by Jerome Davies of Cranbrook in Kent. Super job, really lovely wood went into the brace - pictures don't do it justice - and whereas I'm not going to give away his prices, I can tell you that it was remarkably good value for the quality of the work done. The brace is adjustable so I can make it very comfortable as regards playing position, and it helps get the bass in the right position for the hands to relate to the strings. It also gives a physical presence like a DB  but without compromising the portability of an EUB.

I am very happy indeed with this.

image1.jpeg

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10 hours ago, mangotango said:

Bearing in mind the well-known forum saying, "you no pictures, him no happen", I am please finally to attach some photos of the work done for me by Jerome Davies of Cranbrook in Kent. Super job, really lovely wood went into the brace - pictures don't do it justice - and whereas I'm not going to give away his prices, I can tell you that it was remarkably good value for the quality of the work done. The brace is adjustable so I can make it very comfortable as regards playing position, and it helps get the bass in the right position for the hands to relate to the strings. It also gives a physical presence like a DB  but without compromising the portability of an EUB.

Nice to hear there're people around who can do this type of thing - and it looks ACE!  That's a very nice looking EUB, I'll bet it's a very usuable instrument.

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Thanks guys. @therealting, I actually bought this 'cos I couldn't afford an Eminence! I saw Steve Rodby, Pat Metheny's bassist, doing a gig with The Impossible Gentlemen at the pizza Express in Soho, using an Eminence. However, since it's a long time since I played anything remotely double bass-ish, then I wasn't prepared to invest that much in the Eminence and went for this instead at 1/4 of the price.

And with the Mag and Piezo pickups, it sounds fine, as mentioned above. It sounds close enough to an upright for the electric jazz group in which I play, and of course, for those who listen with their eyes, it's vertical rather than horizontal so it looks the part.....

The work that's been done on this by Jerome has given me back my bass, putting it simplistically. Now it's a viable instrument and I'm looking at our set-list to find the tunes where I can fit it in, rather than putting it away. Lessons ongoing, but really looking forward to it being something that I can take onstage now.

Will try to get a sound file of some variety recorded soon, so that you can hear it.

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On ‎16‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 09:23, therealting said:

I own an Eminence, and I have to say that Aria is a very good looking bass! Does it generate much acoustic volume? I notice there’s a bridge pickup, do you find that more authentic sounding than the magnetic one?

Sorry not to have answered this earlier.

Regarding acoustic volume, there’s enough to be able to practice without an amp, but without annoying the neighbours.

The magnetic pickup gives the “thump”, but adding the piezoelectric gives the "real" DB sound. I use a blend of the two and it sounds fine.

Band is doing some recording this weekend , so will try to get a sound sample recorded and then post ASAP.

Edited by mangotango
Spotted that I had missed a crucial part of the post! What an idiot.....
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