Gonna try a new toy!

[Pilgrim]

I'm returning (somewhat) to my roots playing upright bass.

Just won an Ebay auction for an NS Design NXT4 electric upright, with upgraded strings and a decent bow. I've been really wanting to play something like this, but without the need to move a whole upright around.  I still miss my old "white plywood" King bass.

The old King looked like this one, but rougher:



https://www.ebay.com/itm/263459340129?_trksid=p2471758.m4704

A shot from the auction:

[Dave W]

Those have gotten positive reviews, and Ned is behind the design, so your experience should be good.

[Pilgrim]

Reviews are indeed good. I've been thinking about this for some time, and the one that came up was just within my price range.

[patman]

When properly set up the old King's were pretty wonderful...

Let us know how the NXT4 turns out

[Pilgrim]

That old King was a fun bass. It played a LOT of dance hall numbers before I got it, and between the cut-outs on the side, the bottom bout edges had been completely covered with aluminum counter-top edging. I suspect it had been laid over so many times the edges were getting ground off.  It had the thicker German neck, too, so my hand had to stretch a bit more to get around it.  Not an orchestral bass, but perfect for jazz and rock n'roll.

[Highlander]

I was somewhat vertically challenged at school and had to stand on a stool to reach the neck properly... never did get the hang of it... also grew about 9 inches by the time I left school, which threw a lot of folks...
Pics when she get there...

[Pilgrim]

I was somewhat vertically challenged at school and had to stand on a stool to reach the neck properly... never did get the hang of it... also grew about 9 inches by the time I left school, which threw a lot of folks...
Pics when she get there...

Absolutely!  I'm also contemplating getting a Fender Rumble 100 amp for use with it.  22 pounds in one neat package. My Genz-Benz Shuttle on the 12T cab is light, but the Fender would be 14 pounds lighter. For a practice and small venue amp, how could it get lighter?

[patman]

In one of my bands we occasionally use a keyboard player who uses the Rumble 100.

Amazingly light and sounds good to me.

[Dave W]

My bedroom amp is a Rumble 100 v.3. It's great. It's capable of rattling the walls.

[Pilgrim]

I keep thinking about that.  I have an 80's Fender Bassman 120 combo but it's a beast with a 15" speaker.  Sounds gerat, but too heavy to move around when I have the more powerful Genz-Benz stuff.

I think that toting around the electric upright and a 22-pound 100 watt amp would be a very nice combination indeed.

My old Bassman - you don't see many of these:

[Pilgrim]

It's here!  I spent a couple of hours messing with it yesterday, and I'm very pleased.  It does need a preamp to adapt the piezo pickup output to a standard bass amp, and reviews indicated that preamp should have an impedance of 1 MegOhm or more, which is not typical of most preamps made for electric bass. I checked everything I had, and discovered that a (lowly) Behringer BDI21 modeler-driver-DI that I haven't used in years had the right impedance. I have it in the signal chain and the NXT bass sounds very upright.

It's definitely more work to play than a BG, but a lot less than an acoustic upright where your fingers have to generate the energy. My left hand got tired after a while from working the strings, and I had to take a break for a while. But I am certainly enjoying it, and I'm pleasantly surprised that the neck feels familiar although I haven't played upright in 40 years.

Some photos, including the carry case:

[Highlander]

 

[Dave W]

You never forget completely. I could probably play a little cello if I had to, and that's been over 50 years.

[Pilgrim]

Agreed. Funny thing, I tend to overshoot on finger placement rather than undershoot. Either I'm simply losing track of hand placement or I'm unconsciously overcompensating for the longer scale length. I suppose it could be both.

[uwe]

You never forget completely. I could probably play a little cello if I had to, and that's been over 50 years.

Together with the bassoon, that would really calm you down.