Azola Ultracoustic BugBass, Eminence RN-4 or BSX Allegro...?

[jharms80439]

Has anyone tried all three?

FWIW, I already own a good DB and I am looking for a small stage and harsh weather travel EUB, as Winter's in Colorado aren't conducive to a healthy DB.

Also, I currently own a NS CR4M and with Spirocore Weichs it sound very good. What I miss is the acoustic/sonic resonance, the physical reference points and the freedom that I have to move with an acoustice DB and don't have with my tripod equipped NS.

Just to be clear, I am not looking at an Alter Ego, Czech Ease, any varient of a stick/solid body EUB, nor am I interested in the DB stand for my NS.

So, for ensemble jazz, newgrass and some small group classical stuff, any opinions on which small bodied, chambered, acoustic bass would be best suited for me?

Thanks in advance,

John

[dkpawlowski]

I owned a floating top Bugbass (now discontinued) and took it to Bass Central and compared it with the Eminence and BSX Allegro, as well as a NS. To me, with my amp, They all sounded OK pizz, but only the Eminence and BSX were even close to sounding OK arco, and the both sounded about the same. My experience is you can get an OK pizz sound from most EUBs but only the BSX and Eminence are acceptable arco- and only after some radical EQing.

[jharms80439]

Long ago, I owned a BSX Allegro. I really liked it and I probably should not have sold it. I thought that it had a great Pizz sound, but the Arco sound just wasn't there. I didn't go through a bunch of string changes, though in hind sight, I probably should have.

Today I am leaning towards the removable neck Eminence as portability is key. I probably won't break it down that far unless I am flying, but it is nice to have that option. With the BSX, I was always fighting the size, though you can break it down, I thought that it wasn't really designed to be broken down fully all the time. Other than any string settling in concerns, the Eminence design seems much more conducive to being broken down and reassembled often.

[all_grown_up]

Originally Posted by dkpawlowski

I owned a floating top Bugbass (now discontinued) and took it to Bass Central and compared it with the Eminence and BSX Allegro, as well as a NS. To me, with my amp, They all sounded OK pizz, but only the Eminence and BSX were even close to sounding OK arco, and the both sounded about the same. My experience is you can get an OK pizz sound from most EUBs but only the BSX and Eminence are acceptable arco- and only after some radical EQing.

I tried a Messenger yesterday and it had a decent Arco sound. When I say decent I mean pleasant, mellow and not harsh. It was the delux version with a Barbera PU. Very good sounding bass and much better than the EUB I have played in the past.

[MacDaddyBass]

I have a NS CR5M and an old Carruthers EUB (School owns it, more on that later). Portability is key for me as I really only take it on flights and such. The Carruthers is a removable-neck style EUB and a lot of problems have come up because of that. Now granted the thing is over 10 years old, but it's pretty much lost all playability. The pegs and body have serious wear from being taken apart and put back together a million times and now the pegs can't even be tuned far enough. It's almost impossible to take the pin out that connects the 2 pieces so we just leave it in one. I now just take my NS on tours and the school is considering about getting their own.

[hensonbass]

pm sent

[jharms80439]

PM replied... X2