Ergo Megathread part I

[godoze]

I converted it to E-C since the b string articulation sounded like a well articulated fart. I mean it worked for what i needed it for
(touring and little stages) but after that stuff was over i went back to doghouse..

BTW, the purpleheart 5 weighs about 5 tons more than the mahogany 4 that i also owned. I had eurosonics on that and it really woke up the bass.

best of luck.

[speedster]

You got it, from what I understand they can run up to 90,000hz (measured in frequency)

[Showdown]

Originally Posted by Bass_me

Hi
Haven´t got the new bridge yet. In the moment I have placed som matches under the bridge, making it high enough to actually play on the bass. But still the C and D strings are not high enough.
That is why I was wondering how high you other Ergo-guys strings are? I do not hope that it is something with the construction of the bass that is costing me problems.... ...please

Jesse set mine up with low action, it is about .15". I have a little buzzing now on the G sting below the 5th "fret" area. I think the action needs to be higher.

[godoze]

Is your fingerboard true ? On the Purpleheart bass that i had i had to completely resurface the fingerboard. IT had more waves than the atlantic ocean...accounting for much buzzing.

[Bass_me]

Originally Posted by speedster

....

Thanks - I didn´t really know that. I will try out some preamps to make myself happier.

BTW: I just got the new bridge (and a new C-string). I just have to fit the height myself.

[bassmutant]

I wasn't watching this thread. Mine sounds great, but I asked him to set the action as close to an upright as possible as I'll most likely be using my college's DB at some point for jazz ensemble when school starts. I wanted something that was physically similar so I can get my hands used to the mechanics required. I'll have to find my tape and measure the distances. I haven't had any issues, mine runs into my m2000 mesa basis head into an avatar 1x12/210 setup, with all the tone controls on the solid state side set flat and it sounds great to me. Only thing i did set was the compressor on the low end so the low notes don't overwhelm my poor 1x12. My 1x12 is great, but the low b on the ergo is a heavy handed sob. I haven't experienced any of the flabbiness or the strings lifting off of the bridge, they have nice tension. I have no idea what brand of strings are on this, if I can find a digital camera, i'll take pics of them, maybe someone can identify. I was playing a cheap chinese DB a while back, and the sound that it made wasn't nearly as sweet as my ergo. The ergo doesn't have that low end bloom that a double had, but for my fingerstyle technique, i thought it sounded more like a double than that chinese DB, which cost a few hundred dollars more. I would love to try a nice 5 string double bass, but they are cost prohibitive right now, not to mention I wouldn't be able to easily bring it around on the bus like this ergo. Thanks for the links on the cases btw, I'm looking at just getting an NS gigbag, that will hold the bass and the stand for about 140 bucks, how much did those fishing rod cases cost?

[matiya]

Does anybody know, where to find these EUBs in Europe?

[bassmutant]

The ergo's are manufacturer direct, http://www.ergoinstruments.com. Jesse doesn't seem to like email very much , but Just be patient.

[speedster]

I've never had a problem with Jesse contacting me via email, I usually get an answer within an hr or two tops....

I've had excellent post sale support from Jesse and he has been very helpful in suggesting improvement options I've fed back to him.

If you have the right email address he'll likely give you a response in a reasonable period of time <than a day.

Got to remember he is getting busy due to orders and he is a one man shop..........

For the money you can't beat these bass's and Jesse is improving them all the time as he receives feed back....

Good luck and keep trying....

[Ron Now]

I am looking into purchasing an Ergo EUB and I was wonder if there was anyone in the Chicago-Dekalb area of Illiniois who owns one and would let me try it out see how the feel of the instrument. (or something that would be simaler in feel that I could try out). Thanks in advance

[lccben]

Well, if you ever make your way to central Kentucky, I would be happy to help you out.

I bought a four-string Ergo a year ago and have been very pleased with it. I have mostly played rock, but a neighbor of mine, who is a sax player, got me into playing jazz. I wanted an upright but need something that was portable and not too pricey.

One concern: I have needed to use a compression pedal b/c the G and D strings ring out much louder than the A and E strings.

The action is great and it plays well.

Also, a plug for Jesse: when I first got the bass, I was getting a lot of fret buzz on my A string. I sent it back and he fixed--no hassle at all. He does stand behind his work,

lccben

[wilsonn]

Funny that yours was louder on the G and D. Mine is a tad louder on the A and E, and the G is particularly softer. I compensate with touch.

I am in the NY/NJ area, so no help on a Chicago audition. FWIW, I think Jesse offers to take the bass back, and refund $$ less the shipping if you're not happy. I was/am happy with mine.
Neal

[Pruitt]

Has anyone ever tried one of the Ergo 6's? I see a bunch of you mentioning the 5 string version. I'm currently considering purchasing an Ergo, and as I predominantly play 6 string BG I'm considering the 6 string Ergo. Though when it comes down to it, I may just buy a 4 or a 5 when I finally do it. Just thought I'd see if anyone had played one before.

Thanks and have fun!!

[vanderbrook]

I sent Jesse a money order for a 4-stringer today. Now the waiting begins...

[MichaelVee]

I've just joined the Ergo Club- I picked my 4-string up yesterday. I actually bought it back in October, after losing yet another eBay auction for an Ergo, this time a fiver. I emailed Jesse to ask him about something or other and mentioned that I'd lost the auction. He wrote back and said he had several 4-strings on hand, and that the newer mahogany basses were better than the ones on the market as he'd made several improvements. So, since I had some available cash from playing a couple of theatre shows, I said 'heck with it' and bought one.

I intended to go right on down to Chattanooga and pick it up. However, my schedule hasn't permitted it, and so I finally made it down yesterday.

Jesse's a good guy, very funny and friendly. Late 30's, shaved head, long goatee, big tats happening. Big jazz and Star Trek fan. I guess we talked for a good hour and a half about all kinds of things. He had about ten Ergos onsite. Mostly 4's, a few fives, and he had his own 6 which he got out to show.

He gave me a choice between 2 4-strings, with different bridge heights. I chose the one with the lower action.

After a fine lunch at the India Mahal restaurant on Brainerd Rd. (Jesse's recommendation- he's an Indian food freak), I headed back home and tried out the bass.

Overall, I'm pleased with it, and was surprised to find that it wasn't so hard to locate the notes!

More initial impressions to come. I'll take a digipic sometime tonight or tomorrow.

Happy New Year's 2006!

[MichaelVee]

Thanks go to Francois, the EUB forums moderator, for creating the Ergothread.

After a week or so with the Ergo, I've begun investigating the options to improve the basic instrument as I received it.

I'm looking at a number of DB string choices, as recommended by Bob Gollihur. Haven't decided that one yet.

I've pulled the basic piezos and controls, as they hummed quite a bit. Currently, I have put in a piezo film strip pickup from Experimental Musical Instruments. I haven't finalized the replacement piezo pickup system yet- but will be trying several options.

Haven't tracked down a gig bag yet- I've been to several local outdoor supply shops but haven't found a long enough long bow bag to fit the Ergo.

I'll report back on all these things as I decide them. In the meantime, if any of you fellow Ergo owners out there have some input in the areas of pickups, gig bags, and strings, please do share!

[speedster]

I eventually bought the bag that Jesse recommended from the start for the Ergo, at the time of my purchase he did not have any in stock. It is from a bow/archery supply company and Jesse supplies the part #

It works great and is cheap so that was a plus.....

When I ordered my Ergo I had Jesse ship it with only one cheap string on it to hold the bridge in place, I immediately installed a set of Thomastic Spiral Core (reds) on it which is what I run on my 3/4 German Upright.

Pretty good tone etc and I wanted to have the same feel as my upright, the set up is virtually the same as my upright as well.

Initially the A & E strings were louder with deeper tone, I moved the bridge around in the slot area and got significantly different tones and volume depending on placement ( mine has the thin bridge/wide slot).

Didn't see much difference in tone regardless of the position of the tone switch. Did some fiddling around some more with the bridge and finally removed strings and pulled bridge out of slot and discovered one pickup had a broken wire on a peizo.

Tried re-solder etc but ceramic was too badly damaged, suspect damaged during shipping. Contacted Jesse and he immediately sent out a new peizo.

While soldering in new peizo to the pot I jiggled my hand and melted solder joint where the crossover wire is attached to pot.

Resoldered this back on and soldered on new peizo, put the bridge back in and positioned feet on peizo's and reinstalled strings.

Much better sound but had a crackling noise coming through amp... Pulled apart again and discovered other peizo ceramic to be broken as well. Contacted Jesse and he sent me new peizo (all his cost both times, what a great guy !!).

Re-installed peizo, placed foam on front of and back of bridge, aligned feet on peizo's in centre of pads and re-installed strings.

Plugged it in and WoW !! great sound, tone knob works and adjusts tone from thin to fat as required, no more crackling noise, eliminated overtones that I had before and all the strings are of equal volume and good tone, well balanced unit.

It sounds really really good now and just tried it in the recording studio, layed down track with Ergo, layed down track with 3/4 upright German with underwood pickup and you couldn't tell which was which on play back through studio monitors.

Ergo track was given away by a bit of rattling noise in the track which we now figured out is from the stand, with some tightening of joints and better placement on a mat that could be eliminated......

I figure that the pot had a cold solder joint on it from the start and the peizo's were damaged during shipping as a result of not having it fully strung up. My bad........

For the money I can't say enough about the little unit now that I have it dialed in....

Not much more time spent getting it right than I spent getting the underwood peizo's right in my upright. That was a whole other experience in patience and experimentation !!

[rnlytton]

Hey, I just discovered this thread. What a great resource!

I recently bought the Ergo 6 string, as I'm used to 6 string BG. At that time the recommended case was no longer available from the source Jesse had. I poked around on the web and found out that the bow case was made by NEET. After some more web time I found the Neet NK-RC Strung Recurve Case.
(see http://www.bowhuntingstuff.com/product/NKRC)

The case is available in 62" and 66" lengths. It also has a side pocket that easily fits the tripod. I got the 62" case and my Ergo just fits inside without an inch to spare. If I had it to do over, I'd probably go with the 66"-er.

I played URB for about two years, about 25 years ago. I still found the transition from BG to the Ergo easier than expected. After about the fifth position, or so, I'm able to change to BG fingering up the rest of the neck. Not needing to use thumb positions really helped with the transition.

I'm having some issues with piezo tinniness and unbalanced string response. (D, G & C strings sound fine, while B, E & A have plenty of "thump" but little tone). I'll try moving the bridge around (per Speedster's experience) and I'll try using a pre-amp as recommended.

I live in the SW suburbs of Chicago June through August, So if Ron Now wants to contact me then, you can try out my Ergo.

I just scored a 7 string Ergo on eBay and am expecting delivery very soon. (It was listed as a "7 string electric upright bass" with no mention of Ergo in the title!?). I may have bit off more than I can chew, but it was there and someone had to buy it...

Glad to have found you guys!

Richard

[speedster]

Not sure if the 6 string is alot longer or not but what I did in order to fit my 4 string in the bow bag I have with the folding stand connection still attached is the following.

I used a pipe cutter and lopped off 2 inches of the tubing on the connector, it slides into the receiving end of the cymbol stand and did not need to be as long as it was.

Didn't affect anything at all but now fits in the bag perfectly, I made sure it was exactly the length needed to fit snuggly into the bag prior to cutting so that it wouldn't slide around and possibly damage or move the bridge.

Worked great !!!

[MichaelVee]

I spent some time earlier in the week working with the EMI piezo film.

I've placed the film strip between the bridge and the top of the slot that it rests in. The slot is not wide enough to put the piezo film in the bottom, and then set the bridge on top of it, the way Jesse sets it up.

The problem I ran into was the Ergo bridge is not carved flat on either side. There is some rounding. Therefore, it's hard for the piezo film to make contact over it's entire length, between the body slot and the bridge.

I might try sanding the bridge flat so it will even out the pressure on the strip, then shim the bridge to the top of the slot by placing a long, flat wooden shim behind the bridge.

The film strip is picking up well enough that I am going to continue to work on this setup. Ultimately, I probably will get a K&K pickup and try that out.

I am getting a good sound by plugging the bass into my Raven Labs MDB-1, which has a very high input impedence.

I haven't decided on strings yet- but will be ordering one of the Neet NK-RC 66" bow bags.