NS CR5,who's got one!

[Cutty]

Hi would love to hear your views on the NS CR5,thankyou.

[JtheJazzMan]

i do, and it friggin rocks!

it has such an amazing tone, and the sustain is great. its great for solo work, use mainly magnetic pickup with a little piezo, add some reverb, compression and a little chorus and you get the most atmosphere filling bass tone.

downsides...obviously the shape is different to double bass, you can get lost in the heat of a solo with no references like the neck block usually has on a double, plus theres way too many dots on the neck. maybe i just need to crunch my scales more on it

i only have the tripod stand and i dont like it too much. too constrictive. im trying to locate an endpin stand which is supposed to make it more familiar to hold

[MacDaddyBass]

I have one. I use it in situations that aren't too friendly for my acoustic upright in mainly bluegrass settings. I almost exclusively use piezo with just a pinch of magnetic. I get a pretty decent sound, but discovered you need to have a pretty good rig to really get a good sound out of it. I have the tripod, endpin and strap system, and I prefer the endpin the most. It's a little awkward at first, but once you get used to it it's great. Plus it's great to travel with. I've flown internationally with it twice and both times it went off with out a hitch. I put it in an undercover case inside the hardshell flight case and that worked the best. It was under weight and size so no extra fees. All-in-all, a great purchase.

[Justyn]

I bought my NS CR5M sight-unseen from the wonderful folks at Bass Central a few months back and I love it. It really works exceptionally well for my gigging needs.

My band specializes in cheezy lounge music, going from old standards, to modern tunes rearranged as a swing, or a bossa, to dance tunes and disco. Out of four sets I'll play the NS for two or three depending on when we really shift to the high energy disco stuff that my hands just aren't able to play on the NS yet or tunes I feel just work better with fretted electric bass guitar.

Here's a rundown of all things Justyn's NS:

Strings: Helicore Hybrid light (BEADG). I keep the strings set high enough that when I pluck the string hits at about the midpoint between my fingertip and the first joint.

Tone settings: Bass and treble get set depending on the room though generally I boost the bass a touch and cut the treble a tiny bit.

For most swing tunes I'll use just the piezo and have the directional knob favoring arco (lateral) sensitivity. This yields a quicker note decay that IMO evokes more of the trad upright tone.

For bossas I'll add some of the magnetic pickup and keep the directional knob at 50/50.

For rock or disco stuff or when I want it to sound like a big fretless bass I'll favor even more of the magnetic pickup

Ergonomics: The size of the NS makes it useable on even the smallest of stages, like my weekly gig where I think I have about 3 sq. feet for me, my amp and my basses. I prefer the endpin stand, but for most of my gigs I use the tripod which allows me to switch back and forth very quickly between EUB and EBG...very handy when my bandleader calls an audible in the middle of an otherwise instrument-consistent set.

The downside to the tripod is that at 6'5" tall I have to extend the tripod pretty much all the way out and the whole setup can feel a little wiggly. And that's part of the tradeoff - you don't have the physical size and mass of an acoustic double bass to interact with, lean into, etc. etc. Different instruments.

I'm looking to add a little reverb and chorus when I have the money, time and stage space. As it stands, my pedalboard sits on top of my amp and is more of a 'whack it with your hand between beats' board. If I add reverb, chorus and compression I'll look to a rack unit to try and cut down on the amount of stuff I'm lugging around. Suggestions are welcome.

Do I still lust after the warm, woody, earthy tone of an acoustic upright? Of course I do, and God help me if I put on an Avishai Cohen album because then I just want to sell all my basses be they bass guitar or EUB and buy an acoustic DB, but for my own gigging situation the NS is a compromise I'm happy to make.

Hope that helps,
J.