NS Design WAV4 megathread part II - Page 4

EddiePlaysBass · #61 05-02-2009, 04:52 PM

What is the general consensus of people who own a WAV4 ? Is it good bang for the buck, or are there too many issues with them ? I have one on backorder and about a month to decide if I want to cancel my order or not but from what I read, between the unstable stand and the apparently weak tuning pegs, I am beginning to reconsider

PS: carospppena, it looks great in blue

bluegrassboy · #62 05-02-2009, 07:38 PM

I think it is great bang for the buck. I wish the tuners were different, but they haven't stopped me from using my string of choice, Obligatos. The stand that came with mine is still functioning just fine. I just wanted the endpin stand, so I recently upgraded to the endpin stand and the higher end stand. But, I used the stock stand for well over a year with no major problems. If you're a pro and have a larger budget, there are lots of other options available. But the WAV 4 sounds great, is easy to play and is a bargain, IMO.

EddiePlaysBass · #63 05-04-2009, 04:49 AM

Thanks, bluegrassboy ! I am a bit undecided between getting the WAV or saving up for a fretless electric, like a Fender Tony Franklin. But I recently acquired a new electric bass so I'm set in that department.

Guess I could always get the WAV and then start saving up for a fretless electric

Plus, the idea of getting started on upright is real tempting, and would fit my rockabilly band perfectly ...

yebot · #64 05-06-2009, 02:41 PM

I'm not going to annoy my friends with this news, but I will annoy you guys. I got the email from Bob Gollihur today letting me know my amber WAV4 had arrived and into UPS hands' it went. Looks like it will arrive tomorrow. Ya-frikkan-hoo!

Gonna start off with the stock strings and then evaluate upgrading them along with some stronger pegs. Wish me luck.

Bard2dbone · #65 05-06-2009, 04:20 PM

Let us know about the tuners you put on it. That's the first real mod I want to make on mie is better tuners.

Matthijs · #66 05-07-2009, 02:11 AM

I recently put in hipshot ultralights. Tried schallers, but they broke. Had a very prompt and polite reply from the Schaller company though, the tension on the wav is outside of their design parameters. The hipshots work really well. The holes just needed a small bit of sanding out to fit them. I think they have a better look also: a bit like miniature URB tuners. To my best knowledge the hipshots are the only replacement that will do better than the originals.

Bard2dbone · #67 05-07-2009, 02:38 AM

Which ones did you use? Are these the regular 1/2" vintage style tuners like you'd use on an old Fender? I thought the tuners on my WAV looked bigger than that.

frede · #68 05-07-2009, 05:06 AM

I als recently put on some Hipshot Ultralights. If you look close in the video you can see them, you can see a few still pictures here:

http://gallery.me.com/fredelkamp#100101

bluegrassboy · #69 05-07-2009, 05:30 AM

Frede,

Thanks for posting the pics of the new tuners. It appears, however, that the tuner for your E string is turned (or bent) at an angle compared to the others. It that the way they fit, or did you do that on purpose?

Thanks.

frede · #70 05-09-2009, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluegrassboy

...the tuner for your E string is turned (or bent) at an angle compared to the others...

The "E" string tuner (chome) is turned at an angle so the screw holes lined up properly. The "strait" "A" tuner (black) is the original Wav tuner and is only shown for size comparison.

dbassnut · #71 05-10-2009, 11:46 PM

Anyone tried using D'Addario Helicores (Hybrids) on the WAV4 yet? A friend of mine told me that for a curved fingerboard, the E-string section should be flat (similar to a double bass fingerboard) & not curved.

**Francois Blais** · #72 05-11-2009, 08:35 AM

You'll find DB fingerboards with a beveled E string or not.
That's not a rule, but a personal preference.

Gary Lynch · #73 05-11-2009, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthijs

I recently put in hipshot ultralights. Tried schallers, but they broke. Had a very prompt and polite reply from the Schaller company though, the tension on the wav is outside of their design parameters. The hipshots work really well. The holes just needed a small bit of sanding out to fit them. I think they have a better look also: a bit like miniature URB tuners. To my best knowledge the hipshots are the only replacement that will do better than the originals.

You used the 1/2" shaft? How far does the shaft sick out past the wood on the inside? Man, the stock units just do not cut it at all. I too use Obligatos and I hold my breath each time I tune up. The E string worries me the most.

My concern is how long the shaft sticks out, if it's long enough for my strings.

Thanks

frede · #74 05-11-2009, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Lynch

...I too use Obligatos and I hold my breath each time I tune up. The E string worries me the most...My concern is how long the shaft sticks out, if it's long enough for my strings...

Check out picture # _DSC0006 in the link posted below, you will see the spacing. I also use Obligatos, and they are the strings pictured.

http://gallery.me.com/fredelkamp#100101

Gary Lynch · #75 05-11-2009, 04:28 PM

They look a lot more beefy for sure. Is the shaft any longer than the original? I see it's more substabcial but how about the length that sticks out beyond the wood?

Also, these come in two sizes. Did you use the 3/8 or the 1/2 inch?

Thanks.

frede · #76 05-11-2009, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Lynch

They look a lot more beefy for sure. Is the shaft any longer than the original? I see it's more substabcial but how about the length that sticks out beyond the wood? Also, these come in two sizes. Did you use the 3/8 or the 1/2 inch?

The shaft is a little longer maybe 2mm, but notice they have no "lip". The 3/8 is closer to the size of the Wav's bore holes.

I think if you have doubts, order one and change out the "E" string, after all that's the one that really need them.

Gary Lynch · #77 05-11-2009, 08:32 PM

Thanks. I'll order the 3/8. The stock ones suck. I'd rather have anthing else on there and these look nice too. I think they look good the way you placed them.

sapo2 · #78 05-12-2009, 09:53 AM

May anyone tell us about the new updated stand and the rosewood fingerboard ? Thanks in advance

Gary Lynch · #79 05-17-2009, 07:27 PM

The stand seems the same except for better nuts and bolts holding it together. The fingerboard is stained and looks ok. I oiled mine with a few drops of mineral oil and it turned nice and black. Not much stain has come off yet. The unit works well except for those tuners if you use 'real' strings.

elgecko · #80 05-21-2009, 09:04 PM

...not 10 hours after I ordered a Stagg EUB to cure my gas, I opened up Ebay and lo and behold, there was an NS WAV4 with the endpin stand and Obligatos with a BIN price of $50 more than the Stagg. What do you think I did?

A quick call to cancel the Stagg order and SCORE!

Fast forward to today when I got back to work from lunch, I refreshed my UPS tracking page and saw it was delivered

I made a quick dash home to get it off my porch and open it up for an quick inspection...everything looked in order but I had to get back to work

I set it up when I got home and plugged her in. I played upright (acoustic and a Carruthers EUB) almost 15 years ago in college but have been playing electrics exclusively since then. The scale length seemed obnoxiously long at first, I had serious doubts about playing it on my gig Saturday.

After a while though, the old reflexes started creeping back in.

I have a couple of initial observations:

1) I'm seeming to prefer the treble rolled 90%-100% off.
2) The arco position almost sounds like it could roughly approximate a Baby Bass type sound with some liberal EQ but the "effect" isn't really balanced across the bass.
3) The tuners DO look and feel crappy.
4) It disturbs me when the body rest arms give a little, it feels like it's gonna collapse.
5) Under moderate tightening, I'm getting a little rotation of the bass on the stand. Seems like a pin on the mounting plate and a corresponding hole on the bass would give superior stability, but I'm just gonna crank it down a bit tighter for now.

I'm a happy camper. I'm definitely taking it to the gig on Saturday...the only bad thing is, once I play it with the band (salsa/latin jazz) I know I'll get funny looks every time I break out an electric. Back to the bass...