Palatino vs. Aria SWB Lite One

quasimono · #1 02-23-2006, 11:23 AM

Hi Everybody,

i am planning on buying a EUB to use with my funkband's acoustic set.

Right now, i am playing an old EKO Fretless Acoustic Bass mounted on some freaky construction of a cymbal stand and guitar stand..

two models, which are available to me here in germany, are to wihich i narrowed down the search so far:

- the Palatino EUB

- the Aria SWB Lite One

my local dealer says, the Aria is much better construction- and soundwise, whereas the Palatino is nice looking but not so nice sounding..

so, any sugestions on these two EUB's?

Maybe, someone could lead me to some sound-clips of both basses?

i must say, that i prefer the Aria over the palatino as of now, so i am very interested to hear from you ,should you happen to own one...

thank you and greetings,
quasimono

**Francois Blais** · #2 02-23-2006, 11:29 AM

I never played either ones, but from all I read on them here, I'd get the Aria without any hesitation!

ToneRanger · #3 02-23-2006, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quasimono

my local dealer says, the Aria is much better construction- and soundwise, whereas the Palatino is nice looking but not so nice sounding..

Go with the one that sounds good!
Actually I think the Aria is much better looking and certainly better designed all round. I tried to buy one but no-one carries them in Australia.
I've played the Palatino - it does not seem to be in the same class. It's a cheaply made instrument that needs some upgrading to make it playable, but is over-priced in this country.

Gasp! · #4 02-24-2006, 04:13 AM

Hi!
I saw the Aria has a mapple neck. For an EUB, is it "hard" enough?

**Francois Blais** · #5 02-24-2006, 07:02 AM

Maple is used for necks since centuries. (basses included)
Since when is it a problem?

Gasp! · #6 02-24-2006, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by francois

Maple is used for necks since centuries. (basses included)
Since when is it a problem?

Oopppsss.....Little mistake.... No problem for the neck.
My question was about the fingerboard. ( I know it's OK for basses, but I don't know if it's OK for an EUB ( Or a DB)

**Francois Blais** · #7 02-24-2006, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gasp!

Oopppsss.....Little mistake.... No problem for the neck.
My question was about the fingerboard. ( I know it's OK for basses, but I don't know if it's OK for an EUB ( Or a DB)

Well, on this page:

http://www.ariausa.com/series/swb04/swb04.html

It says:

Neck: Maple, Bolt-on
Scroll Head

Fingerboard: Rosewood,
100R

So where's the problem?
Rosewood is as hard as ebony methinks.

Brent Nussey · #8 02-24-2006, 06:11 PM

Actually, the bass he's talking about is this one:
http://www.ishibashi.co.jp/webshop/g...a/swblite1.htm

It also has a rosewood board, though. I think an ebony board would be harder/better, but probably you won't get one in this price range. Anyway, I have played this bass, and all the other Arias, here in local music shops, and I liked this one the best of all the Arias. Somehow the lighter construction made the instrument more flexible, so it responded more like a proper acoustic bass, which was more comfortable for me.

I haven't played the Palatino, but their acoustic basses don't have a great reputation, so I'm not very suprised to hear that the construction isn't so good....

Brent

Edit: Here's the Aria web site, where it says the fingerboard is "maple in black" which I take to be maple stained black:
http://www.ariaguitars.com/jp/02prod.../swblite1.html

Sorry, I thought it was a harder wood, stained black. I guess you'd have to figure out how long the maple board would last, and what it would cost to replace it with a proper board when the time comes.

**Francois Blais** · #9 02-24-2006, 07:14 PM

Sorry, he didn't give an URL so I didn't know about this info.
In the past, I had a couple of cheap plywood AUBs with black-stained maple fingerboards, and I didn't have problems with neck warping, but harder wood is indeed more appropriate!

Gasp! · #10 02-25-2006, 03:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by francois

Sorry, he didn't give an URL so I didn't know about this info.

Sorry, I dindn't think about that...

Quote:

Originally Posted by francois

In the past, I had a couple of cheap plywood AUBs with black-stained maple fingerboards, and I didn't have problems with neck warping, but harder wood is indeed more appropriate!

OK, thank you for this answer!

quasimono · #11 02-27-2006, 07:41 AM

hi guys, thank you for your answers, all that said it only strengthens my opinion to go for the aria bass.

and the url given above is right, i am talking about the swb lite one bass here.

the other bass francois mentioned costs somewhat around 3000 $, and that is surely out of my price range...

i think for about 1000$, the swb lite one will be a great instrument.

concerning the blackened maple fingerboard, i also don't think this would be a problem.
many basses use maple as a fingerboard..

anyone of you actually owns a swb lite one btw?
would love to hear some sound samples of it...

greetings,
quasimono