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Ashbory Bass

Nohandles

Nohandles

Apr 4, 2004
330
3
20 miles west of Cleveland Oh
#1
I started playing upright and migrated to bass guitar with an acoustic and then a Rickenbacker " Love It!" and now I want to get an Ashbory bass. How many of you play one of these and what tips can you give me?
I played one Friday at work with a friend of mine who owned one and found it fun and very close to upright.
Doug
 
#2
Nohandles said:
I started playing upright and migrated to bass guitar with an acoustic and then a Rickenbacker " Love It!" and now I want to get an Ashbory bass. How many of you play one of these and what tips can you give me?
I played one Friday at work with a friend of mine who owned one and found it fun and very close to upright.
Doug
Click to expand...

  • Yes it sounds real close to an upright.
  • Use the "frets" as guidelines but your ear is key.
  • Get some talc power and watch your playing feel and sound improve.
  • Roll your fingers to the side when playing higher notes to compensate for the really close markers.
  • Enjoy a bass that weights next to nothing.
  • Try playing with the finger attack that you use to play your upright

I hope this helps.
 
#3
I have one and it's a fun little bass. For sure it is a great conversation starter.

My main use for it is when going on the road with bands, I have something small to play while on the tour bus. That way I can learn the shows that I don't use charts or just play along to my mp3 player.

I used it on a gig, pulling it out at the last minute for a song and you should have seen the face of the band members when they saw me...Obviously I made sure nobody was aware that I had bought this.

It does sound very close to an upright. People will laugh when they see it. Then you plug it in and they cannot believe the sound coming from this bass.

Still, I see it more like a toy to me than a real bass but on the right song in the right context, you can actually play it.

+1 on using your ears more than the lines, mostly in the first position. The notes are sharp when playing on the lines.
 
#4
Hi,

Thanks for the info I ordered one yesterday. I am designing a collapsible end pin for it that so I can play it like an upright and remove it for transport. I'll post some pictures when I get it done.
Has anyone tried nylon upright bass strings on their Ashbory? I think I will look for alternative string material. I check the durometer of the strings here at work Friday and found it to be 64. I have been looking on some rubber companies web sights and I think I will order some different stuff to try. I'll keep you posted.
Thanks again,
Doug
 
#7
Nohandles said:
I started playing upright and migrated to bass guitar with an acoustic and then a Rickenbacker " Love It!" and now I want to get an Ashbory bass. How many of you play one of these and what tips can you give me?
I played one Friday at work with a friend of mine who owned one and found it fun and very close to upright.
Doug
Click to expand...

Years ago I went to see Dread Zepplin at a local venue. Their bassist wore nothing but a grass skirt and a lei, and he had a custom made Ashbory bass the size and shape of a ukelele, which he played down on his thighs. It was hysterical looking, but once he started playing, my jaw dropped at the sound of that bass.
 
#8
I've got a black DeArmond RI, and it's great. Definitely use your ears, not the lines. Not sure about nylon stings on it, it might work but you might have a hard time getting a good tone out of a stiff string with such a short speaking length.

The two main concerns with a string under tension are the tension and the elasticity of the material. The tension on the Ash strings is so low that it tends to bring out the inharmonicity of any string you put on it. The internal damping of the silicone strings is such that you don't have to worry about this, but with nylon who knows?

+1 on Brock at Large Sound. He's great to deal with.

Matt Farrow
 
#9
I've played a Guild Ashbory for about five years. IMHO, it does not sound like an upright, unless you're comparing it to an upright with a piezo played through a bad amp. Don't get me wrong, I love my Ashbory, but an upright has an acoustic sound that you can't match with an 18" scale solid body. It is capable of getting closer to an upright sound than a fretted electric bass with round wounds, however. Vibrato on the Ashbory is accomplished by rolling your fingers like you would on an upright, as opposed to bending the strings as you would on a fretted instrument (it is impossible to bend the strings on an Ashbory), so in that sense you can approach an upright sound. If you're looking to sound like an upright, you're better off getting a full scale fretless with tape wound strings. Because the Ashbory has an 18 inch scale length it is very difficult to play above the 12th position, so for a lot of music, it just doesn't work very well. I use mine for acoustic music, country, and bluegrass. It works very well for that and it doesn't look that out of place. For rock bands, I turn to my peaveys...
 
#10
I've played them for about 16 years. For two years I gigged three times a week with one through an SWR BBII. It does sound more like an upright than many EUBs. It's about your touch. I play it in an upright position and find that easier and my notes accurate. When sitting or laying on a couch rest the headstock or tuners, if it's an original, on your clavical. Great tone while you practice silently. Yes people do freak when they see it and hear this huge fundamental coming out.
The Guilds will fit in a Protec Viola hard case. Great carryon luggage with no airport issues. The DeArmonds will not. The new Fender Strings are good and if you go to that Ashbory sight there is a link to ordering g-strings. Yes, no, not that kind.
There is much to learn. The cases that are supplied seem to break the g string spontaneously in the case whether it's been played or not. Levy makes a tiny bag of which I have one left I will sell that is quite good. Also Alto sax cordura gig bags by levy and others also fit an Ashbory very well and your cords and stuff. Again good on an airplane except it's softer than the viola case. Carry that into a gig and everyone is confused.
I am playing my black one here. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
The second night is more my favorite and has the Ashbory through and EA rig.
Please any questions ask. All of this can be found on the Large Sound site.
 
#11
Yep, check this out. I bought it by donating to a fund that brings music, musicians and instruments to terminally ill children.

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#13
Chadds - Awesome that if you pay something forward you get something good out of it.
That bass is absolutely beautiful. I'm highly considering buying the electric one and cannot think of any reason why not after reading this thread. I looked and a local Guitar Center has them for $ 299.00 US. I'm going to play one on Friday when I get paid. I may be posting here with pics / vids from my Creative VADO.

Thanks for the comments TB regulars. You all rock! :bassist:

Chris
 
#16
mongo2 said:
Did they ever solve the "self-destructing G string" feature?
Click to expand...
Wow! Zombie thread nearly three years old! :p

The problem was that FMIC never admitted a problem so there's no way they can say they fixed it. :confused: I'm not motivated to spend twelve bucks or so to find out, but would be pleased to hear an update from someone who has checked out the current stocks.

I got some of Mike Tavener's G string from the UK and it doesn't break (ever, apparently), but it is of a smaller diameter and therefore lower tension, which on my Ashbory seems to cause a flabby buzz on mine's fingerboard, especially after the string's been on for a while.

A larger diameter replacement with the same composition Mike sells would probably do the trick, but I don't know if such a thing's available.

Maybe there's some new info on largesound.net, but I haven't checked them for a long time. [Later: No, apparently not. As recently as a couple of months ago, the stock G and sometimes D strings are breaking]
 
#17
Wow. When I posted, I did not realize how old this was :rolleyes:

This is the only thing thats keeping me from getting one of these. Do they break even with a light finger style? I never planned on playing any slap / percussive on it since I just want something wierd and fretless to throw some effects on.

I might order both strings from Mike the same day I order or pick one up:

Link Removed
 
#19
I was a Guild dealer when they first came out, and we sold one or two of them- pretty remarkable for our small (and pretty unadventerous) market. Years later when FMIC produced them in Korea under the DeArmond name (ca 2001?) I picked one up. It's a great voice, if a bit unweildy to phsyically play. I went through some string problems, but around 2005 or so they changed the formulation of the strings. I got some then (don't recall if I got them from JustStrings.com or from New Hope Guitar Traders a/ka/ guildguy.com) and have had no problems at all since.

I love using it for Jack Bruce lines! "White Room" and "Badge" in particular work really well on the Ashbory. No, it's not a real upright kind of sound, but it's much closer to that vibe than my other fretless basses are.

BTW, Jack Bruce played one on at least one track, "Kwela" of the ablum "A Question of Time" from 1989.

John
 

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