I'm looking into buying one, as I will be joining a marching band in college (the Rice University M.O.B.) that takes electric basses, and values weirdness, and the Ashbory is certainly both. Anybody have one? Any tips on how to play it (when I tried one in the store, I had trouble getting it into a position where i was comfortable with it)?
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Ashbory Bass?
- Thread starter ucbassman
- Start date
I sold one when they were originally distributed by Guild in the '80s, and I bought a DeArmond one when they came back. It's very cool, but the biggest problem is holding them in playing position. The combination of the sticky strings, the extremely short (18") scale, and the utter lack of a body makes them very awkward, especially standing up. Marching one might be a whole new ball of wax too.
First, one thing that helps with them is to lightly dust your left-hand finger tips with talcum powder. The original Guild/Ashbory's came with some in a little zip-lock bag. Just what musicians in the '80s needed- white powder in a little plastic bag....
Second, FMIC changed the string composition at one time. The early DeArmond strings had a NASTY tendency for the strings to disintegrate. I went through three D strings without even playing the thing. I eventually got some re-formulated strings from New Hope Guitar Traders (www.guildguy.com) that have lasted about four years.
Play around with an adjustable strap to find a way that holds it as close to upright as possible. I know a couple of people who put lead fishing weights into the control cavity to help pull it downward.
Practice-
jte
First, one thing that helps with them is to lightly dust your left-hand finger tips with talcum powder. The original Guild/Ashbory's came with some in a little zip-lock bag. Just what musicians in the '80s needed- white powder in a little plastic bag....
Second, FMIC changed the string composition at one time. The early DeArmond strings had a NASTY tendency for the strings to disintegrate. I went through three D strings without even playing the thing. I eventually got some re-formulated strings from New Hope Guitar Traders (www.guildguy.com) that have lasted about four years.
Play around with an adjustable strap to find a way that holds it as close to upright as possible. I know a couple of people who put lead fishing weights into the control cavity to help pull it downward.
Practice-
jte
I could never get the dern thing to stay in tune for longer than 5 minutes. Weedwacker cord works exceptionally well as a G and sometimes a D too.
The scale messes with you unless you keep your eyes on the road but it's sure fun to play for a song. My old guitar instructor used to do that just to confuse everybody and get all the [female] attention for a song. He was the lead guitarist in the band though, so he was obligated to get it anyways, right?
The scale messes with you unless you keep your eyes on the road but it's sure fun to play for a song. My old guitar instructor used to do that just to confuse everybody and get all the [female] attention for a song. He was the lead guitarist in the band though, so he was obligated to get it anyways, right?
It's my main bass. Great for jazz, funk, rock, folk, anything. Definitely takes some getting used to, and not for everybody. It requires a different mindset that can mess with regular instrument playing.
You need a little plain talc. I used to slather in on the strings, like The Great Muta spitting green mist, but now I just put a dab on the fingers of each hand and repeat as necessary. It keeps you from skidding.
I also cut down my picking nails a bit. I used to keep them fairly present for guitar but I found that on the Ashbory when I'd rest my fingers on the strings they make a loud click on contact if my nail touched when not plucking, so I sacrificed them.
The intonation isn't quite on as far as the lines beyond the octave. I attribute this to them being mathematically correct but not for the string height/thickness. Above the octave I'm playing a bit flat to keep it right.
They can sound great but not when pushing the limits of a small, mediocre amp. The best sound is lots of good, clean headroom. My life was changed the day twenty years ago when someone hipped me to playing bass with the amp up way loud and with a light touch, and this applies to the Ashbory somewhat, because with the silicone strings there's simply a limit to what they'll do the harder you play them (though there are all kinds of soft dynamics they'll respond to).
The expensive Guild's weren't as good as the cheap Dearmond reissues, oddly enough. I have no tuning problems at all with mine.
Just make sure the band gives you a big amp to play through and you'll have fun. If they point you to a 30 watt practice amp it won't be fun.
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You need a little plain talc. I used to slather in on the strings, like The Great Muta spitting green mist, but now I just put a dab on the fingers of each hand and repeat as necessary. It keeps you from skidding.
I also cut down my picking nails a bit. I used to keep them fairly present for guitar but I found that on the Ashbory when I'd rest my fingers on the strings they make a loud click on contact if my nail touched when not plucking, so I sacrificed them.
The intonation isn't quite on as far as the lines beyond the octave. I attribute this to them being mathematically correct but not for the string height/thickness. Above the octave I'm playing a bit flat to keep it right.
They can sound great but not when pushing the limits of a small, mediocre amp. The best sound is lots of good, clean headroom. My life was changed the day twenty years ago when someone hipped me to playing bass with the amp up way loud and with a light touch, and this applies to the Ashbory somewhat, because with the silicone strings there's simply a limit to what they'll do the harder you play them (though there are all kinds of soft dynamics they'll respond to).
The expensive Guild's weren't as good as the cheap Dearmond reissues, oddly enough. I have no tuning problems at all with mine.
Just make sure the band gives you a big amp to play through and you'll have fun. If they point you to a 30 watt practice amp it won't be fun.
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One thing you have to consider also with the Ashbory is the environment that it will be used in. You need to put Talcum powder on your hands to avoid fingers sticking to the strings. You will most likely be playing at a lot of football games where the weather is cold and damp. I think you might have a mess (literally) on your hands in those conditions. If the strings have a tendency to go out of tune quickly cold and damp won't help that situation much either.
Many marching band charts are pretty advanced these days, so being wierd is fine but making the band sound good is more important. If you play out of tune and miss notes due to the Ashbory you might find yourself up in the stands as a spectator.
Rick B.
Many marching band charts are pretty advanced these days, so being wierd is fine but making the band sound good is more important. If you play out of tune and miss notes due to the Ashbory you might find yourself up in the stands as a spectator.
Rick B.
From what I have read, they seem to break a lot of G strings. However, someone posted that their tech rounded the edge of the slot in the tuner for the G, and no more broken strings.
An Ashbory is on my list of things to try!
An Ashbory is on my list of things to try!
All this is very true. I've never done an outdoor gig with it, much less in bad weather. Something to consider for sure.
As far as broken Gs, well, mine barely reached the flipped over peg, broke twice a decade ago and hasn't been put back on since.
Fun to mess with on occasion. I use an old Guild one. I use "finger ease" when I have played it or it sounds as good as rubbing an inflated balloon. If you are using it for more than one song, you might have some tuning issues.
It was cool back then but yeah harsh tuning issues. I think Kala Ubass and the likes are more usable, improved descendants of the Ashbory.
I used to like mine (DeArmond). But can't load a G string anymore. After the 3rd one broke, I gave up. Now it sits... Baby powder on the fingers works well enough. Sure makes a mess everywhere you go though!
- May 20, 2002
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I went with the black Pahoehoe strings. Sound is very close to the original strings, but they don't require talc and stays in tune better.
As per amplification: I would go for something as transparent as possible. However, transparent generally comes with a bigger price tag. You might do well with a used Genz Shuttle. With speakers, I would go with 12" or larger (that sounded dirty).
As per amplification: I would go for something as transparent as possible. However, transparent generally comes with a bigger price tag. You might do well with a used Genz Shuttle. With speakers, I would go with 12" or larger (that sounded dirty).
