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Ashbory (Guild/DeArmond/Fender) Club

#181
spigmu said:
#14 checking in Sir!

vdGNFGT.jpg


Me and the Ashborys are real but posing. As we Rubber Bass players know, rubbery strings don' t give you anything with just one hand, so...

My main is a DeArmond, got a Fender last year as a back up, but have switched their roles. I was afraid Fender might muck it up but they didn't. G strings don't last a week so I haven't had one in a decade, because flipped over lefty the peg is far enough away that the tension required to be at pitch is too much. I recently did a gig where I really wanted that G so I put one on and much to my surprise I wanted to keep it. Of course it snapped the next day. So I decided to move the peg down to where it should be, closer to the nut. Didn't want to ruin my spare with my dubious technique, so, thanks to member funkbass187, I picked up the one that's having the peg moved and letting the fine folks at Brooklyn Lutherie do it.

Have a (lefty) Kala U-Bass. Don't really like it.

And I know it's tied in to the guitarists I watched transfixed playing Cherry Red ES355's at the Fillmore East, but I'd rather play a screwed up red bass than a blue or white one that was playable.
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Glad to see it went to a loving home! I definitely regret selling that though, perhaps I'll pick up another one some time down the road
 
#182
themensch said:
I guess I'm the only weirdo that likes the original silicone after hearing pahoehoe and thundergut. I feel like I have been very lucky with my G strings and hope mentioning it doesn't jinx me.
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themensch, no I feel the same. I just didn't get along with Thunderguts, though I didn't try anything else on the Ashbory. Probably because there's never been anything about the silicones that I didn't like, and I do prefer the feel and tone (out of a good amp, not really for recording) of them. I generally turn the amp up very loud, dial back the volume on the bass a bit and most importantly play with a very light touch. I don't play it like an upright, I play it like a Precision through an SVT, at least that's what I'm channeling on the combo amps I use : ) I couldn't get what I wanted from the Thunderguts. Even if it's a "better" feel and/or "better" sound it wasn't working for a Pbass attitude.
 
#186
I never played one of these but I do play a Ubass. I read that some of you don't like the white Thunderguts,
but I was wondering if any of you were aware that aquila has a newer string called thundereds. I guess they are a bit thinner and a bit less sticky than the thunderguts but thats all I know, I haven't tried them.Plus they are red, so maybe some of you would find that appealing! Some love them on the Ubass. I like the stock paehoehoes myself. Also I believe D'addario has also come out with a string that may be similar to the thunderguts but I think they were only about 12.00. We are waiting for some guys on the Kala ubass thread to test them out. May be worth checking into. Also Kala has come out with a new metallic string similar to the pyramids, and we are all waiting to hear how they work out. Anyway I just wanted to stop in and pass this information on to you all!
 
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#187
TolerancEJ said:
Let us know if your G-string lasts longer in that position.
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Note that because it's restrung lefty, the flipped headstock put the G peg furthest from the nut instead of closest. This is just to put it where it would have normally been. I'm fairly convinced that the extended distance made the tension too great at pitch so I moved it, but it's now where everyone else's is. Once it stretched in I simply could never have one in for more than a few hours of playing at pitch (and loosened when put away). If this makes for only random breaks every few months I'll say it was a correct concept, but that would still not be good enough. I used to put a touch of shrink tubing where the G made contact with the peg, which supposedly helps, but it my case it still snapped. But now with the moved peg, shrink tubing and keeping it loose when not playing...well, if it's not reliable then I'll delete operator involved parameters from the equation and call it an irreparably flawed design. and go back to 3 strings : )
 
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#189
I'm in! I use mine in a big-band context especially when we play as an 18-piece band on a stage designed for a quartet..! I turned up at rehearsal one day with it and the rest of the band absolutely loved the sound of it through my GK! Result! I imported this one from Large Sound in LA about 12 years ago I think, and recently got new tuners fitted and set up by Nigel Thornbory himself, who now owns and runs a ukelele shop not far from where I live in Oxfordshire. I had no idea he ran the shop. I broke a tuner and thought a ukelele one would fit, and was recommended Nigel's shop by a local guitar tech. Nigel was only too pleased to help (with original parts too) and only after a while did he actually tell me his last name!

Strung with Aquila Thundergut strings. I've been more than happy with this set and spares do not seem to be difficult to find here in England. You'll notice the E string is opposite-wound - that's also on Nigel's recommendation - less stress on the machine head, but makes for awkward tuning!
 

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#190
I love the sound of mine, but hard to intonate properly on that tiny board. And yeah, the original strings break whether you're actively playing it or not, which is what I've always found frustrating.
 
#193
1stnamebassist said:
I never played one of these but I do play a Ubass. I read that some of you don't like the white Thunderguts,
but I was wondering if any of you were aware that aquila has a newer string called thundereds. I guess they are a bit thinner and a bit less sticky than the thunderguts but thats all I know, I haven't tried them.Plus they are red, so maybe some of you would find that appealing!
Click to expand...

I've tried Thundereds on my bass ukes. They are just a little bit less sticky than the whites.
That's good strings, but i don't use it because the sound is more "medium".
I do prefer the fat sound of the Thunderguts!
 
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#194
yeelaberbin said:
I've tried Thundereds on my bass ukes. They are just a little bit less sticky than the whites.
That's good strings, but i don't use it because the sound is more "medium".
I do prefer the fat sound of the Thunderguts!
Click to expand...

I may have to try them on my Ashbory, which I have been playing Pahoehoes on. I also have Pahoehoes on my Ubass, but to tell the truth, I think my Ashbory sounds better and is easier to play for many songs. Sometimes they can sound a bit muddy on the Ashbory, thus my interest in the Thuderguts.
 
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#196
The original Guild Ashbory strings are the best to me. I use Silver Rumblers for loud funk/jazz/hiphop/electronic gigs. They actually make great notes on only part of the fretbd. The Guilds play everywhere on the bass. The Pahohohoes have the least note spread but do get better after many months. I have a very old set of Fenders that stretched for so long are getting into the Guild territory.
The Aguilas are more expressive than the Pahohohoes.
I have been playing these basses since they were released. I have retired a black and a white Guild. They saw gigs sometimes three times a week. Under no circumstance do I use the oem bag as it is responsible for G string breaks.
 
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#197
chadds said:
The original Guild Ashbory strings are the best to me. I use Silver Rumblers for loud funk/jazz/hiphop/electronic gigs. They actually make great notes on only part of the fretbd. The Guilds play everywhere on the bass. The Pahohohoes have the least note spread but do get better after many months. I have a very old set of Fenders that stretched for so long are getting into the Guild territory.
The Aguilas are more expressive than the Pahohohoes.
I have been playing these basses since they were released. I have retired a black and a white Guild. They saw gigs sometimes three times a week. Under no circumstance do I use the oem bag as it is responsible for G string breaks.
Click to expand...

I've used the DeArmond strings on my Guild Ashborys from the '80s and the recent DeArmond version. The G and sometimes D strings break spontaneously in the bag. This is the first I've heard that the bag was responsible for the breakage. How is that happening?
 
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#200
Hi, Newbie here.

I had been wanting to buy an Ashbory for ever.
When they first came out I didn't play and I couldn't afford one; but I still wanted one.

When my life had sorted itself out enough, not having to spend every spare penny on kids and bills, I looked into buying one again.
I found that production had gone from Guild to Dearmond to Fender and, to my horror, Fender for whatever reason, had stopped production back in 2012.
All stockist had run out of stock so it was down to looking for one on Evilbay.

I found one in November last year and now own four.
I never intended to own more than one but stumbled across another advert on Evilbay for an "Ashbory prototype. Inventors own."
Several dozen emails later and I find that I now have the original, Nigel Thornbory made, reversed design prototype along with Alun Ashworth-Jones' own pre Guild Ashbory, probably something that Clive Cherry had a hand in, and his pre production Mk2 sold to me by the late Alun's wife, Linda.
How chuffed am I?
Linda is a delightful lady, she would love to see the Ashbory go back into production.
She asked me if I thought there would still be a market for them.
I think there would.
What do you guys think?
 
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