Ashbory plunge ...

[groooooove]

i used to have one... they're a lot of fun...

sold mine because the strings were harder to find back then, and I broke too many G strings.

they seriously sound good, though.

 

[Winslow]

I have one of the original Guild Ashborys. The friction banjo tuners are abominable. If they're tight enough to hold tune, they're too tight to tune easily. When my pickup died, and I had to do a small amount of wood trimming to make the replacement fit, so I figured what the hell, I'll drill a few holes and install the geared tuners from the later Ashbory (tight fit, as the spacing of the holes from the edge of the headstock is different, but it can be done), and it transformed the bass from something I'd swear at to a much more playable instrument.

^ ^ ^ A big second & co-sign to this. One of the banjo tuners on my Guild Ashbory finally just broke altogether, so I put the geared replacements on it, and it made a world of difference. The original holes only needed to be widened a tiny bit, and the new tuners "fanned" slightly from each other to clear the edge of the headstock (I have pics if anyone wants to see them). But yes, putting a drill to that thing was mildly pucker-inducing.

I've managed to keep the original blue strings on it all this time, but just a couple of months ago, I noticed a tiny burr flecking up on the front side of the G, which grew in length as I played it. I was sorry to see that, since it's only a matter of time until it splits down the length, and that's all she wrote for those. But at least we have the internet to get replacement strings now!

By the way OP: A tip I got early on that has worked really nicely (especially for someone who cannot abide the smell of baby powder): Go to a dive shop, and get yourself a talc bag. Use this on your fingers to keep them from sticking on the strings, and making weird/unintended noises. I keep the bag in a square plastic "sandwich box" from the grocery store to keep it from getting on everything in the gig bag / tool box.

Good luck in the hunt & acquisition!

 

[40Hz]

I thought they were an interesting and fun fretless bass with a unique (at that point) sound back when you could routinely find one in the $100-$150 price range.

I think the prices they're currently asking for one on Reverb are borderline insane for what they are. Which is to say a pretty basic and somewhat primitive early example of that category of instrument. Especially now that there are alternatives. But that said, if you want an Ashbory, then nothing else is going to do. I would suggest looking at some polystring uke basses first before you take the plunge however.

 

[iiipopes]

Have you considered getting a U-bass instead? A Kala U-bass uses the same technology and scale length as an Ashbury bass under license. The newer U-basses have the advantages of upgraded pickups and electronics on par with the best acoustic guitars. I have gigged with mine for a few years; I have gigs scheduled on an ongoing basis, (pun intended); and I am looking forward to more gigs to come.

 

[JTE]

I own and play Ashborys and Kala and other uke basses and they're barely alike at all, only in small scale and rubbery strings. The U Bass is a very different animal. Some electric solid body uke basses are similar, but none are real Ashbury-ish as far as the variety of sounds you can get from it by altering your fingering and the location and touch of picking fingers, as well as using the stock pickup vol and tone controls. I've found the Ashbory to be far more versatile than any acoustic uke bass. There's no style of music I haven't used it for.

I've tried several alternative strings and always return to the stock silicone Ashbory sets. I alway detune it down when not in use and that helps strings not self destructing. Still pop Gs at gigs though, so I've been leaving them as 3 stringers for 15 years.

The originals came from the factory with a little plastic zip-lock bag of talc...

We had lots of jokes about musicians carrying a bag if white powder in the '80s.

 

[VoodooJazz]

This is a super-fun bass, with a great sound, although the neck dive can be challenging. I remember when I first got mine and was getting used to it, I brought it to a rehearsal with the 21-piece Big Band I was playing in. Boy, did I ever get the stink eye from the old salts! Until I started playing. Once they heard it, it was back to business as usual. That was a priceless moment for me. (Still, I never did gig it with that band. Visuals count in a big band.)

My tips:

- Ignore the fret lines. They're printed, and they're wrong. Use your ear.
- Always detune the G string when you are done playing. I always use 10 turns, so that I can get back to "ballpark" tuning quickly.
- Don't cut the ends off the strings. Sometimes, after a string breaks, you can use one end as a spare in a pinch (depends on where it breaks)
- Always carry a spare set of strings.
- Remember, it's active, so unplug it when you're not playing.

Have fun! I bought mine for parks/busking/parties. I don't play it as much as I should, but if something happened to mine I would surely get another.

 

[msb]

Picked it up this morning , turned out the seller is an old friend . It's been strung with Thundergut strings . This little thing is a hoot . I mostly play blues/roots material , and double on upright so this should be suitable for much of the stuff I play . After an hour or so I'm pretty confident with the intonation . I play in the house band for the local blues jam , I'll definitely be bringing her out tonight .
The rig tonight will be my GenzBenz Streamliner through a Bergantino HDN 210 . I can't wait to hear this thing rip . Been using the little rehearsal rig , a GK MB200 through a mini Ampeg 210 and a NE-1 preamp and it sounds great !

 

[msb]

Sounded good , upper registration intonation had some iffy moments , but I'm going to spend some time on the little rig and clear that up ... really fun little thing to play . I like it .

 

[Winslow]

Congrats!!

 

[mongo2]

Sounded good , upper registration intonation had some iffy moments , but I'm going to spend some time on the little rig and clear that up ... really fun little thing to play . I like it .

Yes, due to the extremely short scale even quite small errors in finger placement can result in intonation that's fairly off, especially in the upper register. I find I have to listen very closely when playing mine.

 

[msb]

Pic

 

[chadds]

I thought they were an interesting and fun fretless bass with a unique (at that point) sound back when you could routinely find one in the $100-$150 price range.

I think the prices they're currently asking for one on Reverb are borderline insane for what they are. Which is to say a pretty basic and somewhat primitive early example of that category of instrument. Especially now that there are alternatives. But that said, if you want an Ashbory, then nothing else is going to do. I would suggest looking at some polystring uke basses first before you take the plunge however.

So we voice our opinions here. I humbly disagree with your premise. Like the Fender bass the Ashbory was purpose designed and built. The Ukes were not an evolution but purpose designed and built to be bass in Uke bands.

The new polystring offerings don't have superior electronics. Ashborys have very specific electronics that reproduce the tonal complexity they are capable of. Just any Fishman piezo and pre won't do.

 

[jlepre]

Here's a sample of the Kala U Bass in a live band setting. Sorry for the video quality:

 

[40Hz]

So we voice our opinions here. I humbly disagree with your premise. Like the Fender bass the Ashbory was purpose designed and built. The Ukes were not an evolution but purpose designed and built to be bass in Uke bands.

The new polystring offerings don't have superior electronics. Ashborys have very specific electronics that reproduce the tonal complexity they are capable of. Just any Fishman piezo and pre won't do.

By all means should we voice our opinions here. That's what TB is all about. Getting the fuller picture.

Like everything bass, there's difference in taste and personal experiences which informs our opinions.

My own experiences with the Ashbory (mainly later Fender models rather than the Guilds which may have had something to do with it) left me slightly less enthusiastic after the initial novelty wore off.

By way of background, getting a more upright bass sound out of such a tiny instrument was something that definitely appealed to me since I very much miss the sound and feel I used to get back in my upright bass playing days. So I was super chuffed when I first learned about the Ashbory. And I was definitely in the market for one. So I went into it with a completely open mind. And while it was a decent sounding bass with enough novelty and visual appeal to last for days, it didn't work out that well for me in practice. Especially the one time I gigged a friend's.

We did an "Evening in the Shire" one hour set for a scifi/fantasy club's dinner night. The guitarists used those little scaled down Strats Fender was making for kids, the drummer had a tiny set he cobbled together out of various small percussion instruments he had, the sax player brought a xaphoon and a soprano recorder. We used little combo amps, and we sat on low kiddie stools for the whole set. Lot of fun. But very early on the Ashbory was having tuning issues - as the strings warmed up I guess? Fortunately, being a fretless with such a short scale, it was possible to compensate for it pretty quickly on the fly. But I wasn't happy about it. And I was glad we finished up when we did. I definitely wouldn't have wanted to go a second set with it.

By polystring offerings I was referring to uke and similar basses. Which have better tuning and fewer practical drawbacks than an Ashbory does.

As far as the electronics go, from my own examination of them, they were very basic compared to similar preamps and piezos from someone like Shadow Electronics over in Germany. The Ashbory's pup and electronics got the job done. But that's about it from my perspective.

So while I like the Ashbory just fine and wouldn't presume to say to someone: "don't get one," my own feelings are that isn't enough there to rate the premium they're starting to go for. Something I suspect is being driven more by the novelty factor and current scarcity than anything else.

But again, if you want an Ashbory, nothing else is going to do. So if that's something you want to try, by all means go for it.

 

[msb]

Thankfully mine has Thundergut strings , they are said to be less prone to breaking and hold tuning better from what I've been able to read . They're a little more rigid than the earlier stock strings so any intonation issues were due to my lack of technique more than technical issues with the instrument . I'll definitely be bringing it back to the Sunday jam next week and I plan to spend some time on it . It's not about to replace my upright or electric basses , but it should be a fun little thing to bring out for a couple of tunes .

 

[chadds]

I may be a bit biased since I've been gigging them since they were introduced. Playing them vertically is a huge fix. Like a few others here I tune them B-D. I don't look at the lines!

 

[KohanMike]

My experience with Thundergut strings is on bass ukes. I found the strings to get rough/sticky in a short time and will also sausage/dent at the frets. The idea to use powder to be able to overcome (only slightly) the roughness is a ridiculous remedy in my opinion. Since most bass ukes I buy come with Thunderguts, when they start to roughen, I change them to Road Toad Pahoehoe, which are smooth and sound very good to me, but do take longer to settle in and install.

 

[chadds]

When restringing you can string the E to the other side of the tuner to get a straight pull. Hasn't lengthened life after a year or so though.

 

[chadds]

An advantage the Ashborys have over Uke basses is the fret board is much longer allowing for more note choices.

Some Uke bass strings I've noted elsewhere have a playable string area much less than the full string length. Notes can only be played about half way up the string which is all that's necessary on the Uke basses. When they are strung on an Ashbory they fail to produce musical notes past the 12th fret. Original Ashbory strings and a few newer offerings sound all the way up the fret bd.

 

[chadds]

Thankfully mine has Thundergut strings , they are said to be less prone to breaking and hold tuning better from what I've been able to read . They're a little more rigid than the earlier stock strings so any intonation issues were due to my lack of technique more than technical issues with the instrument . I'll definitely be bringing it back to the Sunday jam next week and I plan to spend some time on it . It's not about to replace my upright or electric basses , but it should be a fun little thing to bring out for a couple of tunes .

How's it doing in your hands?