I just played a Merchant Vertical Bass (V.2 with the folding neck) for a one night gig where I needed to fly to Florida. I thought I would share my thoughts here for anyone interested.
I have very little experience with EUB’s, I played the Yamaha silent bass a while ago and thought it was completely atrocious. Since I needed to fly for this one nighter and I don’t have any kind of portable bass (or trunk) I reached out to Bill and he let me borrow his Vertical bass for the gig, and even refused me when I tried to pay a rental fee. This guy is so upstanding, I can’t believe he is still in business.
Anyway, here are some details. 41 pounds in the case. The case itself is quite solid, strong buckles, nice really thick foam inside. I was able to carry it in one hand which was a huge help when my flight home got screwed up and I had to schlep all over West Palm Beach. The folding nature of the bass keeps the size of the case small, fits easy in any vehicle easily. Since the case is rectangular you can stack things on top of it easily. I have no idea how people transport the Gage travel bass, the case just looks like a nightmare. Plus where do people store it? If I bought a Merchant bass I could keep it in my closet which would be a huge advantage in a small NYC apartment.
Assembling the bass: When the bass is folded for travel the bridge comes completely off. When putting it together you place the bridge and then strings on top. The strings are held in place at the nut by a felt/elastic tie that is supposed to prevent the strings from coming unwound from the pegs. It mostly worked, but the A string was clipped, so there wasn’t much length around the peg. It came loose so I had to spend a couple of minutes each time rewinding it. Not a big deal, if I strung it up I would have a bit more winding.
The bass was strung with a set of well loved Thomastik Superflexible strings. These are a bit metallic for my taste, I think the bass really would sound great with a set of Spirocores. I think Thomastik or a similarly strong steel string is the way to go here, since you are doing a set up every time you assemble the bass the wrapping takes more abuse than usual during set up.
The bass I was using had a Fishman Full Circle pickup, which I prefer and use on my wood bass. I love this pickup, but Fishman’s white wire is cheap and breaks easily. I wish they would address this. Basically this means that you should be careful when assembling and disassembling the Vertical bass that the pickup not be disturbed anymore than necessary.
You tighten up the strings, watching the bridge to make sure it doesn’t start tilting up. Then you insert the T bar endpin and the sidepiece. You tune up (takes a few minutes) and you are on your way. This is another reason to use Thomastiks I think; if you used Evah’s or Velvets I think the strings would take much longer for tuning to stabilize.
The T bar endpin along with the sidepiece really work great together. The T bar adjusts the angle that the bass leans, so by rotating it you have precise control over the angle the bass leans. Along with the side piece that can move in or out (allowing precise distances to be achieved between your body and the bass) these really give you a ton of options for the bass’ relationship to your body. I think if I ordered one I’d have a little bit longer endpin, but otherwise it rested beautifully against my side. It was as comfortable to stand with (if not more) than my upright.
The sound of the bass is VERY responsive. The spruce bars create an instrument that has some really big notes. There were pitches that swelled just like my acoustic. Bill did a great job creating an instrument that has lots of response and personality. The bass was exceptionally even from top to bottom, very impressive. One of the reasons I’ve taken basses to Bill for 20 years is I believe he does the best set up in New York, and this instrument is no exception.
The amplified sound of the bass is really nice. It takes some tinkering to figure out how to eq an instrument with no body, but the Full Circle was the right choice. Arco was as good as you would expect from an electric instrument, but it wasn’t terrible at all. The leader of the gig, drummer, and soundman all complemented to the sound I was getting. I noticed the soundman used a HPF to tame the low end (I was shaking the windows during the sound check) and after some TLC the sound on stage was really good. I would definitely use a HPF with this instrument, or any preamp that gives you enough flexibility to compensate for the variables encountered when on the road. I used a Headway on this gig but in hindsight I wish I had brought my F-Deck.
I’ve uploaded a short clip of me walking a bass line on you tube if you want to hear how it sounds:
Taking the instrument apart was the easiest part. Less than two minutes and it’s in the case.
Overall I think this instrument sounds and plays great and I can’t imagine traveling being any easier. Suggestions I would make would include a longer endpin, Spirocore strings, and some sort of way to attach a bow quiver (I couldn’t figure out how to make that happen). I liked the bass a lot, I’I strongly recommend taking a look if you are in the market for a bass that can handle the abuses of travel and sounds great. I think the folding nature of the bass gives it an edge over the original since in its dormant state it takes up less room, but having not played V.1 I can’t really say.
