I was very interested in the Cetus.
Here is a previous thread on the topic, which provides a little information.
Apparently there are very, very few Cetus basses in the USA. I had never seen one until this past summer at ISB in San Francisco, where Bob's House of Basses had one on display and I had the opportunity to spend an hour or so with the display model using an AI combo (thanks to Bob and the always wonderful folks at AI). Note: I don't know whether Bob sells the Cetus or whether he was just donating some of his booth space to the Bridge Instruments US distributor during the ISB convention. Here is what I found:
The instrument is decent quality (made in China now, I believe). Neck, fingerboard, and tuning machines are about on par with a good plywood or lower end carved double bass. The Cetus apparently was in out-of-the-box condition, and so the bridge and fingerboard needed work. Reference points were consistent with modern double basses (D-neck on this one). I believe it was strung with Helicore hybrids, but I may be mistaken.
Unamplified, the Cetus makes enough sound to practice in a quiet location. Amplified, the sound quality could generally be described as typical of many other EUBs. I spent some time playing with the tone control on the Cetus and various combinations of tone control settings on the AI. At its best, I would characterize the sound as good, but not at all convincing if the goal is to sound like a fine double bass; instead, it was rather consistent with other decent EUBs with full but not overbearing lows, strong, forward mids, and thin, edgy highs. It could be made to emulate a good plywood db w/piezo pickup. It could also, at worst, be made to emit ugly, nasally rasps and snarls under the bow and tubercular coughs and belches when played pizz.
Good: I found the unique body shape easy to adjust to and relatively comfortable. The volume and tone controls were conveniently located, as was the 1/4" output jack. Plays and feels more like a double bass than other EUBs I've tried. Could not get it to feedback, in a very small practice room with the AI as loud as I dared to push it. Weight and ease of handling are between a stick and a 3/4 upright. Looks (subjectively of course) unique and very cool.
Bad: First, the price--list price starts at nearly $4K USD, and optional finishes etc. are spendy. The sound is, as previously described, not up to the standard set by the lofty price. There was an audible hiss from the electronics that I found annoying (low battery, perhaps?). The body shape, which I think is the Cetus' strongest point, does not allow a player to set the bass down on its side like a db and therefore a player must lug a stand to gigs or find some other means of securing the bass when not being played. Quality of fit and finish is good, but again, not consistent with the price when compared to competing instruments.
Verdict: Most would agree that it is unreasonable to expect any EUB to sound like a good unamplified double bass. With that in mind, the Cetus seemed to sound about as good as any other EUB (and a lot of dbs amplified using pickups)--neither better nor worse, just a bit different. It plays and feels much like a db and looks very cool IMO. If it were half the price, I'd be playing one right now.
bob
