Electric Upright Bass?

http://ergoinstruments.com/

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f101/ergo-megathread-part-ii-660682/index23.html

Ergo's are a good value... a bit more than a Dean (about 700 dollars) but light years better...

 

There's a whole forum devoted to EUB in the Double Bass side of things here - probably some good information over there.

 

*cough* NS Design *cough*

 

here's the EUB forum on the DB side:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f101/

I play upright bass and I have two of them, as I play out of two locations 100 miles apart. I've thought about getting an EUB but they are expensive. For me, hard to justify. If a venue can fit an upright, that's preferable to an EUB (in my view); if it can't, I have a nice fretless BG to use. I can't see dropping $3k or whatever on an EUB that I might use only very occasionally. Your situation may differ, though.

 

you can easily put a pickup on an upright - both of mine have pickups. I'd save for the best used upright you can find to see if you like the instrument. Starting on a cheap EUB may turn you off to the whole project.

I'm not sure you'll find a decent used upright for $500, but maybe for $1,000.

 

The Dean I believe is not proper upright scale, I think it is electric bass scale...

 

I would go Ergo. Don't have one might get one some day. Looks to be a great bang for the buck and the owner was very helpful when I emailed him questions.

Ken

 

I've been considering the Warwick-Rockbass Triumph Lite ($899.99):
http://www.bassalien.com/warwick-rockbass-triumph-lite-4-string-electric-upright-bass/

 

I like my NS eub. It's great for late-night apartment practising, and loud gigs where my real bass would feed back. It also makes a good substitute for fretless bass if needed (using the magnetic pickups).

That said, I think if you get serious about playing upright bass you'll eventually want a real bass, a bow, and a classical teacher.

 

The Dean is a piece of crap and nothing like an upright, other than being vertical. It has a flat fingerboard so it cannot be bowed and comes with roundwound strings. The tripod/stand that it comes with is junk, too.

If you want to go cheap you could try a Stagg. I think they're around $600 now (they were $400 when I bought mine in 2008). It's noisy and the headstock is fragile (unless they improved it), but it plays well.

I now play an NSD NXT, about $1,200. NSD also has a Chinese line for around $800.

 

I lucked out and got a real Steinberger upright on the talkbass upright classified ads for a grand. It plays like a dream and it sounds wonderful, piz or bowed. Packs up small too. But read the EUB forums carefully. The EUB is an instrument all its own. It is not an electric bass guitar and it is not an acoustic upright. It is a crowd pleaser--people always ask about it. It is very convenient for small stages, smaller cars and less than reputable sound systems in various venues. I get a lot of use out of mine. It has payed for itself many times over.

 

The Dean is simply a vertical fretless bass guitar. It sounds like a bass guitar, does not feel like an upright, doesn't have the same scale length, doesn't have a rounded radius fingerboard, and doesn't have anything at all to offer you by way of upright bass technique.

Go NS Design or Ergo if you are at all serious about learning to play an electric upright.

 

As someone who plays both, i would suggest renting a bass upright till you can buy one. An eub to me is the worst of both worlds .. All the work of the upright while sounding closer to an electric.

 

I was in the same situation as you a couple of years ago. The big thing I learned is that if you want to play the upright, buy an upright. EUBs just aren't the same. The tone isn't quite the same and the ergonomics are significantly different. If you get the EUB you'll probably be jonesing for a double bass none too long, then you'll be back where you started. Also the Dean is garbage.

 

KK Baby Bass. Look 'em up.

 

This here^. And yeah the Dean is 34" scale with a flat radius. You couldn't get further from the feel of an upright.

 

I own a bass guitar, an NS EUB CR5 and an acoustic Double Bass.

The NS bass actually cost a lot more than the acoustic Double Bass - £700 more ( that's about $1,000!!).

But I play the acoustic bass all the time, while the NS bass sits under my stairs and hasn't been pulled out for years!

 

All I'm sayin' is I LOVE my ERGO.

(and Jessie is a really nice guy...)