Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Double Bass Eminance, Alter Ego, or NS?
- Thread starter Jakemo
- Start date
NS WAV4 is good, but I'm replacing mine with a Biarnel Stico.
I'd prefer to be able to use normal DB strings, but mostly I have a problem with the single-point connection for the stand. It always winds up rotating, so I use a dirty hack of a workaround to limit that.
I don't play arco, so can't comment on that, but it's been good for pizzicato so far. I also have no interest in playing an acoustic, or in making my EUB sound "as acoustic as possible," so there's also that to factor in.
I'd prefer to be able to use normal DB strings, but mostly I have a problem with the single-point connection for the stand. It always winds up rotating, so I use a dirty hack of a workaround to limit that.
I don't play arco, so can't comment on that, but it's been good for pizzicato so far. I also have no interest in playing an acoustic, or in making my EUB sound "as acoustic as possible," so there's also that to factor in.
What are you looking for, in an EUB? Portability? Ruggedness? Plug-and-play? Similarity to an acoustic bass?
As you've seen from the two comments already, people judge these instruments from very different perspectives.
You'll get a lot of useful information about them from Gollihur Music's site as well.
As you've seen from the two comments already, people judge these instruments from very different perspectives.
You'll get a lot of useful information about them from Gollihur Music's site as well.
I have yet to play an NS upright myself but have owned and played various Steinbergers, including the current NS Radius bass guitar, for many years so am quite familiar with Ned's unique take on ergonomics. I feel ergonomics is the real focus of all his instruments. Amongst all the EUBs out there, they play the least like a real DB. For instance, you don't need to play in thumb position because there is no body or heel. They can be played on a strap, even played horizontally like a BG!
The piezo pickup system developed for these basses is also used on the Radius BG and it sounds excellent to my ears, very detailed. When playing double stops or chords each note is distinct. The magnetic pickups available on some of the models add a completely different dimension that no other EUB offers. NS has recently come up with a battery free active preamp that is charged like a cell phone, in 60 seconds it is fully charged to operate for up to 16 hours. So no batteries are needed and if it runs out during a gig, you're back in action in 60 seconds
Really, you could look at the NS double bass as a different instrument than either a DB or a BG although it has elements of both.
I must say that the build quality and customer support from NS is excellent. They are fantastic instruments for travel because they are tiny and NS supplies very nice gig bags and road cases.
The piezo pickup system developed for these basses is also used on the Radius BG and it sounds excellent to my ears, very detailed. When playing double stops or chords each note is distinct. The magnetic pickups available on some of the models add a completely different dimension that no other EUB offers. NS has recently come up with a battery free active preamp that is charged like a cell phone, in 60 seconds it is fully charged to operate for up to 16 hours. So no batteries are needed and if it runs out during a gig, you're back in action in 60 seconds
Really, you could look at the NS double bass as a different instrument than either a DB or a BG although it has elements of both.
I must say that the build quality and customer support from NS is excellent. They are fantastic instruments for travel because they are tiny and NS supplies very nice gig bags and road cases.
Last edited:
Coming from EBG there is the risk with a lot of EUBs to play with bass guitar technique and not DB technique. Of course you can do that, but if you want to play an acoustic upright later you have to change your technique again.
Personally I don't like the NS EUBs. The tripod fixes the bass too much, I want that the neck moves with my left hand when my body moves around (i.e. for redistributing weight). You can get this and that for the NS to behave like a double bass, but then it gets a lot more expensive and I have my doubts (without knowing) that the action could not be put high enough for some sorts of strings (like gut or lower tension synthetic core).
The Eminence is better, but the T-endpin fixes the rotation of the instrument which is good (it shouldn't rotate if it shouldn't, but also bad (it doesn't if I want it to rotate). I like a body support better than that (but only if it is not bending which the Stagg support unfortunately does).
But people who need to quickly change from bass guitar to (electric) upright may be more happy with the tripod and I can understand why this is the case. So it depends what you want to do with the EUB and if you want to learn the acoustic upright (now or later) too.
And if you want to learn upright the common sense over here is get an acoustic upright for learning which is what I would recommend too. A good ply is good enough and probably cheaper than a better quality EUB. And you might want to read about the "Italian EUBs" or MK EUBs too.
A good reason not to buy an acoustic upright is if you need to fly to your gigs, because then you need a more expensive removable neck or filing bass if it should still be an upright. But even then getting a cheaper (but not a too cheap bass shaped object) bass and selling it later for a plane transportable instrument might be a good idea.
Limited space at home is not a good argument for an EUB.
Personally I don't like the NS EUBs. The tripod fixes the bass too much, I want that the neck moves with my left hand when my body moves around (i.e. for redistributing weight). You can get this and that for the NS to behave like a double bass, but then it gets a lot more expensive and I have my doubts (without knowing) that the action could not be put high enough for some sorts of strings (like gut or lower tension synthetic core).
The Eminence is better, but the T-endpin fixes the rotation of the instrument which is good (it shouldn't rotate if it shouldn't, but also bad (it doesn't if I want it to rotate). I like a body support better than that (but only if it is not bending which the Stagg support unfortunately does).
But people who need to quickly change from bass guitar to (electric) upright may be more happy with the tripod and I can understand why this is the case. So it depends what you want to do with the EUB and if you want to learn the acoustic upright (now or later) too.
And if you want to learn upright the common sense over here is get an acoustic upright for learning which is what I would recommend too. A good ply is good enough and probably cheaper than a better quality EUB. And you might want to read about the "Italian EUBs" or MK EUBs too.
A good reason not to buy an acoustic upright is if you need to fly to your gigs, because then you need a more expensive removable neck or filing bass if it should still be an upright. But even then getting a cheaper (but not a too cheap bass shaped object) bass and selling it later for a plane transportable instrument might be a good idea.
Limited space at home is not a good argument for an EUB.
My Clevinger EUB is smaller but not much lighter than my acoustic upright. A hollow body EUB would be lighter than my solid body Clevinger.
If you also want to play with the bow more than a few longer notes you should get some instrument with a moving top or a simulation of that.
And since you already play an upright, I would get an an instrument with endpin and body support.
If you want something stripped around your neck you might want to have a look at the NS Omni/Cello that could be played like an upright and like a bass guitar. But it is not one or the other. And the vibrating string length is closer to a bass guitar than a double bass.
If you also want to play with the bow more than a few longer notes you should get some instrument with a moving top or a simulation of that.
And since you already play an upright, I would get an an instrument with endpin and body support.
If you want something stripped around your neck you might want to have a look at the NS Omni/Cello that could be played like an upright and like a bass guitar. But it is not one or the other. And the vibrating string length is closer to a bass guitar than a double bass.
I have an MK Classic and a NS Design NXT5a. They are very different instruments with different sound and feel, and both are great.
If you're looking for a more schleppable alternative to your acoustic bass, you should give the MK instruments a look (or two). I suppose the Alter Ego are somewhat in the same category.
If you're looking for a more schleppable alternative to your acoustic bass, you should give the MK instruments a look (or two). I suppose the Alter Ego are somewhat in the same category.
They do
The actual vibrating length of the string is the same as a regular 3/4-size bass, though.
Ned Steinberger is an industrial designer first, and a musician second. His instruments always start with a search for the core set of characteristics that make the instrument do what it does, followed by exploring minimal designs that have those characteristics without being an ergonomic disaster.
So with that context, he sees the critical characteristics of double-bass strings as being a 42" vibrating length, the thickness and tension to get the right pitch, timbre and feeling, plus being tunable. Hence the shorter strings that still play like a DB.
If you're querying the "moving top" comment, that was about vibration and resonance, not about reconfiguring the instrument. A solid-bodied thing like the NS instruments doesn't resonate any more than the body of an electric bass or guitar. That makes them an awful lot quieter until you plug them into an amp - a big advantage for those of us living in thin-walled apartments who prefer not to annoy our neighbours. OTOH, it also limits the degree to which it sounds like an acoustic bass, because the resonance (sympathetic vibration) of the body contributes a lot to its sound, just like an acoustic guitar, and the top panel is what (mostly) projects the sound to the audience. So DoubleMIDI's comment about a "moving top" was a reference to having something with a resonating top on an acoustic chamber.
You certainly can get "this and that," like an endpin stand and a K&M EUB stand to rest it on, so being fixed to the tripod is not a valid argument. Mine moves around with me just fine.
You can get the action pretty high - enough for arco, so I believe, but I've never tried mine with gut or nylon string, so I don't know how well it would work.
Possibly more detail than you really needed; I think the coffee had just kicked in
I don't know if this is the right place to post this question but there is a Messenger eub for sale in the European and international Department. Is anyone familiar with this brand? I'm wondering if the part witch touches your belly is comfortable as well as many other unasked questions.
