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Double Bass Eminence Vs BSX

B

bass_man_dk

Dec 24, 2005
30
0
#1
Hello every one I'd love to get your two cents regarding my debate.
I'm a BG player and I've recently started studying music and I commute to school by bus (pretty packed). I really wanna get the most out of these next two years in school and study on upright as-well.
I need an instrument I can get around with but I don't want to compromise on acoustic tone, and I want a five strings.
so at the moment I've got three EUB's I'm considering:
1. BSX Half note hollow body 5 - 2150$
2. BSX Allegro hollow body 5 - 2500$
3. Eminence fixed neck 5 -2830$

I like the fact that the BSX's have a preamp as apposed to the Eminence.
Also dose any one know where the Eminence is made?

Thanks in advance
Dan
 
#4
bass_man_dk said:
Hello every one I'd love to get your two cents regarding my debate.
I'm a BG player and I've recently started studying music and I commute to school by bus (pretty packed). I really wanna get the most out of these next two years in school and study on upright as-well.
I need an instrument I can get around with but I don't want to compromise on acoustic tone, and I want a five strings.
so at the moment I've got three EUB's I'm considering:
1. BSX Half note hollow body 5 - 2150$
2. BSX Allegro hollow body 5 - 2500$
3. Eminence fixed neck 5 -2830$

I like the fact that the BSX's have a preamp as apposed to the Eminence.
Also dose any one know where the Eminence is made?

Thanks in advance
Dan
Click to expand...

The Eminence basses are made in China by the same mfr who makes Christopher basses. Good quality stuff IME.

Disclaimer: I'm a dealer but also a 8+yr Eminence user.
 
#5
I've played a cople of BSX basses and they weren't what I wanted in terms of feel and sound. I've had a bunch of different EUB's I've played over the last 3-4 years and the Eminence is the best to date. You could get a " blem " Eminence from Gary Bartig for around $2300 USD. You can find them on Ebay for around $1500 on up also. Quality workmanship is really good and the tone is much more DB than the BSX IMO. Good luck either way.
 
#8
I play a BSX Allegro 5 string, and Azola 4 sring. I own both, But to get back on track, the BSX Allegro is a great bass. I don't like to drag around a UB anymore. It's hollowbody gives it enough tone, and it's top and bridge gives it the right feel, IMHO. A lot of issues with EUB's is in the string selection. If you decide on one or the other the next step is to find strings that work for you and the EUB that you pick. BSX basses are a good buy.
 
#9
sorry to dig up an old thread, but im looking at pictures of EUBs and i noticed that with the BSX, because of the nature of the bridge, if you ever needed to get it planed or reshaped to suit your action preferences or if you wear through the fingerboard and need to match a new bridge, you cant do it with this bass. the reason im thinking of this is because i have the same problem now on an upright equipped with an old barbera pickup from 1994. time for a new fingerboard, and probably a new bridge too because we cant plane that one...
 
#10
I've owned an old BSX and currently own a Eminence RN4. The Eminence to me has a more acoustic upright tone. It's passive pickup which, incidentally, can be swapped out for a Fishman Full-Circle (I might do that) is free of the electronic sound of the preamp. Passive just means that you've got to turn the gain or volume pot up a bit more. I bought mine used for $2,000 and the previous owner had the fingerboard completely recarved to emulate a Prescott bass. It works for me.
 
#14
shwashwa said:
sorry to dig up an old thread, but im looking at pictures of EUBs and i noticed that with the BSX, because of the nature of the bridge, if you ever needed to get it planed or reshaped to suit your action preferences or if you wear through the fingerboard and need to match a new bridge, you cant do it with this bass. the reason im thinking of this is because i have the same problem now on an upright equipped with an old barbera pickup from 1994. time for a new fingerboard, and probably a new bridge too because we cant plane that one...
Click to expand...

I realize this is old, but I wanted to add my opinion on the BSX Allegro 5. First, in response to this... The action is adjustable by adjusting the neck. Basicly, there are two bolts where the neck attaches to the body - one to hold the neck to the body, and another to tilt the neck to give it the desired action. If you ever had to plane the fingerboard, you CAN just move the whole neck out further to compensate. The fingerboard is .5" to 1.25" thick, from the the sides to the center, of solid ebony, for that matter. You should never have to file away at the bridge.

That being said... It really doesn't have that true upright sound. It's pretty boomy, doesn't really have the resonance of a true upright. The preamp is nice, and you can get a little more mwah and byoom by turning up the mids. The body is THICK shaped maple - I think that's why it so boomy. You also might get better tone with different strings, but I'm just starting and went with the stock strings.

Also, he needs to redesign the headstock on the 5. There are two slots, instead of one. The A & the B strings are swapped from where you'd expect them to be (in terms of what tuning peg they're attached to), and it causes the A to bite into the center piece of wood, which causes issues when adjusting the tuning. Basically, the string sticks and gives, making the pitch jump instead of smoothly shifting. I emailed and checked if someone screwed up the string order, but apparently the B string unravels if it's strung in the standard order. But once you get it in tune, it's fine and it stays.

But all in all, I like it. It suits my needs, and I got it for $2K. I think they're going for $3K retail, now.
 
#15
MTBassMania said:
I realize this is old, but I wanted to add my opinion on the BSX Allegro 5. First, in response to this... The action is adjustable by adjusting the neck. Basicly, there are two bolts where the neck attaches to the body - one to hold the neck to the body, and another to tilt the neck to give it the desired action. If you ever had to plane the fingerboard, you CAN just move the whole neck out further to compensate. The fingerboard is .5" to 1.25" thick, from the the sides to the center, of solid ebony, for that matter. You should never have to file away at the bridge.

That being said... It really doesn't have that true upright sound. It's pretty boomy, doesn't really have the resonance of a true upright. The preamp is nice, and you can get a little more mwah and byoom by turning up the mids. The body is THICK shaped maple - I think that's why it so boomy. You also might get better tone with different strings, but I'm just starting and went with the stock strings.

Also, he needs to redesign the headstock on the 5. There are two slots, instead of one. The A & the B strings are swapped from where you'd expect them to be (in terms of what tuning peg they're attached to), and it causes the A to bite into the center piece of wood, which causes issues when adjusting the tuning. Basically, the string sticks and gives, making the pitch jump instead of smoothly shifting. I emailed and checked if someone screwed up the string order, but apparently the B string unravels if it's strung in the standard order. But once you get it in tune, it's fine and it stays.

But all in all, I like it. It suits my needs, and I got it for $2K. I think they're going for $3K retail, now.
Click to expand...

the shape of the bridge, the curve of the bridge, must match the shape of the fingerboard. over the years i have had to have my bridges reshaped slightly with fingerboard dressings, and you absolutely will need to do that if you ever get a new fingerboard, which is the point i made above. i got my new fingerboard and got rid of the barbera at the same time because we could not file it to match the new set up.
 
#16
shwashwa said:
the shape of the bridge, the curve of the bridge, must match the shape of the fingerboard. over the years i have had to have my bridges reshaped slightly with fingerboard dressings, and you absolutely will need to do that if you ever get a new fingerboard, which is the point i made above. i got my new fingerboard and got rid of the barbera at the same time because we could not file it to match the new set up.
Click to expand...

Is this with a BSX?
 

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