After reading this whole thread I recently bought a 4-string Ergo from Jesse. I wanted it to mimic my DB for practicing (mostly arco) late at night or when I'm away from the DB. I have to say that it does the job quite well. It's plenty loud enough to practice without the amp, but not loud enough to hear in the next room. It sounds great through my GK MBS-150 with flat EQ, and better with fdeck's HPF-Pre preamp to mitigate the high impedance. As far as pizz playing goes, it doesn't sound like my DB, nor does it sound like an electric. My roommate said it sounds "like the 80s" (as in Ron Carter in the 80s, for example), and I would agree. This might have something to do with the fact that I'm using Spirocore Mittels. When played arco, I think it sounds almost exactly like a DB, which made me very happy. The only modifications I made were changing the strings, altering the stand, and attaching the preamp.
Strings: I replaced the stock strings with some 3/4 Spirocore Mittels, because I just happened to have an old set around. I tried tying knots in the ball-end of the strings like speedster suggested, and this worked really well. Apart from that, all I had to do was clip off some of the top end of the string so that I could put it in the tuners. No soldering or razor blades required. This method also worked with some ancient Corellis (G, D, and A) that I put on previously. I snapped the Corelli E string when I didn't tie a knot in the ball end, and tried to wrap the steel around the tuner using the entire length of the string.
Stand: I was considering three options for the stand. The first was to just use a tripod stand flat on the floor and angle the bass relative to the stand. If you don't want to replace the attachment on the bass itself, the Pearl B70W Cymbal Boom Stand looks like the best bet for this. It's basically the same stand the Ergo comes with but with a boom attachment on top that fits the Ergo's stock attachment. I tried it out at Drummer's World, but the bass kept rotating in the clamp no matter how much I tightened it since the boom arm (i.e. the piece connected to the Ergo) is smooth. If I had bought it I think I could have just scored the boom arm to make it rough and give it some traction. This stand has the same wobbly problems of the stock stand, of course, but the top of it fits into DW cymbal stands, which are slightly less wobbly. I eventually came to realize that the bass was just going to be a little wobbly no matter what. I'm sure this is a problem with any stick-type EUB, since the NS basses I've played also wobbled a fair amount on their stands.
My second option was to make an endpin. This is what I settled on. First, I just took the stock stand apart by removing the set screw in the bottom of the stand and knocking the pole out of the base with a hammer. I then had just the two-piece pole to work with. I was able to tighten this at several points with a small allen wrench, and that seemed to help a bit. I bought a Pearl HA-95L clamp and a Gibraltar SC-LBM L-rod ball joint from Drummer's World to use as a body rest. That worked really well, and I was able to use another clamp to simulate the lower body of the bass that I rest against my leg. I use a rock stop (actually a slipper) so that the endpin stays put. The Ergo hardly moves at all like this, and it feels a lot like playing my upright. I can play it arco or pizz without using my left hand at all. The only drawback seems to be that it looks like a medieval torture device.
The third option was to put the body rest on the tripod and tilt the tripod toward me. This actually wasn't quite as sturdy as the endpin option, since the tripod is so wobbly. But your mileage may vary, especially if you want to invest in a different tripod.
Preamp: I got fdeck's HPF-Pre preamp to deal with the high-impedence signal, and it works great. I used some adhesive velcro to attach it to the back of the Ergo itself above the stand. It's pretty secure, and I can remove it whenever I want to use it with my double bass or rotate it whichever way is convenient.
All in all, I'm very happy. I'll try to get some pics and sound samples up as soon as I can find a friend with a digital camera and decent recording equipment. A big thanks to Jesse and everyone who shared their experiences on this forum!
