Double Bass Ergo megathread part II

[btate]

Hi Guys,
I may have a case solution for you.
I recently bought a Stagg which is similar in overall style to the ergo. It came with a pretty nice gig bag. Made for the eub so is fully lined has 2 velcro parts storage areas, even a place for a bow.

My Stagg is 62" long, 5" wide and about 5 1/2 deep. Almost the same dimensions. I don't need the case at all and will sell it for $30.
Shipping is about $15

The second option and the reason I don't need the gig bag, is I bought a hard case for the bass at the time of purchase from a place called MusicESP. Got it off ebay but I think they have a web site.
The case isn't bullet proof or anything, but is made with the same black materials you often find on guitar cases. It also has a very plush, soft lining and ample parts box. I paid $99
The cavity is 63 1/2 x 5 1/2 x 6" deep so could accommodate some extra foam to customize it.

I'll attach a photo
cheers

 

[Upstate SC Bass]

Hi Guys,
I may have a case solution for you.
I recently bought a Stagg which is similar in overall style to the ergo. It came with a pretty nice gig bag. Made for the eub so is fully lined has 2 velcro parts storage areas, even a place for a bow.

My Stagg is 62" long, 5" wide and about 5 1/2 deep. Almost the same dimensions. I don't need the case at all and will sell it for $30.
Shipping is about $15

The second option and the reason I don't need the gig bag, is I bought a hard case for the bass at the time of purchase from a place called MusicESP. Got it off ebay but I think they have a web site.
The case isn't bullet proof or anything, but is made with the same black materials you often find on guitar cases. It also has a very plush, soft lining and ample parts box. I paid $99
The cavity is 63 1/2 x 5 1/2 x 6" deep so could accommodate some extra foam to customize it.

I'll attach a photo
cheers

wow that is a nice solution for a hard case--what about that one Aahz??-- and sam ash has them on sale for $75 right now and looks like free shipping.

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[btate]

Hi Guys,
I recently bought a Stagg eub which is a bit similar in style and sizing to the Ergo. The Stagg measures 63 x 5w x 5 1/2h"
It came with a properly designed eub gig bag (Soft plush lining, 2 velcro parts pockets, bow pocket etc)
I'm not a retailer or anything, but I don't need the bag and would sell it for $30 and mailing cost would be about $15

The reason I don't need the bag is I bought a hard case for the Stagg when I bought it off ebay. $99 "buy now" price from MusicESP. They have a web site too.
It is made from the same black material most regular guitar cases are made from but has very plush soft lining, a good size parts bin and some foam cradles to support the bass. The inside dimensions are 63" x 5 1/2w" x 6"h. It would be very slightly bigger than the Ergo, but it would allow you to custom add some black high density foam. (Having a little too much padding is better than not quite enough when it crashes!)

Perfect for throwing into vans etc. but for airplanes, I would be tempted to wrap some extra bubble pack around the outside.

Her are 2 pictures of the case

 

[noetical1]

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the Stagg website description

 

[Marc61]

The problem I see with the Stagg case is I'm not so sure there's room for the stand.

Which brings me to my next question...How do you remove that piece from the bass?

 

[noetical1]

The problem I see with the Stagg case is I'm not so sure there's room for the stand.

Which brings me to my next question...How do you remove that piece from the bass?

I used locking Vise Grip pliers and finesse... once the original mount begins moving, it will slide out quite easily...

 

[Upstate SC Bass]

ERGO arrived today---Rough

My ERGO arrived today
5 string serial number #0262
has the volume control so I suppose it is a earlier one. ????
It looks rough--has some hits on fingerboard--dents in the fingerboard wood---these are from some hits to it not from playing it.

several stress cracks along headstock from tuners--long ones too


Have contacted seller for info as to the condition when it left him. He is a TBer too

seller indicated that the bass was in 'pretty much like new condition' ---hummmm.

will see what happens.

Well the good part is that the bass plays well and sounds good. I have been cleaning it up today and it must have been sitting for a while cause it was so covered with crud.
cleaned up pretty good.

The finish has a lot of rough spots on it I don't know if that is the way the Ergo was finished on the early ones or if it has just done this over the years.

oh well it plays good and it cleaned up pretty well. Perhaps Jesse changed his construction methods along the way
I know on the website it says they are made from one piece of wood
Is there any way he changed that at some point

Well the stand is tight the joint into the body is tight so there are other things that could be worse.
I got it for a used price and it plays and sounds very good.

Cleaned up good and the strings on it are worth a lot as--these strings are expensive!

But still had the seller said well it plays great and sounds great--but it has stress cracks in the hs and the finish is real rough looking and the bass has been played a lot and gigged with a lot without a case. I bet I would have passed on it.

So let the buyer beware--right. But I got it for half of a new 5 string and it has better strings on it.

Here it is with the gig bag I will use with it---customized kayak oar carry case--both the stand and the bass fit in it perfectly- will pad the stand so it does not rub the bass.

I found out that the best way for me to play the ERGO is to sit on a stool. I works great like that. It doesn't move and neither do I.

It was easy to dial in the eveness of the strings too. just by slighly moving the bridge side to side I was able to get both the G string side and the low B string strings to all have the same volume.

The A string is naturally going to be the fullest sounding since it is in the middle and is transmitting vibrations to both sides of the piezo.

Good sounding instrument.

 

[Aahzekiel]

My EUB4 is all one piece lengthwise with glued-on "wings" on either side of the headstock. I've read that only early Ergos came with volume knobs.

 

[Aahzekiel]

Many thanks to BTate for contacting me about the Stagg hard case!

I ordered one today from Sam Ash. $74.95 with free shipping. I'd looked there before but they were out of stock. My local Stagg dealer gave me a runaround, promised to call back about it, never did. While waiting on hold today when I called back, I went to samash.com to get the part number, and lo 'n behold, they had 'em back in stock. I stayed on the phone long enough to tell the local dealer why I wasn't buying from them, then ordered from Sam Ash. Also saw a number of them on eBay, at $99... plus $49.50 in shipping. Owie! I'll post here with info on how well - or not - it works for an Ergo 4 string.

That Neet longbow case with the arrow pocket is the one I have. I would agree that it's good enough for carrying around to local gigs.

I had a big problem with the bass swiveling on its mount. It got bad enough that I could swing the bass completely horizontal. On inspection it turned out that the problem was not the rod mounted in the bass that was rotating (that's in there solid!) but that the tension peg that holds that post to the head of the stand was bending, and eventually coming out because the hole in the aluminum head piece (or the post, or both) was actually getting wider.

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Makes sense when you think about it... the bass is acting as one hell of a big wooden lever - "If I had a lever long enough I could move the world" - and applying a lot of torque to a piece of aluminum that's really only meant to vertically support a cymbal and keep it from moving back and forth. Here we've got it bent over horizontally holding up a 55" piece of wood that we're constantly pushing and pulling on. Anyway - I plan to remove the peg from the back of my bass and add a tom mount and a substantially heavier stand. Meanwhile my solution was to get a thicker (and longer) tension peg and hammer that sucker in there real good-like. It's been working well... however, I recently took a lesson in DB technique from a local jazz heavy, and I seriously thought he was going to break my bass! He's a big guy, used to wrangling a real DB, and the flimsiness of the stand kept getting in the way of what he wanted to show me. He did dramatically improve my right hand technique - electric players who are crossing over, take note: your right hand technique has a LOT to do with whether the bass sounds like an upright.

Peace, Aahz

 

[Marc61]

My stand is a little different than the one above. Please take a look at a very brief video I made to show the issues. Overall though, I do love it and I'm willing to do what it takes to set it up perfect.

Questions about my Ergo EUB - YouTube

 

[Aahzekiel]

It looks like you've got the same kind of tension peg in there. Mine bent, compressed, whatever, and the hole in the post itself got wider - which may be what's going on with yours. A heavier tension peg helped, but hasn't solved it completely. So far the solution I've seen that looks the best to me is replacing that post with a tom drum mount and using a heavier stand with a tom arm. I'm planning to try that soon... our neighborhood music store specializes in drums, and he has all the hardware, nice and heavy and only slightly used for a whooooole lot cheaper than I can find online new.

 

[Aahzekiel]

Well finally! Many, many shout-outs to BTate for pointing me at the Stagg GEC-EDB hard case. It works!

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With the addition of a couple of unemployed and strategically placed pieces of Auralex acoustic foam (I went crazy and made my studio absolutely dead at one point, not necessary or pleasant, so a bunch of this stuff is now sitting in my basement) the Ergo is held securely and seems to be protected nicely. I may put cloth down over the foam, since I don't want foam decomposing and sticking to my bass - no idea if this would actually happen, anyone know?

You have to squeeze the body of the case a bit to close it, and that's just fine with me, as it holds it just that little bit more securely. I was worried that the bass might slide down and be caught by the tuners, but that doesn't seem to be the case. No pun intended.

I think that I may even be able to cram the stand in there under the foam. The bass is sitting pretty high in there to accomodate the head of the stand. There's enough space lengthwise. Might work. Will update if it does.

Note: it looks like there's enough space in there to hold a five-string or maybe even six-string. Not sure, don't have one handy.

Psyched!

And now...

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... nice and official.

$74.95 from SamAsh.com. Free shipping, ordered on Tues, showed up on Thurs. Invalid Link Removed

 

[Marc61]

I used locking Vise Grip pliers and finesse... once the original mount begins moving, it will slide out quite easily...

To remove this piece? Seems like it's in there pretty solid. Anyway, I'm out to Sam Ash to pick up the tom mount and arm...maybe a case too...I've been looking at speaker stand cases. They are inexpensive, and usually come with a divider to hold two stands. They're also long enough.

Back with reports later

 

[btate]

Aahzekiel, Glad it works for you!

I bought a used Yamaha snare drum stand from a local music store and tried it out. (posted it on the Stagg mega forum)
Many thanks to whoever suggested that too! Couldn't refind the link to give proper credit.

Anyway, that stand with a little persistence actually fit in the case.

 

[Marc61]

Taking noetical1's idea, I put the tom mount on the bass, and got a tom arm for support. No drill used. Just put wood screws in. My only concerns are that as time goes on it'll be a problem that the mount is actually curved a little to mount on a Pearl drum, and hopefully the screws won't split the wood from use, as I plan to heavily play this bass.

The original post is still in there for now. I just took the plastic cap off of the tom arm.

As far as case, I'm thinking this:

Ultimate Support BAG-99 Tote for Tall Speaker Stand | eBay

60" x 10" it should hold everything I need. I'd just have to figure a way to keep the stand from scratching the bass

 

[Upstate SC Bass]

Taking noetical1's idea, I put the tom mount on the bass, and got a tom arm for support. No drill used. Just put wood screws in. My only concerns are that as time goes on it'll be a problem that the mount is actually curved a little to mount on a Pearl drum, and hopefully the screws won't split the wood from use, as I plan to heavily play this bass.

The original post is still in there for now. I just took the plastic cap off of the tom arm.

As far as case, I'm thinking this:

Ultimate Support BAG-99 Tote for Tall Speaker Stand | eBay

60" x 10" it should hold everything I need. I'd just have to figure a way to keep the stand from scratching the bass

Hey that is a great price too! That gig bag looks like a great solution for a cost effective padded soft bag. As long as you are gigging with it and not packing it in with a bunch of equipment and taking off out of town.
60 inches is a bit long but will be great I bet!
And the stagg is a great solution for the ones that want a hard case for more protection and or touring.

My shortened kayak paddle bag is working great for me. and the stand fits too. I just have to wrap up the bass and the stand to protect the bass from it. I bought a shotgun knitted sock sort of thing it stretches and it fits but it is sort of tight over the ERGO Headstock and bridge area. And I wrap the stand up in a couple of wraps too.
What I am using for the stand is like a cover for a portable folding chair like you take to sporting events or a picnic.
Those chairs never last long and so I recycled the canvas cover for the stand cover.

 

[noetical1]

Taking noetical1's idea, I put the tom mount on the bass, and got a tom arm for support. No drill used. Just put wood screws in. My only concerns are that as time goes on it'll be a problem that the mount is actually curved a little to mount on a Pearl drum, and hopefully the screws won't split the wood from use, as I plan to heavily play this bass.

The original post is still in there for now. I just took the plastic cap off of the tom arm.

As far as case, I'm thinking this:

Ultimate Support BAG-99 Tote for Tall Speaker Stand | eBay

60" x 10" it should hold everything I need. I'd just have to figure a way to keep the stand from scratching the bass

Marc: your setup looks like mine...I too used wood screws to mount the tom-holder(I did drill shallow pilot holes for the wood screws)...very sturdy, and I don't anticipate any cracking issues. So far, I have had the "super-tom-mount" for over a year now...still solid, no squeeks, no issues at all...

best wishes man, let us know how it goes...

 

[damonsmith]

Taking noetical1's idea, I put the tom mount on the bass, and got a tom arm for support. No drill used. Just put wood screws in. My only concerns are that as time goes on it'll be a problem that the mount is actually curved a little to mount on a Pearl drum, and hopefully the screws won't split the wood from use, as I plan to heavily play this bass.

The original post is still in there for now. I just took the plastic cap off of the tom arm.

I have used the same for years. No issues.

 

[Upstate SC Bass]

The input jack plate and volume knob on my new/used ERGO 5
was a creme color.

I sort of thought that it looked a bit dated so I changed the knob to a oldschool chicken beak volume knob in black and coated the plastic plate black too.

I think it looks better.

 

[Groundblast]

So I've got a 5 string ergo coming in April, and I was just wondering what the best preamp and effects are for the Ergo sound? Also, will the stock stand fit into that stagg case?