Double Bass Experience with MK Jazz EUB?

[SnowboundBassman]

Hi, everyone. Does anyone here have experience with the MK Jazz EUB? I'm looking for an EUB that mimics a pizz acoustic sound as closely as possible, and from what I am hearing in various demos the MK Jazz sounds the best. What do players think of it in terms of sound, playability, and durability/reliability?

(Good arco sound is a significant bonus, but between the two of us who would be playing it by far the most common use would be pizz. We have a Christopher upright we use for arco.)

We presently have a Stagg EUB, and it's served us well but it has a lot of fairly hard miles on it, and I would have to say that it only roughly approximates an acoustic tone (on the acoustic-fretless spectrum, I'd put it maybe 65% fretless, 35% acoustic--YMMV).

Thanks, everyone.

 

[Michal Herman]

I have that instrument.
Quite solid work sounds good with pizz. Sometimes I practice arco with it, but I will not use it for arco in a gig.
Came with a quite OK setup, but I gave it to my local luthier for a few corrections - lower string height near the nut and lower G string height on the bridge.

 

[madbanjoman]

I have the MK Studio and love it. I have been gigging with it for over 2 years. My other EUB is a Stagg as well and the MK is so much better than it.

 

[robert_stuart]

MK owners - do you have the painted or ebony fingerboard? I just noticed that ebony is an optional upgrade on all the models except the Classic. And if you have the "pear ebony tint", is it a noticeable layer of paint like on some cheap imported DB's? Or is it more of a stain? Is it a matte finish?

 

[madbanjoman]

more of a stain then paint unless they have made some changes since I got mine

 

[robert_stuart]

more of a stain then paint

That's good to hear.

 

[Michal Herman]

I have a "painted" one. I see that paint it comes off a little during cleaning - I can see a little darker smudges on cleaning cloth after fingerboard cleaning.
After about 3 years of almost daily usage (average 1 hour a day) there is a little wear on the direct contact areas between strings and fingerboard. But nothing more.

 

[DrCannabass]

To the OP: I hope you went ahead and got an MK bass, I think you'd be very pleased with any of their bass models.

I have an MK-Studio that feels nearly identical to my DB, and approximation of upright sound is 90% there. It helps that I have Evahs on both.

Either way, MK basses are awesome, and Mirko has excellent customer service! Here's a pic from a chilly October Jazz brunch (the guitar player had just played something super witty, I'm sure, hence the giant grin)

 

[robert_stuart]

For USA people, I’ve found them for sale direct from Italy on EBay, placed by the company. Looks pretty legit. Anyone buy their MK this way or have a recommendation?

 

[bassyes]

same for me, see my picture. The bass has also matured considerably the last two years...

 

[madbanjoman]

For USA people, I’ve found them for sale direct from Italy on EBay, placed by the company. Looks pretty legit. Anyone buy their MK this way or have a recommendation?

That's how I bought mine.

 

[Antonio Abete]

You should consider also the Yamaha SLB 300, quite expensive EUB but IMHO it's the one that sounds closer or even better (depends on the comparison) to an amplifiied DB
It wins hands down on both pizzicato and arco

 

[Cartier76]

MK owners - do you have the painted or ebony fingerboard? I just noticed that ebony is an optional upgrade on all the models except the Classic. And if you have the "pear ebony tint", is it a noticeable layer of paint like on some cheap imported DB's? Or is it more of a stain? Is it a matte finish?

JB, MK’s standard fingerboard is the African pearwood stained black. Ebony has become rare now, so many builders must charge more for it. The African pearwood is a very hard wood, and makes a nice fingerboard.

When MK built my bass (passive Studio Up model, not the Jazz model the OP inquired about) last year I asked Mirko not to stain the pearwood fingerboard. The natural color is aging to a pinkish tan color which contrasts with the unstained white maple on the back of the neck between the scroll and the heel. In use the unstained fingerboard is showing some finger and string marks but those add character in my opinion . And I should give it a mild cleaning next string change. There is no physical wear on the fingerboard after one year’s use.

This is MK’s shop photo when he completed the bass, before shipping to USA.

I have elsewhere described ordering my MK bass, but it was a great, memorable experience.

@madbanjoman Thanks for your posts and videos which turned me on to MK.

 

[robert_stuart]

I have the MK Studio and love it. I have been gigging with it for over 2 years.

How do you like the tuning begs below the bridge instead of above the nut? Does it stay in tune well? What brand are the tuners? I see some kind of name on them in the pictures but can't make it out.

I'm thinking about the Studio vs. the Studio Up, and this seems to be the biggest difference.

 

[robert_stuart]

JB, MK’s standard fingerboard is the African pearwood stained black.

When MK built my bass (passive Studio Up model, not the Jazz model the OP inquired about) last year I asked Mirko not to stain the pearwood fingerboard.

That looks beautiful. I might do the same. Why'd you choose the choose the Studio Up vs. the Studio? Those Up tuners do look amazing. Do you happen to know what brand they are?

 

[Cartier76]

That looks beautiful. I might do the same. Why'd you choose the choose the Studio Up vs. the Studio? Those Up tuners do look amazing. Do you happen to know what brand they are?

JB, the brass tuning keys do not have a visible manufacturers mark, so I don’t know who makes them. MK’s website does not give their name either. Thomann’s website sell a set of double bass tuning keys that resemble these.

These keys feel great, and hold tuning very tightly. Sometimes I have set up to play and only one string has gone out of tune during the ride in the car.

Because of the sturdy tuners, comfortably located at the head of the fingerboard, that’s why I preferred the Studio Up model. This was a question I asked Mirko before deciding.

 

[madbanjoman]

How do you like the tuning begs below the bridge instead of above the nut? Does it stay in tune well? What brand are the tuners? I see some kind of name on them in the pictures but can't make it out.



I'm thinking about the Studio vs. the Studio Up, and this seems to be the biggest difference.

The tuners on mine are Wilkinson and I haven't had any tuning problems with them.

 

[hommcool]

I have been a jazz bassist for 35 years and following a health problem, I find it difficult to transport my bass.
I have known a lot of reduced basses such as the czech-ease-bass which are good instruments.

I discovered Mirko's electric basses and ended up ordering one in 2021.
I have been using it for several months now.
it's a real bass made with care and seriousness.
about me, I have the "classic" model with soundboard.
I can thus work with the bow or in pizz without being amplified.
I use it with a full range active HP, and a BASSWITCH preamp from Lehle.

EXCEPTIONAL INSTRUMENT.
bravo and thank you to mirko !!!!

 

[336v]

I just got mine last week, Jazz model. Took 5 month after ordering to get it, but that's because at the very end of the build, it was stained in wrong color by mistake. Mirko said there's no way to re-do it, so he had to start it all over and build another instrument, but by then there was someone else's order in progress on schedule, so I was put at the end of the line. Re-build did not start until after about 3 weeks after discovery of mistake, which was disappointing - I would expect to get a priority, but nope, didn't happen. Just got tiny discount. The wrong colored instrument was offered to the public on MK's Facebook page I think.

My MK had two very minor cosmetic blemishes one of which was no way to spot before shipping - fresh wood it was made from, dispensed a drop of resin onto the surface from inside, apparently after it's been shipped and while it was in transit.

Other than that, the instrument is very well made, sounds far closer to acoustic DB than my Stagg EUB, but the strings I've ordered (Thomastik Spirocore orchestra medium 3/4) have to break in and settle before the sound will improve even more and stabilize. This is no different than my experience with Stagg EUB, on which I've also replaced stock springs with Spirocore ones, and it started sound decent only after several weeks of playing it every day.

From what I read and heard online, SLB-300 is about the only EUB comparable sound wise with the MK. I'd say MK Jazz design was influenced by SLB's, they are quite similar. However, my understanding is SLB achieves very high fidelity sound with help of onboard electronics, while MK is purely passive instrument - it's got no onboard electronics, thus requiring no batteries to run out, which is a bonus. It just has one piezo element under the bridge, so the sound is shaped purely by its wooden parts, especially by the design of its separate resonator board (which was the reason of my choice of the Jazz model). The fingerboard on mine is made of ebony. I'm very pleased with this bass so far. Using it with Radial Engineering's Bassbone V2 preamp, which feeds MarkBass Mini CMD 121 IV. Still trying to find best combination of settings on both, as I have have 3 and 4 band equalizers in a row + few other tone shaping filters and knobs.

 

[uprightbass.com]

SLB vs MK, it's a buy one cry once scenario. I think that yes the MK has a lot to offer for the price. Back when it was SLB200 vs the MK, it was a tossup and you could argue that you were getting a much better looking instrument in the MK. Either is not beautiful to me (nor is the SLB300). They all look like big crossbows.

With the SRT technology, the SLB300 is far more compelling. EQing helps with making the tone sound like a real UB than the former, but none of that can add resonance. In some rooms and venues, the lack of resonance is less perceptible. However I personally wanted to benefit from technology that solves the problem I've always had with EUB's. If you're going to buy a new EUB today, it makes no sense in not having this feature that makes a huge difference in sound (pun intended). I've heard people trying to use an MK or SLB200 + ToneDexter +EQ , but in the end it seems like a lot of effort to try to get a bass to do exactly what the SLB300 does right out of the box.