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Gold Tone MicroBass Talk

#181
bluebird28 said:
...The Pahoehoe strings only produce 40 lbs of pressure total of all strings. What will the pressure or tension of the steel strings be? I doubt that the instrument will hold up to the steel strings. But I am willing to be proved incorrect...
Click to expand...

Pyramid copper wound U-Bass strings have a total tension of 64 lbs. Per the 2013 Pyramid catalog, their tensions range from 6.5 to 8.5 kg.

The U-Bass has no extra bracing under the bridge, but the bridge itself is massive. I've used Pyramids for a couple of years with no issues.

I also have a piccolo bass Kamoa ukulele which uses very high tension flatwound stainless steel strings.
It uses construction similar to the U-Bass. Haven't had a problem.
 
#182
Well, I don't know about you guys, but my Micro Bass definitely has a peg block under the bridge. I lowered a mirror into the body on a string and you can clearly see it. The last pic is a Michael Kelly bass experimented on to try to make it louder, it didn't work.


mbinside_zps7a872061.jpg


mbinside2_zps3af04023.jpg


34in_zpsb871106a.jpg
 
#183
3234718 said:
What did they feel like? You don't mind thunderguts, right?

Did they feel closer to thunderguts or pahoehoes?
Click to expand...

I don't have a problem with the Thunderguts. I do occasionally feel a bit of sticky, but it's not a deal breaker.
After a little bit of billiards talc, it's a non issue for me. I love the Thunderguts, and it's the reason I stayed
playing these micro scale basses. Without them, in a world of Pahoehoes only, I would have been gone a
long time ago.

They are closer to the feel of Thunderguts than Pahoehoes.
Pahoehoes truly are a form of rubber. A rubber that is almost never stable.
Thunderguts are something sorta kinda like a nylon.
Reds are something sorta kinda like a nylon with added elements that strengthen the fundamental tone of the string further.

IMHO, the Reds are absolutely, positively the best synthetic strings for these basses currently available.
[Until Mimmo comes up with the next amazing innovation. :) ]
 
#188
Working out strategy/business arrangements/distribution can often take more time than the original innovation.

Based on what we have been told about NAMM, I believe it is now very close to being on the market.

I have absolutely no knowledge of an actual date, but here's my guess: sold in a few places by - end of February.
 
#189
Hi guys,

I am new to the forum (today!) and have spent all day reading threads because I'm interested in a short scale electric-acoustic bass that I can tune in 5ths! I am a mandolin player, but the band I'm in needs a bass player - while I can get by on a normal bass, I would SO much more competent if I could play:

1. a bass I could tune in 5ths rather than 4ths!
2. a bass with frets that are more closely spaced so that my finger spacing is closer to the mandolins (yeah I know its still nowhere near, but it would help)

So I ended up discovering the Kala Ubass and then the GT Microbass. The band would love it if I could play an upright bass (and I love that sound too), so this is one more parameter to throw into the mix.

SO, my (main) question for you learned folk is this: which would you choose if you wanted to detune E down to C, A down to G, and G up to A, and you were aiming for an upright bassish sound?

Subquestions: is this even possible without messing up necks and actions? Do either of these have decent adjustable truss rods? Would the E string just be too floppy on the Ubass dropped to a C? Would it be any better on the GT?

3234718 you mention restringing with Pahoehoes - does this make the GT sound more like an upright in your opinion? Would these be a better bet for 5th tuning do you think?

I live in New Brunswick, Canada, but right on the border with Calais, Maine. I have no music stores within hundreds of miles, so I can't try either of these little basses - I'm going to have to take a risk, so I'm hoping you guys might be able to mitigate it somewhat! Am I anywhere near you SBassman?!

Thanks for reading....
 
#190
The ubass/microbass has a great bluegrass sound.


You could get a BEAD set of pahoehoe's from road toad and try to tune it to drop c in fifths. I have no idea if it would work, but dropping the e to a c would be entirely too floppy. And I'd you're putting pahoehoe's on a microbass you're gonna need the longer scale 24" set.

The neck is short and the strings are such low tension in any configuration that I wouldn't worry about the neck.

If you email Owen from road toad and tell him your plans, I'm sure he'd know the best strings for the experiment.
 
#192
jeremyb said:
Hi guys,

I am new to the forum (today!) and have spent all day reading threads because I'm interested in a short scale electric-acoustic bass that I can tune in 5ths!
Click to expand...

I also had this idea, but couldn't test it because I don't own a micro bass yet (I'm waiting for the solid body or the picco e-bass). I would also recommend a 23" scale, because the 21" U-Bass is most likely to short for the low C string. You can ask Road Toad for a custom Pahoehoe set or you replace the Aquila G string with an A string from a 21" (U-Bass) Aquila Thundergut set. I did some calculations. The percents are the differences in tension between the original tuning for the strings and the 5th tuning. C, G and D should work without any problems, the A string might be a little bit tighter but I hope it's fine too.

C - 23.5-B (108%)
G - 20.5-A (100%)
D - 23.5-D (104%)
A - 23.5-G (121%)

Then there is also the option to get a custom set of wounded strings from Pyramid (nylon or metal core), but they sound quite different from the plain rubber strings.

Please keep us posted if you'll do the experiment :).
 
#194
jeremyb said:
Hi guys,

I am new to the forum (today!) and have spent all day reading threads because I'm interested in a short scale electric-acoustic bass that I can tune in 5ths! I am a mandolin player, but the band I'm in needs a bass player - while I can get by on a normal bass, I would SO much more competent if I could play:

1. a bass I could tune in 5ths rather than 4ths!
2. a bass with frets that are more closely spaced so that my finger spacing is closer to the mandolins (yeah I know its still nowhere near, but it would help)

So I ended up discovering the Kala Ubass and then the GT Microbass. The band would love it if I could play an upright bass (and I love that sound too), so this is one more parameter to throw into the mix.

SO, my (main) question for you learned folk is this: which would you choose if you wanted to detune E down to C, A down to G, and G up to A, and you were aiming for an upright bassish sound?

Subquestions: is this even possible without messing up necks and actions? Do either of these have decent adjustable truss rods? Would the E string just be too floppy on the Ubass dropped to a C? Would it be any better on the GT?

3234718 you mention restringing with Pahoehoes - does this make the GT sound more like an upright in your opinion? Would these be a better bet for 5th tuning do you think?

I live in New Brunswick, Canada, but right on the border with Calais, Maine. I have no music stores within hundreds of miles, so I can't try either of these little basses - I'm going to have to take a risk, so I'm hoping you guys might be able to mitigate it somewhat! Am I anywhere near you SBassman?!

Thanks for reading....
Click to expand...

Hi Jeremy,

I haven't tried this experiment yet. Physics says that your better bet is with a 23 inch scale GT MicroBass.

I am in the Hudson Valley, NY.
 
#196
SBassman said:
I will get an official response from Gold Tone, but that will be not this coming week but next.

I believe the answer is going to be - it's fine. There are 3 different parties that have participated in the metal string work on a Gold Tone MicroBass: Gold Tone, LaBella, and me.
Click to expand...

Ok, I now have a response from Gold Tone:

The M-Bass design was derived from a steel string acoustic design. That, along with the truss rod means metal strings will be fine on an M-Bass.
 

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