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Gold Tone MicroBass Talk

#301
Just to add to the confusion. Boulder Creek had a 23-inch scale bass with Thunderguts on it. The rep told me they had it at NAMM to test the market. I don't see this bass on their website, so they're clearly not committed yet. But it looks pretty cool and could be another option. This one was fretless. I don't remember if there was a soundhole on the top like on their other basses, but that would certainly help us hear ourselves a little better.

BoulderCreekBass_small_zps02e51cb8.jpg
 
#305
dougness said:
Just to add to the confusion. Boulder Creek had a 23-inch scale bass with Thunderguts on it. The rep told me they had it at NAMM to test the market. I don't see this bass on their website, so they're clearly not committed yet. But it looks pretty cool and could be another option. This one was fretless. I don't remember if there was a soundhole on the top like on their other basses, but that would certainly help us hear ourselves a little better.

BoulderCreekBass_small_zps02e51cb8.jpg
Click to expand...

Oh nice! I had a Fretted and a Fretless Boulder Creek ABG. They where excellent. On par with the Tacoma Thunder Chife in terms of acoustic volume. I would be tempted, but I really love the ergonomics of the GT Micro Bass.
 
#306
mongo2 said:
Is the bridge on that somewhat adjustable?
Click to expand...

Yes, as 3234718 said, there are threaded height adjustments on either side of the bridge. That prototype had the bridge adjusted all the way down for the white tapewounds. I asked Mike at the booth about that and he said that they may tweak the bridge a little to be able to bring the action down more. It wasn't high, though, and it played easily, just not super low like a Pedulla, Ken Smith, or other high-end bass.

I'm not sure about being able to adjust the saddle itself to lower the action. I think the idea of the screw adjustments is that you wouldn't need to grind down the saddle, as you would on an acoustic guitar. But since everything seems to be in a development phase at this point, who knows? I'm sure we'll see many refinements over time.
 
#307
Looks like this thread is the best place for me to share my impressions as I purchased a a goldtone microbass at a local music store a 3 weeks ago. I play electric and upright bass professionally so there definitely has been an adjustment to the 22.5 inch scale but already I have been playing and gigging with this little guy.

I tried a Kala Ubass and much preferrrerd the goldtone and I immediately felt more comfortable playing the longer scale. I also preferred the tone, the feel of the neck, not to mention the built in tuner and cutaway on the upper bout and over all fit and finish.

I had to take my first Goltone bass back to the store because after playing it a couple of days there was some buzzing playing the C and G on the third fret. The tech at the store tried to adjust it by adjusting the truss rod but said it was not acceptable and that he would send it back to Goldtone. They had one more in stock which did not have any issues with the action, plays great and is a keeper. However, because of the first one being a "lemon" not sure if this means there could be QC issues with the company, but thought I should mention it.

The tone is truly phenomenal! Volume wise, the strings are all very even sounding and oh so fat which is great for jazz and latin styles I play a lot of. The low tension fat rubbery strings with short sustain time are a big part of the secret for the wonderful tone these basses produce, but for me are the toughest thing to adjust to and I read others posts here relating that issue as well. Having trained my self on standard size basses to play right against the fret I found it challenging in that the you need to press them down more in the center between the frets in order for them to ring properly (E and A strings particularly). Somehow after playing it I am better able to do some slides and the strings seem to be less "sticky". Not sure if it is just me getting used to touching them better or if they are getting broken in or both of the above. A big gripe for me is the G string not staying in tune and if I am playing on it quite a bit it goes flat after only a song or two and this is after 3 weeks break in time it is still doing it. The D string slips too but not as bad. I had the same issue with the G and D strings on the first bass that was defective so I would be curious to hear if others are having more success with their G holding its pitch.

All in all I am very pleased. I purchased this thinking it would be more for fun or getting a unique sound with only sporatic use, but I am using this bass a lot and getting postive feedback on it, so I thought I should share that.
 
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#309
I tried one of these regular models today at my local music store...

I really like the scale length. I much preferred it to the Kala Ubass that was also there for the full ABing. My main gripes was the frets all had sharp edges, the filling on the sides of each fret was not consistent (as some had air gaps) and the intonation was off in the upper registers only with the E string. The others seemed to be fine.

If those issues were fixed I'd have bought it on the spot. The sound was great, and it played really well. IMHO.
 
#310
MuthaFunk said:
I tried one of these regular models today at my local music store...

I really like the scale length. I much preferred it to the Kala Ubass that was also there for the full ABing. My main gripes was the frets all had sharp edges, the filling on the sides of each fret was not consistent (as some had air gaps) and the intonation was off in the upper registers only with the E string. The others seemed to be fine.
Click to expand...

Intonation problems seem to be common with fretted rubber string basses. I think there should be adjustable bridges with these basses, especially when more and more string options with varying gauges becoming available (Pahoehoe, Thundergut, Thunder Red, Pyramid wound nylons, La Bella flat wounds). Alternative: fretless models.
 
#311
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#312
Just pulled the trigger on one from Amazon -- free two-day shipping for Prime customers is nice. This bass has so many features I want to try: decent acoustic volume; fretless; lightweight, very short scale. I'm excited. Good 44th-birthday present to myself.

I look forward to trying it with a Pignose at outdoor jams and in other settings where the vibe is "acoustic" and "ukelele" oriented. Heck, I may even start playing bluegrass!

Sure took me long enough to decide. It was either this or a Bass VI.
 
#314
I don't plan on using a humidifier with mine. For what it worth my upright bass luthier and primary instrument repairman for our local symphony says humidifiers cause more cracks than they prevent. This is due to people inevitably forgetting to keep the humidifier filled and then the instrument quickly goes from being moist to very dry resulting in cracks. While some may strongly disagree, I keep my Goldtone stored in an air conditioned room in its case with no humidifier (as I do my upright bass).

I had a question a few posts ago regarding problems with the strings, particularly the G string on the Goldtone going flat and not holding pitch for very long. Any others have better luck with the strings on theirs?
 
#320
Got mine today. Nice instrument! Sounds great, very comfortable to play.

I find it a little odd that GT tell you not to tune the bass with the strings in the nut slots, that they have to pull them out to tune. Kind of inconvenient and strange.

The onboard preamp isn't the greatest, but that can be remedied with an outboard one.

How do you clean and care for these things?
 

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