Double Bass Hello! and strings for a Rob Wave EUB

[vcalcaterra]

I'd like to first introduce myself, I'm a violinist that has doubled on electric
bass guitar for about 20 years now. I just ordered a 5 string bowable EUB
from Rob Wave and since I told them I would send the strings for it, I now
have to figure out which ones to use!! This is a 35" scale EUB, so I'm looking at 36" scale bass guitar strings. I have used Thomastik and D'Addario flatwounds, and I presently use Status flats on my Steinberger
Synapse. I was going to send a set of D'Addarios because this bass is bowable and I intend to do some bowing on it!

I play primarily Jazz, and some pop.

The Rob Wave will have a single piezo bridge pickup, so I could use most
types of strings, but it does have bass guitar type tuners, so the gauge is
limited.

Any ideas?

thanks,
-vince

 

[Planet Boulder]

Hi Vince - I have a RobWave myself and it's a highly underrated instrument! Love the thing and I've received many complements on it.

The piezo on my RobWave isn't easy to tame, but I actually use good ol' D'addario flats on mine. I then adjust the beejebus out of the EQ to get the "right" (i.e., upright approximation) sound.

Since they are passive, I bought a K&K Pure Preamp for it and it works quite well - I bury the treble, keep the mid flat and boost the bass to about 4:00. I also use an Aphex Bass Exciter and I bury the treble and boost the bass on my rack amp or preamp (I typically play through G-K), but, for smaller gigs, I play through an SWR WM15.

Note that mine was not designed for arco (the fingerboard radius would never allow for arco), so I only play pizz (which is perfect because I've yet to tackle a bow anyway! ), so I can't guarantee that those are the best strings for arco. Try 'em out, though - they'll fit and they're cheap enough so that you can mess around and try something different if that doesn't work.

 

[vcalcaterra]

Hi Vince - I have a RobWave myself and it's a highly underrated instrument! Love the thing and I've received many complements on it.

The piezo on my RobWave isn't easy to tame, but I actually use good ol' D'addario flats on mine. I then adjust the beejebus out of the EQ to get the "right" (i.e., upright approximation) sound.

Since they are passive, I bought a K&K Pure Preamp for it and it works quite well - I bury the treble, keep the mid flat and boost the bass to about 4:00. I also use an Aphex Bass Exciter and I bury the treble and boost the bass on my rack amp or preamp (I typically play through G-K), but, for smaller gigs, I play through an SWR WM15.

Note that mine was not designed for arco (the fingerboard radius would never allow for arco), so I only play pizz (which is perfect because I've yet to tackle a bow anyway! ), so I can't guarantee that those are the best strings for arco. Try 'em out, though - they'll fit and they're cheap enough so that you can mess around and try something different if that doesn't work.

Thanks, I was beginning to think that I had latched on to an exotic bass!!
I'm going to go ahead with the D'Addarios since juststrings has them on sale. My bass won't be done till February, so there is no rush, but I want to
get them while they are still on sale.
I play through a GK 800RB and an SWR WM10 for rehearsals. The GK feeds
an Avatar C15 cab and a high efficiency sealed back 8" mid in biamp mode.
I really like this rig.

thanks again,
-vince