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Ibanez Upright Bass

#62
Mottola came up with a solution for wearing the EUB instead of mounting it on a tripod. I bet it would be easy to adopt something similar to the Ibanez.
He also designed his to be 35" scale as a "crossover" instrument for electric bass guitar players. Unlike the Ibanez, the Libeullula isn't designed for arco, thus there was a lot of derision of the design on the DB side of TB.
Liutaio Mottola Lutherie Information Website
 
#63
Trouztrouz said:
What's with all the EUB gatekeeping? I don't see people saying 30" bass guitars aren't REAL basses.
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The funny thing is that the standard upright bass is 3/4 size. Different scale lengths obviously exist in the DB world and 5/8 basses aren't at all uncommon. There ARE compromises in sound because the body is usually scaled up or down along with the scale length.

Regardless, if a person were used to playing upright bass their intonation would likely be rough on a 34" scale instrument for a bit. Honestly it isn't as difficult to swap fretless scale length as people think it is though.
 
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#64
ole Jason said:
The funny thing is that the standard upright bass is 3/4 size. Different scale lengths obviously exist in the DB world and 5/8 basses aren't at all uncommon. There ARE compromises in sound because the body is usually scaled up or down along with the scale length.

Regardless, if a person were used to playing upright bass their intonation would likely be rough on a 34" scale instrument for a bit. Honestly it isn't as difficult to swap fretless scale length as people think it is though.
Click to expand...

A "3/4" Double bass has very little to do with scale. That term refers to the body size. Naturally, a smaller body will necessitate a shorter scale length to some degree, but a 3/4 bass will have a mensure anywhere from 40-43". A 4/4 bass will be around 42-44". Likewise, a 5/8 bass can have a scale of 38-41", so there is a lot of overlap.
 
#65
lowfreqgeek said:
A "3/4" Double bass has very little to do with scale.
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Yes and no. If you play upright then I'm sure you'd agree there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to body size & scale length relationships on DB. In college I played a 5/8 bass with a 42" scale.

Regardless, it is dumb to quibble about a 34" scale making something not a "real" EUB.
 
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#66
ole Jason said:
The funny thing is that the standard upright bass is 3/4 size. Different scale lengths obviously exist in the DB world and 5/8 basses aren't at all uncommon. There ARE compromises in sound because the body is usually scaled up or down along with the scale length.

Regardless, if a person were used to playing upright bass their intonation would likely be rough on a 34" scale instrument for a bit. Honestly it isn't as difficult to swap fretless scale length as people think it is though.
Click to expand...

I played 1/2 size db for a while - 38" scale - and much prefer the smaller scale. The body though wasn't significantly smaller than a 3/4. I keep thinking I'd like to try a cello-sized db which is probably a 1/16...
 
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#68
I've already put an order in for one of these, they are saying March delivery at my local dealer.
The fact you can play it arco is great and you can use standard bass strings on it.
It will come with D'adarrios and I'll put labella or thomastiks on it.
I havent heard if there will be a 5 string version.
 
#70
Thanks @brianrost :)

brianrost said:
This type of EUB is best suited for someone who does not plan to ever play a real DB.
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Maybe I should consider if this is my case :rolleyes:
I'm 34 years old, I've never played DB but I would like to approach bow and DB-style-pizzicato.
I can't have a real DB at this time, I live in a small apartment (just full of other music stuff :woot:) and I couldn't practice anytime an acoustic instrument without having issues with neighbors.
So being obliged to EUB, which anyway isn't DB, I wonder at this point if it's worth it to chose something closer to electric bass compared to 40+ scale EUBs...
 
#71
ole Jason said:
The funny thing is that the standard upright bass is 3/4 size. Different scale lengths obviously exist in the DB world and 5/8 basses aren't at all uncommon.
Click to expand...

The closest DB size to a bass guitar is what is called 1/4. Scale is about 35". I have one, an old Kay my daughter (who was short at the time) used in middle school. These instruments are considered to be for students...you won't see one in a symphony orchestra...and they are weaker in the bottom due to the smaller body, a little larger than a cello.

You can easily find 1/4 size DBs, Englehardt (who bought Kay's tooling) makes them as do many of the Chinese builders. Since they are student models intended to be used by th eplayer for only a few years, you seldom see anything but laminated (plywood) models. Carved models do exist but are quite rare.

Ironically I got my Kay from Steve Azola who was a well known EUB builder.
 
#72
Speaking of shorter scale lengths, for several years I gigged my DIY upright mounted on an NS stand. I made it using an oval washtub body, plywood top and a 30" scale Squier Bronco neck (still fretted) I shaved down to Hofner dimensions, a Hofner bridge, a no-name pickup and tapewounds. It worked fine. I now use the neck on a DIY solid body version that can be played horizontally or mounted on the NS stand.

Then again, also speaking of shorter scale lengths, there's the Ashbory, GT MBass and Kala UBass. ;)
 
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#76
spade2you said:
I'd like to think Ibanez would eventually offer longer scale lengths if this model catches on.
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This is a crossover bass, serious upright players will totally dismiss it as Ibanez is not a player in the acoustic bass world.
Around here, they generally play the NS, Carruthers, Merchant or Clevinger for electric upright.

I generally play my Shen with a Full Circle pickup but this will be nice to own. It's cheap, small, portable, they sound good, don't feedback and you can play arco on it.

From an audience' hearing perspective, no one can tell the difference if the bass is an amplified acoustic or something like the UB804. In my experience most people just want the "look" of an upright on stage and couldn't care less about the sound of it. If it's a legit show with a string section, that's different.

A good thing about the UB804 is that it will expose more players to the concept of an upright because of Ibanez' huge presence in the marketplace. You will see these in stores where the other brands don't appear.
 
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#77
laklandplayer said:
This is a crossover bass, serious upright players will totally dismiss it as Ibanez is not a player in the acoustic bass world.
Around here, they generally play the NS, Carruthers, Merchant or Clevinger for electric upright.

I generally play my Shen with a Full Circle pickup but this will be nice to own. It's cheap, small, portable, they sound good, don't feedback and you can play arco on it.

From an audience' hearing perspective, no one can tell the difference if the bass is an amplified acoustic or something like the UB804. In my experience most people just want the "look" of an upright on stage and couldn't care less about the sound of it. If it's a legit show with a string section, that's different.

A good thing about the UB804 is that it will expose more players to the concept of an upright because of Ibanez' huge presence in the marketplace. You will see these in stores where the other brands don't appear.
Click to expand...

I don't doubt that skeptics will be in full force.

I picked up my first Ibanez this year, a limited edition Prestige. Insanely good quality. I grew up in bands with guys who had low end and intermediate Ibanez gear. Sound quality varied, but they generally played well as long as the care was reasonable. Not sure what happened, but Ibanez seems really hungry and ambitious as of lately. I applaud that.

If it doesn't catch on, these might become forgotten history. If they do well, I'd imagine they might branch out a bit and offer a few more options.
 

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