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Double Bass Kolstein Travel Bass

#61
Nice photo, Chris! I get the giggles everytime I use my busetto. It just defies logic. This spring, when I first came home with mine, I walked in the door and immediately started playing it. My lady was walking down the stairs (she assumed I was playing one of my big basses), and right before she turned the corner said "OK ... Let me hear the new little bass." She was shocked at the quality of tone & volume coming from this tiny elegant instrument.
It's really fun to play, and it's a legitimate working tool. It's not a section instrument, but for jazz, pop, theater, etc...it's a pleasure to own/play/use. Also, when it comes time to amplify; the quality of sound is such that it really works. A lesser quality toned instrument might be louder acoustically, but in my experience they just don't amplify as well as this little gem.

Hey Jason... I hope you're well! Mine has a mensure a little under 41". It's very comfortable to play. I'm sure Barrie could make one shorter, but it's such a breeze to play, that I bet you'd be pleased as is!
 
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#62
@Jason Hollar I ordered mine with a 41" measure, and if I recall correctly the current offerings are that or 40". But the funny thing about this little bass is that even though the scale length is only 1/2" off of what my regular basses use, and even though I've got spiro reds on it (which are close to my regular dominants tension-wise), I am flying around on this thing with much more facility than on my regular basses.

Yes, I'm still in that famous "hmmm, what to do about that spiro G?" place, but it's funny because all of a sudden I have more "chops", as though the scale was noticeably shorter and the setup markedly lighter, except it isn't. I'm not sure why that is - maybe the angles of my arms not having to reach around the body of a regular size bass, or? - but it's still kind of fun.

I'll figure the G string thing out eventually (maybe a 3/4 G? dunno...time to find the threads that go down that rabbit hole :bag:), but the bottom three sound great and really pop and the E string growls like a tiger when I ask for it. I'm so glad I stopped in Barrie's booth right at the end of ISB in Ithaca and sat down to try one of these right before he shut his booth down. I remember thinking about the busetto as I walked toward it, "that thing is cute but I bet it feels like a toy"...and then playing it and being proven wrong. My education continues, it seems.
 
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#64
I am curious to hear how much you can do with it unamplified. I am glad they dropped the short scale, I don't think that was a good idea at all, other than that I've always thought those were great. I tried one at an ISB years ago and I was impressed. Kolstein basses are pretty serious, Bert Turetzky has one that was his main bass every time I saw him and probably still is.
 
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#65
I think you'd be pleasantly surprised with the acoustic presence and tone!

I think the easiest way to describe it is if you're in a situation where people honestly care about hearing the bass, it really works! I've owned basses in the past that I always used an amplifier to help augment the tone, but with the busetto, if I'm using an amplifier it's only because I wish to make it louder.

I've done living room concerts with trio with brushes and guitar as well as many many duos with it unplugged.

Now I'm not talking about battleground jazz with heavy handed drummers or horns blasting, but in those situations, most all of us amplify these days even with a large 3/4 or 7/8 bass.

I use mine multiple times a month acoustically and it works beautifully.

I play an upscale restaurant job for a guitarist friend once or twice a month, and he has requested that the busetto be the only bass I bring. He can't stop talking about it and tells all his other bass player friends about it! He uses a nylon string acoustic that he amplifies, and sometimes the patron chatter can get pretty loud, but the busetto hangs right in there! When I purchased it I never would have thought that possible.

My guitarist friend likes to drive, and as a side benefit, the busetto fits comfortably in the back seat of his 4 door Sedan along with his guitar and speaker. I am able to comfortably sit in the front passenger seat. Previously I'd have to drive my van, or we would put one of my larger instruments in the passenger seat and I'd be jammed in the back.

I'm finding it to genuinely be a good carved bass that just so happens to be ultra portable. I owned another popular travel instrument a number of years ago that I never got comfortable with, and by comparison this feels like no compromise at all!
 
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#66
I think it sounds really good acoustically so far! I still have to figure out the spiro G thing and of course it doesn't move as much air as either of the LaScalas for acoustic tone/volume, but I am surprised at the acoustic sound every time I pick it up - especially with the E string, which was the part I figured was not going to speak. I was totally wrong on that count. I've heard a recording of @conte2music playing and singing with his, and it sounds amazing!
 
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#68
Here's a quick and dirty video shot on my iPhone of the Busetto. The strings are new Spiros and not settled like @conte2music 's video above, but this gives an idea of the acoustic potential of the instrument. Please excuse the aimless noodling solo and all the flubs... but as a bonus if you listen carefully you can hear the train behind our house, street noise out front, and even the brutal hunting and killing of a hapless sock by my 14-year old cat Rainbow, who always seems to hunt right outside the music room door when I'm trying to record. The phone was about 6 feet in front of the bass.

 
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#70
Thanks Sam. But the funny thing is, this isn't really a short scale at all - it's only 1/2" shorter than my regular bass, so the string tension is there. I'm definitely going to let these strings settle for a good 6 months or so and see what happens, but I am considering trying a 3/4 G and E to see what they will do. I tried some used starks on the D and G already and they are just too much... or I have gotten too old to handle them.
 
#71
Very nice, Chris! It's great to hear the bass with spiros. I bet with time and in context that g will tame down (even faster with some arco play). If you get impatient, a superflexible g would probably be the move. They're bright enough that they don't sound out of place or wooly on top of spiros, and warm enough that they lose that "boing" in just a few weeks. They're durable as well!

This past summer, an oliv D broke in the peg box of my French bass, but fortunately the string was still long enough to fit on the busetto. It's sounding and feeling great, and it was a pleasant surprise to get more use out of an excellent (albeit pricey) string!
 
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#72
Chris Fitzgerald said:
Thanks Sam. But the funny thing is, this isn't really a short scale at all - it's only 1/2" shorter than my regular bass, so the string tension is there. I'm definitely going to let these strings settle for a good 6 months or so and see what happens, but I am considering trying a 3/4 G and E to see what they will do. I tried some used starks on the D and G already and they are just too much... or I have gotten too old to handle them.
Click to expand...

My bad thought it was a 40" scale.

I never payed attention to what scale length I had until I got my juzek which is 43.5. Didn't know what my german bass was but I feel that my hybrid is on the shorter side. More little details I guess...
 
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#73
@conte2music Somebody gave me an old Olive G years ago saying that it was played out but that I could still catch the vibe of it in a "try before you buy" kind of way. It was nice but I think the price scared me away. And I haven't played Superflexibles in forever. It's funny...I remember them feeling kind of slack under the hands compared to Spirocores but when I look at @DoubleMIDI 's string chart it shows the G as being actually more tension than a spiro red. Also curious is how it shows the 3/4 G having less tension than the 4/4 G. (?)
Screen Shot 2018-11-24 at 7.27.29 AM.png


@Sam Dingle I know the feeling - my old American Standard has a 43" scale, and everything after that felt like a short scale for a while!
 
#75
Chris Fitzgerald said:
@conte2music Somebody gave me an old Olive G years ago saying that it was played out but that I could still catch the vibe of it in a "try before you buy" kind of way. It was nice but I think the price scared me away. And I haven't played Superflexibles in forever. It's funny...I remember them feeling kind of slack under the hands compared to Spirocores but when I look at @DoubleMIDI 's string chart it shows the G as being actually more tension than a spiro red. Also curious is how it shows the 3/4 G having less tension than the 4/4 G. (?)
View attachment 3224973

@Sam Dingle I know the feeling - my old American Standard has a 43" scale, and everything after that felt like a short scale for a while!
Click to expand...

I’ve got a super G I can send you if you wanna test it out at some point. I have a feeling you won’t like the oliv
 
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#77
Just posted a joint review of the Kolstein Busetto and the Vintage Revolution Acoustic Box II. I am enjoying the bass a lot and looking forward to putting it in the rotation.



Some may be disappointed that I ran both preamps flat except for the HP filter in this video, but that's basically how I test new gear these days. I'm taking both the Busetto and the Abox out to the "proving ground" (i.e. - Nachbar, a primal scream chordless trio with two aggressive monster musicians), and looking forward to the fun! Rest assured that on the gig I will use more of the EQ options the Abox has to offer.

Here is the index for the video:

0:00 Series Introduction
0:46 Kolstein Busetto Travel Bass
1:53 Vintage Revolution Acoustic Box II
2:35 New Standard LaScala Hybrid
3:26 Sansamp Para Driver DI
4:05 Review parameters for comparison
5:43 Sound Clip: LaScala plus Sansamp
7:20 Sound Clip: LaScala plus Abox II
8:56 Sound Clip: Kolstein Busetto plus Sansamp
10:35 Sound Clip: Kolstein Busetto plus Abox II
12:13 Conclusions and discussion
22:16 Links
 
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#80
Chris,

Can you provide more information on the full circle pickup? Did Barrie send you the bass with the planet wing and wooden adjusters? If so can you compare? How was the installation?

I know a lot of folks like the FC but I’ve had very little reason to move away from the planet wing so I’m curious to know if there is an advance.

I also read in another thread you mentioned resonance issues playing live, do you think it could be related to the pickup or installation of it?
 

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