SOLD Merchant Vertical Electric Upright Bass - PRICE DROP to $1250!

Original-design (non-detachable neck) Merchant Vertical Bass in good shape. This design comes closer than any other EUB I've played in duplicating the feel and playability of a regular double bass. Eb neck, 40 1/2" mensure, though scale length can be adjusted somewhat since the bridge sits on spruce rails (made to duplicate the springiness of a bass top) that are moveable. It's crafted from beautiful cherry, with maple neck, oil finish. The hinged faux upper bout is easily detached for storage or travel.

It has the original bridge-mounted eight element Barbara Transducer System. It seems to have one low-output or dead element on the A string, more noticeable with arco than pizz. I've added a brand new Fishman Full Circle pickup which does a great job of amplification.

It comes with a Mooradian bag that's seen better days and is shedding dust from decomposing foam - probably time to replace.

The bass is in the Sonoma wine country, but can FedEx anywhere - with the oversize charges, it was about $100 cross country when I bought it.

3000+ views and a fair bit of tire-kicking, but nothing's come to pass. Price dropped to $1250 plus shipping.

This is a great bass that deserves a home where it'll be played - my gigging activity is slowing down and it's time to thin the herd.

Thanks for looking - please PM me with questions or for better pictures.

 

There aren't enough of these in the marketplace for me to have an informed sense of value. If my asking price is out of line, let's talk!

 

Adjusters are "threads up" - untapped holes in the rails. It wouldn't be a big deal to plug and tap the rails if "threads down" is preferred.

 

Good point about the softness of spruce. Might be a good place for a threaded insert.
As an alternative, insetting a bit of maple and tapping would probably work fine.
Both Mooradian and Messina can make the case; I briefly considered having a flight case made to fit.

 

I've got FCs on my other basses, one threads up, the other threads down. I can't say that I notice a lot of difference between the two. OTOH, fine tuning/dialing in the position of the pickup changes the sound radically. YMMV...

 

My arco chops sound equally pathetic on the Merchant and my Paesold URB. I'm the last person you'd want to use to evaluate this aspect. FWIW, Bill Merchant currently uses the Full Circle as the default pickup on his current model; I guess any other pickup could be fitted as well.

 

Sold pending payment...